Too Much to Bear, My Love

in order to defeat one’s opponents and reach the coveted spot.

After chatting for a while, Carter stood up. “Come on, I'll introduce you to your colleagues. Get to know them now so it'll be easier to ask them for help in the future. I'll get your training in Saspiuburg planned as soon as possible. I'll also rent an apartment there so you can get enough rest, especially now that you're pregnant.”

Amelia was thoroughly moved. “Thank you, Mr. Scott. I'm truly grateful for all your help. I'll definitely return this favor once my baby is born.” “Oh, come on now. We're friends, aren't we? There's no need to return favors. But if you really want to show your appreciation, perhaps you could let me be your child's godfather?”

“It's not enough to rely on our parents in this day and age; we'd also need godparents. My child is so fortunate to have you already asking to be his godfather. With your generosity and support, I'm sure he'd be more than set for life,” Amelia teased.

Carter gazed longingly at Amelia, mesmerized by her smile. “Amelia, if you do get that divorce, will you give me a chance to stay by your side?”

Amelia was stunned silent.

Carter held her hand. “I've been in love with you for a long time now. You have no idea how happy I was when you came to me in your moment of need, even though I knew you were married. But when you said you wanted to attend the training in Saspiuburg despite being pregnant, I guessed things between you and your husband weren't as rosy as I thought they would be. I really hope to be given a chance if you do get that divorce,” he said sincerely.

Amelia pulled her hand back in shock. “Mr. Scott, may I remind you that we're at work. I don’t think it's appropriate to talk about this here. If there's nothing else, Id like to go back to work now.”

Without any hesitation, Carter grabbed her arm again. “Please, Amelia, don't be scared. I really love you. I've felt like that since the first time I laid eyes on you. Even after you got married, I still couldn't get you out of my mind. And please, as long as you agree to be with me, I promise to care for your child as my own.”

“You're my friend, Mr. Scott, and I appreciate your kindness.” Amelia turned and stared coldly at him. “However, I'm still married. I hope our relationship can maintain its status quo. But if you don't think we can remain as friends, I'll have to resign and cut all ties with you.”

Seeing the indignant look plastered on Amelia's face, Carter sighed deeply. “I'm very sorry, Amelia. I was too impulsive. Please don't be mad at me.”

“You've helped me a lot, and I'm really grateful to have you as a friend. You're handsome, rich, and capable; surely there are scores of women lining up to date you. I'll take what you said earlier as another one of your jokes. No matter what the outcome of my marriage may be, as long as I'm still legally married, I will not think of other men. Just so you know, I do cherish this marriage very much. I'll do whatever it takes to get my husband back.”

Carter saw the fire in her eyes as she said that, and it hurt him deeply. “Even if you knew he had another woman outside, you'd still turn a blind eye to that?”

Amelia shot daggers at him. “You investigated me?”

“No, it wasn't that. I just wanted to find out how you were doing,” Carter pleaded. “I never thought you'd marry the heir to the Clinton Corporations. It's not easy for any woman to marry into a family as powerful as the Clintons. I was concerned about you, so I investigated Oscar Clinton. It was only then I realized he was having an affair with the daughter of the Yard family. But you already knew that, didn't you?” “Thank you for your concern, Mr. Scott. But you don’t have to worry about my family matters.”

“Have I pissed you off?”

“If you were to find out that someone had investigated you and dug out everything about your family, wouldn't you be mad too?”

“I'm sorry! I meant no harm. I just wanted to make sure you were happy,” Carter apologized profusely.

Amelia sighed, calming herself down. “I may also have been too harsh toward you. I'm sorry, Mr. Scott.”

"Does that mean we're even?”

Amelia nodded and smiled.

Carter led Amelia out and introduced her to his other employees. Even though his company was relatively new, they'd experienced impressive growth. They had almost fifty employees to date, all of whom were talented in their own rights. Some had graduated from Ivy League schools, others had studied abroad, and some even had design awards under their belt.

Just this month alone, besides Amelia, they'd also hired four other employees who hailed from Ivy League universities. Two of them were handsome and charismatic men, while the other two bespectacled women were young and pretty.

Having noticed Carter with Amelia, everyone stood up and focused their attention on her. It was a mixed bag of reactions. Some were curious, some were checking her out, some envied her, and as always, some were jealous of her.

Amelia tried to ignore their looks while she stood quietly beside Carter. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your new colleague in the design department. She and I go way back, so I don’t want anyone bullying her. She used to be a top design student, and I had to put in a great deal of effort to get her to join us. Now, let's put our hands together to give Amelia a warm welcome!”

A huge round of applause followed.

