05~ I'll never love you

Four months later…

“I see you walking down the street- ahhhh!” Amelia groaned for the umpteenth time. She was trying to record her new song in the studio but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It had been like that for the last four months.

Feeling frustrated she took off her headphones and left the recording studio. Turning to Julian she shrieked, “I fucking give up!”

“Amy.. what’s wrong? You’ve been like this for the past four months. Talk to me,” Julian said after running after Amelia.

“I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Amelia said. For some unknown reason, she just couldn’t find the right inspiration to finish her new song. 

Amelia left the studio but cold water was suddenly splashed on her from nowhere.

“Bitch! You’re dating my husband. Look everyone, your precious Amy is a homewrecker. She’s been dating my husband for a long time now. I hardly sleep because of the pain I go through!” A woman wailed dramatically after splashing a bucket of water on Amelia.  

A cold chill ran down Amelia’s spine, she always hated cold water. The clicking of cameras caught her attention and she snapped out of her trance. Looking around she found a lot of reporters recording the scene.

Before Amelia could understand what was happening, the woman pounced on her and beat her like a crazy woman.

“How dare you sleep with my husband, I’ll teach you a lesson. Today, the whole world will see your body.”

Since Amelia was caught off guard, she had already been pinned to the ground with no way to move. She didn’t even know who the woman was or who her husband was.

Luckily Julian had rushed to her rescue and removed the crazy woman from on top of her body.

“Woman, I’m going to sue you for slander, I don’t even know who your husband is!” Amelia screamed after Julian put her behind him.

The woman scoffed, “you think you hid well? Just wait and see. I’ll destroy you.”

Those were the last words the woman left Amelia with before walking out of the royal group entertainment company.

Julian turned around to look at Amelia with a serious look on his face making her nervous.

“You don’t believe her, do you?” She asked.

“No but she means trouble. She’s the royal group CEO’S wife, Anita Stallion.” Julian stated worriedly.

“What? I never hooked up with Jake Stallion. I have never met his wife, but I know what he looks like, he’s our boss after all,” Amelia grumbled feeling frustrated. She had never been involved in a scandal before. Being labeled as a homewrecker would crash her career.

“Don’t worry, let’s leave this place first. The story will blow up soon, if it hasn’t already.”

When they got outside the building, they found reporters making a commotion outside wanting to interview Amelia. They were harassing her manager Natalie.

“Stop defending her! We have proof and it’s already all over social media. Stop hiding her and let us interview the homewrecker!”

Amelia’s heart thumped louder when she heard the reporters, ‘so the issue has already gone viral?’

“Amy, let’s go this way. They haven’t seen you yet,” Julian said and immediately grabbed Amelia’s hand, leading her to the parking lot.

On their way to her apartment, Amelia took out her phone to check what was going on. To her shock, there were pictures of someone who looked like her leaving hotels with Jake Stallion.

The netizens had gone crazy. Amelia’s anti-fans were already condemning her online, insulting her and calling her all sorts of names.

Those who she thought loved her were harshly criticising her and her music.

[Who thought Amy had it in her to date someone else’s husband? I’m so disappointed in her, all her songs shall be deleted from my phone today.]

[What’s so surprising about it? Her face looks like a vixen’s and her music is not even nice. She got where she is by sleeping with her boss and directors for endorsements.]

[I feel bad for Mrs Stallion, everyone, let’s abandon Amy’s music. Let’s also boycott every product that she endorses. We need to clear the entertainment industry of such dirty women.]

Amelia’s heart squeezed painfully as she read the harsh comments. She was about to scroll down when the phone was grabbed from her hands.

“Don’t look at it,” Julian said gently and kept her phone.

“How about we drive around town for a while until you feel better?” He suggested.

Amelia didn’t answer because her mind was in turmoil so Julian just continued to drive around the city.

An hour later Julian’s phone rang and he picked it up immediately.

“Yes Natalie.”

“Where are you guys?” Natalie’s voice came through the phone.

“Nowhere in particular. We are just driving around town,” Julian answered

 “Don’t go to Amelia’s apartment or anywhere where the media can easily find her. Mrs Stallion has just committed suicide.”

“What? What happened?” Julian asked, while Amelia sat up straight. The phone was on loud speaker so she could hear the conversation. Her heart thundered in her chest.

“We don’t know, one of the maids found her hanging in her bedroom. She’s left a note, blaming Amelia for pushing her to kill herself.”

“That’s ridiculous!! I don’t even know the woman!” Amelia shrieked.

“Amy.. you were listening.  Haha Julian, you didn’t tell me the phone is on loud speaker,” Natalie chuckled awkwardly.

