Chapter Five

Ashton kissed me as we finished saying our wedding vows in front of everyone present today. I was almost carried away by our kiss again, and I had enough guts to stop first and force a smile on Ashton and the applauding guests.

The party continued with the banquet, and congratulations came our way.

“Congratulations on your wedding, Amelia.” I recognized the voice, and I was surprised by this male guest.

“Mattew? What are you doing here?” I didn’t expect to see this man again after he dumped me by disappearing into thin air.

“Of course, I wanted to congratulate you on finding my replacement.” Mattew’s words made me stare at him wide-eyed. How dare he say that, as if I had dumped him.

“Look, Mattew, you even left without a word, and I’m looking for you like crazy. You disappeared like the earth pressed down on you. Don’t ever act like I’m the one at fault here.” I stared at the man, anger slowly rising inside me.

Mattew grabbed my hand and pulled me to follow him, but Ashton managed to stop us.

“This woman is my wife. Were you never taught manners? Remove your hand from my wife before I remove your hand myself.” Ashton looked scary with his aura; I was speechless and felt his threat. I saw Mattew flinch slightly at Ashton’s threat. He released his hold on me, and I moved to Ashton’s side for protection.

“Amelia, we need to talk.” Mattew began to soften; I was still surprised by this man’s presence.

“Please, Amelia, I promise I’ll explain everything.” Mattew pleaded again, I turned to Ashton for his approval, and he nodded.

“I’ll be here if you need anything.” Ashton then smiled and kissed me with a brief kiss on my lips before walking away. I was quite surprised by the kiss and followed Mattew to one of the empty tables at the back.

My wedding was an outdoor garden party. I chose the concept because I dreamed of getting married in this style with Mattew, but that was a long time ago.

“I was waiting for you to arrive at the pier on that day.” Mattew began. I frowned.

“What do you mean?” I asked because I didn’t understand what Mattew wanted to discuss.

“You didn’t get my message? I was waiting for you to come to the pier because I wanted to say goodbye before I left for overseas at my father’s request.” Mattew looked at me with a faintly furrowed brow. I found it strange that I hadn’t received a single message from him in over two years.

“What are you talking about? I never received any messages from you. The last time we met was when we fought because you refused to break up with me. Did you forget that you slammed my phone that time?” I looked at Mattew with a sharp gaze from behind my lashes.

I regretted ever being in a relationship with a possessive man like Mattew. He had poor emotional control, but I tried to understand him. However, we ended up parting unpleasantly.

Mattew and I were silent for a moment. I clucked and wanted nothing more to do with this man.

“Never mind Mattew, it’s all in the past, I have my own life now right?! So do I.” I erased the silence between us.

“I heard that your husband is the successor to the Romano clan. You must be very good at flirting with him.” Mattew’s statement made me reflexively slap him. I didn’t know what this guy was coming to see me for, but he seemed like he wanted to taunt me.

“Look, Mattew, I don’t want to deal with you anymore. You better get out of here before I ask my husband to drag you away.” I finally threatened Mattew to get him out of there; I didn’t want him to ruin my moment.

Mattew just laughed mockingly at me.

“Unfortunately, your husband and I have to deal with each other, Amelia. We have to come to an agreement to do business peacefully and end this Cold war, that is if your husband is willing to kneel to me.” Mattew looked so arrogant. I was shocked by that information.

What was going on exactly?

“It’s none of my business, Mattew. If you’re dealing with Ashton, just meet him, but don’t meet me.” I got up from my seat and was about to leave, but Mattew held my hand.

“If you want your freedom, I can give you that, Amelia. I know you must have been caught in a situation that required you to do this. I’m still waiting for you, Amelia; I can promise you the freedom you want.” Mattew looked at me with a gaze capable of believing in him a little.

I knew a little bit about Mattew. He was a man of his word, and that made me a little affected by his words.

“Don’t listen to him, darling. Didn’t he dump me? Then what freedom would you expect from him?” Ashton’s voice distracted Mattew and me, making me pull my hand away from Mattew and quickly move away from him. Ashton was right; Mattew had already dumped me, so I shouldn’t have to give him my trust anymore.

“Your family must be organizing a scheme to destroy my family, don’t you think?! But we’ll see, we agreed to talk about it.” Mattew stared at Ashton with a menacing and hostile gaze.

What exactly has happened? Why do I seem trapped in such an unpleasant and dangerous situation?

Ashton didn’t respond to Mattew’s words; he grabbed my hand, and we left.

“Never have anything to do with a man from the Albanos family again,” Ashton said as we walked to the table prepared for us.

“How do you know about Mattew? And what exactly are you guys involved in?” I didn’t want to hide my curiosity. Ashton didn’t answer, which annoyed me a little. We sat on chairs with appetizers and champagne on the table. During the party, I quite enjoyed the atmosphere. When our party was over in the afternoon, we returned to the mansion.