Too Much to Bear, My Love

Cassie did not know what June was thinking about. After exiting the hotel, she closed her eyes to enjoy the breeze as she thought, June can still blackmail me. If he uploads it on the internet, not only will my reputation suffer, but I'm afraid Oscar won't love me anymore.

No. I've spent far too long to finally know which man truly treats me well. Back then I was too young, and that's why I betrayed Oscar once. Now, I won't let Oscar go anymore.

The relationships she had with other men were not long-lasting; Oscar was the only one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. There was no way she was going to let Oscar go anymore.

After taking in a deep breath, she took out her phone to dial the number she memorized by heart. Once the call went through, she sobbed, “Oz, is that you? I'm feeling down. Can you come and keep me company for a while?”

To her surprise, Oscar was not the one who picked up the call; it was Amelia. “I'm sorry, Ms. Yard. I'm Amelia, his wife. I think you should call someone else if you're feeling down. It's best not to pine for a man with a wife. You're from a wealthy family, so I'm sure no one in your family has taught you to become someone's mistress, right?”

Cassie paled. As there was no one around her, she dropped the act. “Where's Oscar? Why do you have his phone?”

Amelia chuckled. “Ms. Yard, that's funny. Oscar's my husband. If I don’t have his phone, who else would? Ms. Yard, if there's nothing else— good day.”

“Get Oscar to pick up the call.”

"He's in the shower.”

“Tell him about the call when he comes out.”

“Ms. Yard, are you drunk? Are you asking me, his wife, to ask her husband to call you? I think you're a little too naive for your age, Ms. Yard.”

“Amelia, you'd better not push your luck. Don't assume that I don't know Oscar and you had a marital agreement. You'll be divorcing him soon. Stop hoarding a title that doesn't belong to you.”

“So what if it's a marriage with a contract? I'm his wife right now. Once I'm pregnant with his baby, Ms. Yard, there“ll be no place for you in our family.”

Cassie's expression darkened.

"Amelia, aren't you afraid that I'll tell Oscar what you said?”

“The Ms. Yard I know likes to pretend to be innocent and weak, so I don't think she'll talk behind people's backs. After all, she's the kind who tries her best to leave a good impression on guys. No woman who likes to talk behind others’ backs will be liked by men.”

At that, Cassie ended the call.

Amelia stared at her dimming screen, a sneer emerging on her face. “How wild mistresses are nowadays. I can't believe she's actually confronting the actual wife and thinks she’s right. How shameless.” Then, Amelia deleted the call history and leaned back against the headboard as she read her novel. When Oscar came out from the bathroom in a robe, she put down her book. Noticing how damp his hair was, she pulled open the drawer and took out a hairdryer.

“Come here. I'll dry your hair for you.”

Hearing her, Oscar walked over.

As she dried his hair for him, she asked, “Mr. Clinton, you weren't out today for business matters, were you?”

As he enjoyed her gentle actions, he replied truthfully, “I went to meet Cassie.”

“Mr. Clinton, you're quite honest. Aren't you afraid that I'll feel upset hearing that?” Amelia murmured.

“You've already known about Cassie before we got married. Why would you feel upset?” Oscar replied nonchalantly.

For a moment, Amelia paused in her tracks. With a quiet, bitter laugh, she thought, This must be the difference between love and not. Instantly, the atmosphere turned tense.

Amelia was about to put away the hairdryer after drying his hair when he grabbed her hand and asked, “Are you unhappy?”

Amelia gave him a smile. “Do you even care about that, Mr. Clinton?” Oscar furrowed his brows. He hated when she was sarcastic. To him, his pet should be obedient, not talking back to the owner.

“What's with that tone?”

Amelia glanced at his hand and muttered, “Mr. Clinton, could you let go of my hand first? You're hurting me.”

After letting go of her, he questioned, “Tell me. Why are you unhappy?” “Mr. Clinton, you always talk about another woman in front of your wife. Do you think I'd be happy?”

Oscar frowned.

“Have you fallen in love with me?”

With a smile that did not quite reach her eyes, Amelia answered, “Mr. Clinton, this has nothing to do with love. This is about possessiveness. No pretty woman would like to hear a man praising the beauty of another woman in her face.”

Casting her an odd glance, Oscar asked, “What's wrong with you?”

His words sent a pang of agony to Amelia’s heart. He's really hurting me with the love I have for him.

“It's getting late. Let's sleep,” she said instead. Pulling the blanket higher, she shut her eyes and ignored him.

However, Oscar turned her around and persisted, “What's wrong with you? You're being sarcastic.”

Amelia shook her head.

“Just assume that I'm on my period so I'm in a bad mood.”

“Isn't your period supposed to come in ten more days? Has it started earlier?”

Amelia's eyes flew open, and she shot a frustrated glare at him. “You're smart when you're in negotiations, but aren't you good at pretending to be a fool when you're around me?”

Oscar's brows knitted into a knot.

“Be clear with your words.”

Amelia grinned. “What do you want me to say, Mr. Clinton?”

Oscar stared at the bare-faced Amelia, his heart skipping a beat. She was too much like Cassie, but at the same time, there was something about her that Cassie did not have.

