Chapter 138
Due to the distraction, the meeting room was instantly filled with an eerie silence as everyone
instinctively shifted their gazes to the source of the loud bang. “I’m sorry, Mr. Alston. Your mother, Mrs.
Alston, would like to see you, and I couldn’t stop her.” The secretary’s voice shivered as she spoke,
standing right behind Melissa.
At the same time, Melissa had already fixed her messy hair and outfit, presenting herself in a more
decent appearance, but despite her gorgeous front, the darkened look on her face made her seem
unapproachable. While everyone else began to gossip upon noticing the change in her expression, Leo
soon started to knit his eyebrows silently with an unhappy look on his face.
In the meantime, the secretary was seen with her back covered in sweat, looking as if she was about to
cry. “I- I’m so sorry.” She kept repeating that, not knowing what else to say.
“It’s me who insisted on seeing you. No one else should be med for that,” Melissa said, but the
moment she
met Leo’s eyes, she felt her heart racing like a jackhammer. After all, she knew Leo was a workaholic
who
didn’t like being disturbed at work.
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“Ladies and gentlemen, please give us a little space here,” Leo responded and waved his hand,
whereupon the rest of the people stood up and grabbed their belongings before disappearing from the
meeting room. As soon as the secretary thoughtfully closed the door, Melissa instantly felt relieved and
grateful that Leo was kind enough to dismiss everyone else to talk to her in private, but not long after
that, her relief was reced by a twinge of bitterness. “Leo, I thought I told you to discuss Bria’s
custody with Amelie. Haven’t you talked to her about it?” She walked up to her son and asked.
The only reason Melissa met Leo the night before was that she wanted to hear his stance about Bria’s
custody. Upon hearing his affirmative reply, she became audacious and decided to interfere with the
matter in her son’s ce, thinking she should keep him away from Amelie whom she reckoned would
be up to some dirty tricks should both of them meet.
However, before she could even bring the issue up with Amelie, she was met with Steven’s outburst
that frightened and sent her back empty-handed. Because of that, she got so mad that she decided to
see Leo and talk to him about it instead of going home after that.
Leo replied with a cold grunt, furrowing his eyebrows unhappily while rubbing his forehead in silence.
“Where is Bria? Is she back?” Melissa seemed to lighten up a little when she heard Leo’s response.
“Bria will continue staying with Amelie as I pay them their alimony,” Leo answered.
“What?!” Melissa raised her voice when she heard Leo’s reply, looking at him in disbelief. “What’s
wrong with you, Leo?” She couldn’t believe things had just taken a turn for the worse and gone against
her favor.
“You can’t just give up your chances of fighting for Bria’s custody and pay Amelie the alimony. If you do
that, the Alston Family’s sacrifice will go unrecognized. By then, people are going to point their fingers
at us while calling us irresponsible.” She quickly analyzed the situation for Leo.
was not happy with her words. On the other hand, Melissa couldn’t help but feel embarrassed in front
of her son despite her decent reputation known to the outside world.
However, she was still smart enough to observe Leo’s facial expressions, speaking in a soothing voice
when she noticed his darkened look. “Well, you should know why I’m insisting that you bring Bria back.
After all, you made a promise to me about that, so don’t you think you should honor it?”
“Do other people’s opinions matter that much to you?” Leo made his point bluntly with an indifferent
grunt despite not wanting to answer Melissa in the first ce.
While Leo didn’t say a single word more, Melissa felt so embarrassed that her face began to turn red,
knowing her son was lecturing her. Back then, she had abandoned Leo because she was blinded by
the ego that prompted her to help her adopted son rise through the ranks; now that she wanted Bria
back, it was also for the same reason.
“W-Well… It’s not entirely about that. B-Bria is part of the Alston Family, so she shoulde back and
live with us,” Melissa stammered while making her point, feeling somewhat guilty and unconfident
about what she said.