“I told you I’m driving, thought it was obvious. You can’t answer your phone when driving,” Julian said.

“Anyway… the issue is now hot. Amelia could be targeted by anti-fans so we need to find a place to take her. Give me thirty minutes, I’ll arrange something.”

After the call, Amelia got back her phone to check what was going on. She found that companies she modeled for were canceling her contracts and demanding triple the money for the losses they had incurred.

Anger flared up inside Amelia’s heart, she called Natalie and instructed, “pay back everyone who’s asking for reimbursement.”

“But Amy.. you will be broke and you won’t be able to pay back all of it,” Natalie advised.

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.”

Amelia cut the call and threw her head back into her seat. She had finally found out what it feels like to lose all you’ve worked hard for in just a twinkling of an eye.

Julian peered at Amelia, his heart aching after noticing how stressed she looked. “You can come stay at my place for a few days to avoid being questioned by reporters.” He offered. 

His offer made Amelia’s heart feel warm but she didn’t want to implicate him so she declined, “that would be suicide Julian… you’re the first person the reporters would go to since you’re always found with me.”

“But… I can take you to my hometown… it’s safe there. I don’t think anyone knows where I come from.”

Amelia sighed, she considered Julian as a friend and staying at his place wouldn’t be good especially with the ongoing scandal. What she needed right now was some money to pay the companies back and maybe find a small hotel to spend the night. 

“Thank you for the offer Julian… but I really can’t come over to your place.”

Making up her mind to get a loan from her friends, Amelia was about to call Rita Jones when a Bentley suddenly overtook their car and blocked their path.

“What the fuck?” Julian cursed.

Amelia gasped when the door to the Bentley opened and a man she had not seen in four months stepped out of the car. What was he doing there? She was not expecting to see him again at all. 

In a royal blue tailored suit, Ethan looked imposing and domineering. Amelia thought he looked hotter than when they first met. But that was not the point; she wondered what he was doing there blocking their way.

Stepping out of the car, she approached him and stopped when she was close enough.

“Mr Carter, how can I help you?” She asked curtly.

Ethan cocked his eyebrow, “seriously? That’s the first thing you say after meeting me again?”

“What do you want Ethan?” Amelia asked, feeling irritated. She had forgotten about the man and seeing him now just reminded her about how he threatened her with a video. He was very cunning. 

“I just want to help you angel. No one would associate you with me. If.. if you come with me, I’ll protect you until all the noise dies down,” Ethan said.

Amelia furrowed her brows thinking Ethan was right. She would just implicate her friends if she ran to them right now. At least no one would associate her with Ethan because they had only shown up together in public once and people had concluded that it was just for business.

“So, will you come with me?” Ethan pushed.

“No, she’s not going anywhere with you,” Amelia heard Julian say. He had stepped out of the car and was secretly listening to their conversation. There’s no way he would let Amelia go with another man.

Ethan scoffed, with anger laced in his voice he spat, “are you her spokesperson? Angel, what do you say?”

Amelia’s heart skipped a beat, realizing that was the second time he had called her angel that night.

“Fine, I’ll go with you,” she said. She couldn’t keep roaming around all night anyway.

“Amy- “

“I’ll be fine Julian. See you and thank you for this afternoon,” Amelia cut off Julian’s words and entered the car. She didn’t want this situation to give Julian hope. They could never be.

Ethan smirked at Julian cockily and mouthed to him, “she’s mine.”

Then he entered the car and it sped off, leaving Julian on the road, gnashing his teeth. 

He clenched his hands into fists as he glared at the car. Amelia was his… he knew her first. Yet a stranger came out of nowhere flaunting his wealth and trying to sweep her off her feet. Julian's eyes narrowed with determination, he wasn’t going to let that happen. 

In the backseat of the car Amelia questioned Ethan, “how did you find me?”

“I have my ways.”

“Can you tell me the main reason you came for me?”

“I need a wife, Amelia, and you need help. We can help each other,” Ethan said nonchalantly. 

Amelia scoffed, “and how will we help each other?”

“Marry me, I’ll help you out with your contracts. I need a wife before my mother forces one on me. I just need a plan for when she tries to play matchmaker. I’ll just say I’m married.” Came Ethan’s reply.

“I’ll pay you for it. I swear I won’t demand for more. We can sign a contract. You’ll need a lot of money and I don’t think you want to borrow from your friends.”

Ethan hit the nail on the head. Amelia did not want her friends to be involved in this matter. Any mistake could cause their companies to crumble. It was better to rely on a stranger.

“Deal… but there’s something I want you to know,” Amelia remarked, thinking she should at least give him a heads up.

“What is that?” Ethan asked.

“I’ll never love you.”