She was like a poppy flower when she had her makeup on. Despite knowing that she was poisonous, many men would still want to have her. Yet, without makeup, she seemed less aggressive and much softer. If he were to stare at her, he would actually realize that she was prettier than Cassie.

At that very moment, it was as if someone had whisked Oscar's heart away, and he found himself in a daze as he gazed at her.

“Mr. Clinton, what's wrong?” Amelia's voice brought him back to reality. Oscar collected himself and cleared his throat. “Where's my phone?” Strangely staring at the table, Amelia pointed at the phone on it. “Isn't it right there?”

Oscar tapped his nose subconsciously before asking casually, “Did anyone call me?”

Amelia giggled. “Mr. Clinton, whose call are you waiting for? Ms. Yard's?"

Frowning at that, he gave up on checking his phone as he uttered curtly, “Sleep.”

With that said, he lay down and turned off the bedside lamp.

In the dark, Amelia lay in the crook of his arm. “Mr. Clinton, aren“t you going to call Ms. Yard? What if she’s waiting for you to wish her good night? She might get angry and ignore you if you don't call her.” “Sleep. It's late.”

Amelia continued fearlessly, “Mr. Clinton, you don't need to care about how I feel. Call her quickly. Didn't you say you love her? How can you not understand that she wants to hear your voice?”

Turning around to pin her under him, Oscar's magnetic voice traveled into her ears. “Are you complaining that I'm too unconcerned about you?"

“Don't misunderstand my words, Mr. Clinton. I'm just kindly giving you a reminder.”

Hanging his head, Oscar kissed her parting mouth. Then, without any hesitation, he undid her pajamas, and they began their intimate act. Amelia was so exhausted thereafter that fatigue overcame her. However, the abruptly ringing phone interrupted them.

Anxiety suddenly washed over her heart when she heard Oscar's voice. “Hello.”

On the other end of the call, Cassie wailed, “Oz, someone's trying to bully me. I'm scared!”

Immediately, Oscar sounded worried. “Where are you?”

Amelia could not hear the following words that Cassie said, but she saw Oscar fumed, “Wait there. I'll come to you right away.”

Having said that, he then rushed down the bed to put on his clothes before leaving the room. Amelia trailed behind him as she pulled a sleeping robe to cover herself up. “Mr. Clinton, where are you going?” “Something has happened to Cassie, so I'm going to take a look.” With that, he opened the door and left. Amelia had wanted to tell him that she was going to go with him, but the man did not even give her the chance to voice that.

Oscar sped his way to Cassie. In half an hour's time, he reached the bar Cassie was at. After parking his car, he got down only to see that the bar was more like a nightclub. He frowned but did not hesitate in entering. Right as he stepped into the property, he saw several gangsters trying to tow Cassie toward the outside.

Seeing red, he strode over and punched one of them before pulling Cassie behind him. Worriedly, he asked, “Cassie, are you okay?"

Cassie stared at him and suddenly wailed, “Oz, why were you so late? I was so scared that I won't see you again.”

At that second, Oscar wanted nothing else but to embrace her and console her, but he needed to deal with the gangsters first.

“Hey, who are you?” the gangster who had been hit hissed.

“Boss, who cares about who he is. He's dressed well, so he must be some kid from a rich family. Why don’t we take him and blackmail his family for some money? That'll be enough to last us some time.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

With a shout from the leader, the gangsters swarmed forward. Pushing Cassie aside, Oscar instructed, “Get to somewhere safe and hide.” While Cassie hid among the crowd, Oscar easily fought against the group of gangsters. “I've called the cops. Keep this up if you plan to spend your next few days in the station.”

Hearing his words, they shared a look with each other. One of them yelled, “Boss, what do we do now?”

The leader yelled back, “What are you standing around for? Are you waiting for the cops to come to get you?”

As soon as those words left his mouth, the group of gangsters fled the scene.

Cassie pounced at him as her tears fell. “Oz, are you okay? This is all my fault. If I didn't come to the bar, you wouldn't be surrounded by them.” Oscar wrapped his arms around her waist and muttered, “It's too chaotic here. Let's go out before we continue.”

Only after paying for the damages of the broken tables and chairs then did he lead Cassie out of the place. Once they entered his car, he buckled her seatbelt for her as he queried, “Cassie, were you hurt?” She shook her head.

Then, he checked her over, and when he realized that she only had slight bruising on her wrist, he sighed in relief.

Tentatively peeking at him, Cassie whispered, “Oz, are you angry?”

He nodded and asserted, “I am. I'm angry about why you, a girl, have come to such a chaotic place in the middle of the night. I'm even angrier about the fact that you didn't call others along.”

Cassie wept, “I'm sorry, Oz. I was just feeling upset. I never thought that the local bars would be such a chaotic place after my four years of absence. I didn't mean to do this; I did call you earlier and asked you to keep me company, but Ms. Winters was the one to pick up the call. She told me that you're going to sleep with her soon, and she told me to stop wrecking other people's families as a mistress. Her words made me upset. We evidently have feelings for each other, but I'm suddenly the third wheel of your relationship with her. I was confused and sad, so I wanted to get a few drinks at the bar. I didn't expect this to happen.” By the end of her explanation, Oscar's expression was darker than night.