The next second, she kept her head down in humiliation even though Leo didn’t say anything. After all,
she found it ironic to demand Bria’s return using the reason that she was a part of the Alstons when
she was the one who had abandoned her own son, Leo. Defeated and embarrassed, Melissa wanted
to walk away, yet she continued to stand there since she didn’t want to give up so easily.
Fortunately for Melissa, Leo didn’t bring up the past and me her for it. Instead, he only said, “Amelie
put her life on the line for Bria, so I will not take the child away from her.” Deep down, Leo might deem
himself an indifferent man without a heart, but he refused to take advantage of someone vulnerable like
Amelie. That’s my
code of honor.
Upon hearing her son’s words, Melissa grunted nonchntly and said, “Hmph! You’re making a
mistake by believing Amelie. We, the Alstons, didn’t just sit by and do nothing when she was inbor.
We helped her, didn’t we? Wake up. Leo. She was just trying to fool you with her words by taking
advantage of your kindness. Have you forgotten how she set you up and made you sleep with her?
Have you forgotten about the things she did just to be the Alston Family’s daughter-inw? This
lady is cunning and shrewd, and you mustn’t fall for her trap!”
Leo thought to himself that he would have believed his mother if he had heard those words earlier, but
now, he was not so sure anymore. After all, he could tell that Amelie was a capable and smartdy,
although he didn’t know her well.
When Melissa didn’t get a response from Leo, her heart sank. Deep down, she even thought of
threatening her son with her own life until the thought of her son’s tough character shed across her
mind.
Leo is not the kind of man who will submit to anyone just because he is forced to. Furthermore, Melissa
lacked the courage to hold herself at knifepoint, fearing she would leave a scar on the beautiful face
she treasured and valued so dearly.
However, after she left, she didn’t return home but instead sat in the car and sulked over Bria’s custody,
which Leo had decided to give up on. I will not be embarrassed by the loss of Bria’s custody. I’m going
to think of a way to make Leo take Bria back from thatdy!
As soon as Melissa was gone, Leo lost the mood to continue with his work and sat in his chair dazedly.
At that moment, he was suddenly distracted by a notification alert from his phone. When he checked it
out, he realized it was a message from the bank. “Amelie Dillon has rejected your fund transfer. As a
result, the money has been returned to your ount.”
Wait, what? Did Amelie just reject my money? Leo tightened his fingers around his phone, gripping it
tightly. Soon, Leo realized another iing message from Amelie, having neglected it earlier due to
his habit of not checking his messages often. When he viewed it, he only saw a line of text that read,
‘Don’t worry, Mr. Alston. I’ll raise Bria with Amelie Dillion’s money.”
Does that mean thisdy is going to raise Bria without depending on Starlight Media’s boss? At the
thought of that, Leo clenched his fingers even harder, believing that Amelie was implying something
else more than she was letting on.
She could have said she wouldn’t use a single cent from Starlight Media’s boss or something, but why
did she emphasize using her own money? Leo knitted his eyebrows in confusion, trying to figure out
the hidden meaning behind Amelie’s message.
Moreover, Amelie’s multiple identities only added to the mystery revolving around her, making her
seem even more elusive. She was a dancer for a moment, but she became a skilled driver the next, not
to mention her unusual rtionship with the mob boss from Canthopia. Who is thisdy? Did she
manage to gain control over Starlight Media just because she stole the boss’ heart?
As a businessman himself, Leo knew a big boss like the one from Starlight Media would never treat his
business empire like a toy and give it to someone else, even if it was the woman he loved. What’s
going on? Something must be wrong somewhere.
However, despite his effort, Leo couldn’t find a single answer to all of his questions. Thus, he walked
out of the meeting room in frustration before he saw Toby right after he made a turn at the corner.
At that moment, Toby was seen leaning against the wall while talking to someone over the phone with a
smiling face. “Well, if I were to venture a guess, you’re the boss behind Starlight Media, aren’t you?”