Amelia flashed a smile and took a bow. “Hello everyone, I'm Amelia Winters. I'm probably older than most of you here. What Mr. Scott said earlier about me being a top design student was an exaggeration. I do have a few years of design experience, but due to some reasons, I've not done any design work for almost four years now. I'm not sure if I'd be able to catch up with you, so I'm going to need all your help from here on out.”

Once she finished her speech, she was greeted by another round of applause.

The male employees were smitten by Amelia's beauty and humility. One of them boldly asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Why? Is that supposed to be work-related?” Amelia teased.

Everyone laughed in response.

The same male colleague continued, “We should be counting our lucky stars that someone as beautiful as you has joined our department. I think we can all agree that you're the ultimate goddess. We know we're out of your league, but watching you work your design magic would be a great motivation for us.”

All the other ladies in the design department shot him a death stare. “Are you asking for a beating, Dave?”

Dave merely shrugged. “All of you ought to learn from Amelia. She's beautiful and refined, a true work of art.”

"Oh, you... you'll get it from us after work!” the ladies exclaimed. Carter clapped his hands to call for silence. “All right, all right. Settle down. I'll leave Amelia in your good hands. Just remember that she’s an old friend of mine. If I hear about anyone bullying her, I will not be nice about it.”

Dave jumped in again. “Don't worry, Mr. Scott. No one will bully the goddess. We're curious though. When are the two of you getting married? And when you do, please invite all of us!”

Carter glanced at him and stated matter-of-factly, “I remember you still have a design to submit to me. When can I expect your submission?” “Sorry, Mr. Scott. I shouldn't have crossed the line,” Dave replied sheepishly.

Carter looked really terrifying when he got angry. “I'm giving you till this afternoon. If the design you submit is still not to my liking, I'm sure you know what to do.”

Dave was now all flustered. He quickly looked to Amelia for help. “My fair maiden, please have pity on me. Help me put in a good word with Mr. Scott, would you?"

Even though they were a little rowdy, Amelia did like the camaraderie in the design department.

She looked to Carter and said, “I'll take it from here, Mr. Scott. Thank you.”

With a nod, Carter once again reminded everyone to treat Amelia well and walked out.

Once he was out of earshot, the ladies in the department immediately crowded around Amelia. “Please tell us! What's the relationship between you and Mr. Scott? Are you two dating?”

Amelia waved her hand in the air to show the sparkly diamond ring on her finger. “See, I'm already married. Mr. Scott and I are merely old friends. I only got this job because of my connections with him. So I'm not particularly proud of it. I hope you won't mind either.”

No one had ever been this honest about using their personal connections to get into any company, so this revelation took everyone by surprise. “Don’t think like that, Amelia. Mr. Scott wouldn't have assigned you to the design department if you didn't have the talent for it”

Another colleague piped up, “I remember Mr. Scott said he was planning on getting himself an assistant. Amelia, how did you end up joining the design department?”

“That was the initial plan he had because the design department was full then. But later he said he had already hired an assistant, so he decided to put me here instead,” Amelia replied politely.

“Lucky for us then! Having you here immediately increases the attractiveness of our department.”

“Excuse me, Dave? Are you insinuating that the rest of us ladies are unattractive?”

“Oh, those are your words, not mine. But you arent wrong, so kudos to you lot for knowing that about yourselves.” Dave smirked.

"Dave, you're such an ass! Give up already, Amelia's married!”

Dave clutched his chest and pretended to be in pain. “Amelia, my fair maiden, how I wish we had met earlier. Perhaps then I wouldn't be the single, lonely bachelor that I am today.”

The only response that Dave got from that was a loud boo from his colleagues.

Her new colleagues were such a fun bunch to be around that Amelia was starting to feel better after that phone call with Cassie.

Time seemed to fly by when one was hard at work. Very soon, it had come to the end of the workday.

Amelia had just made her way down when a car drove up to her. She was still wondering if someone had made a mistake when the window rolled down and Carter stuck his head out.

“Get in, Amelia. I'll drive you home.”

She was about to turn him down when Carter continued, “I know you didn't drive here today. Don't worry. My only intention is to get you home safe.”

It wouldn't have been nice if she continued to reject his good intentions, so Amelia accepted the offer and got into the car. “Thank you for the ride home, Mr. Scott.”

“Please, Amelia, we aren’t at work now. Don't be a stranger,” Carter remarked as he started the car.

Amelia finally broke out into a merry laugh. “All right, Carter. By the way, I didn't see you leave the office earlier. When did you get here?” “I left the office at four to meet a client. I drove back after the meeting and just so happened to bump into you at the entrance.”

“That's quite the coincidence.”

Having come to a stop at a red light, Carter asked, “Assigning you to the design department was a last-minute decision. How are you doing so far?”