After getting her wound patched up. Chris took Amelia back to the gallery.She pulled out her phone, hesitated for what felt like forever, but just couldn't bring herself to call Lucius.

Chris stood off to the side, smirking. "Not feeling confident about your relationship at all?"

Amelia, too drained to even glareat him, choked up, "Not really. I don't have confidence in myself."

Chris got it immediately. Lucius and Amelia were in completely different leagues now.

One was the heir to a prestigious family, the other was a woman barely scraping by, relying on his protection and being used by him.

Without Lucius, how would she even survive?

"Scared you can't live without him?" Chris's voice was dripping with irritation. "Weren't you trying to seduce me? Well, congrats,you made it.Now stop pretending!"

He was pissed, his patience was wearing thin.

If she kept up this act,he wouldn't stand for it.

"I don't have time to argue with you today." Amelia stared at her reflection in the mirror,looking frazzled and anxious.

She seemed to be ignoring Chris completely.

Chris noticed and let outa cold laugh, "Do you think he'd choose you over

Chloe?"

Amelia stiffened, turning to glare at him with resentment. "Why are you so vicious? What did I ever do to you to make you cling to me like this?"

Her words cut deep, like a knife to his chest.

Chris felt a surge of frustration and turned away to avoid her angry gaze.

"You know he doesn't care about you,'yet you still..."

"What does it matter to you?" Amelia snapped back.

Chris was instantly enraged, "Then call him now and see if he even picks up!"

By now, Chloe had probably already gone to Lucius to complain about Amelia.

"Fine, I will!" Provoked, Amelia dialed his number.

She called Lucius three times but got no answer.

The light in Amelia's eyes started to fade.

But then, a mninute later, he called her back.

Amelia answered excitedly, just about to speak, when Lucius's cold voice came through, "Bella, how could you speak to Ms. Wilson like that? You were too rude, you need to apologize to her!"

Amelia's face went pale, the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.

"Did you hear me?" Lucius added, "Behave yourself!"

"Why should I apologize? She came to humiliate me." Amelia tried to keep

her emotions in check, speaking slowly.

On the other end, she could hear Chloe's tearful sobs, with Lucius occasionally comforting her in a low voice.

For a long time, Lucius didn't respond.

"Looks like you've been ditched," Chris threw in another jab.

Amelia's anger flared up. Gritting her teeth, she said to Lucius, "Lucius, I'm breaking up with you. From now on,we're done!"

She hung up and turned off her phone immediately.

Chris crossed his arms, a satisfied smile on his face.

Amelia noticed and glared at him coldly, "Happy now?"

Chris raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Absolutely."

They finally broke up.

But he was also kicked oet of the gallery. 'Doesn't mnatter,' Chris thought,as long as I'm around, there's no way you two are getting back together.'

Amelia was left alone in the gallery.

She took a moment to gather herself, poured a glass of water, and sipped it slowly.

Her mind was racing. She'd already hit most of her targets. Now, she just needed to keep stringing Chris along without actually giving in, but she had to speed things up.

The news of the breakup quickly became known to everyone in the circle.

Rumor had it they had a massive blowout, and Amelia, unable to take the humiliation, ultimately chose to step out of the love triangle and vowed never to reconcile.

It was known to all that Chris was behind it.

"That Bella chick? Mr. Howard is far too good for her. Just a normal painter."

"Without Mr.Howard, who is she? Offending him was a huge mistake. She's way out of her league."

"Seriously, I've never seen someone mess up their own life like that.Giving up a solid backer? She's nuts."

These rumors made Amelia too scared to even think about reconciling with Lucius.

Otherwise, she'd be the laughingstock of the whole circle.

Meanwhile, Chloe was getting closer to Lucius every day, sticking to him like glue. As their companies' partnership grew, Lucius was raking it in.He not only solidified his top spot in the group, overshadowing Chris for a while, but also scored a five percent share from Victor.

Everyone knew shares in the Spencer Group were gold. Even 0.1 percent was a big deal, let alone five percent.

Chris only had thirty percent, some of which he inherited from his dad.and he'd busted his ass for years to get it.

Now,Lucius had twenty-five percent, almost catching up to Chris.

Leila, hearing all this, was both anxious and pissed, blaming Amelia for

not winning Lucius over, and worried that without that tie, she'd go after Chris even harder.

Meanwhile.Amelia was chilling at home, enjqying a hot pot.

Her plan was moving along nicely. Soon, everyone would make their moves, and she needed to rest up to face it all.

"Mom. don't sneak in any chili," Owen warned seriously. "Your wound means no spicy food. You have to be careful."

Amelia looked at the bland veggies in front of her, feeling a bit down.

"Tll just add a little, it won't hurt," she said wvith a smile.

Owen shook his head firmly, "No, you promised me and Sophia."

Sophia came out of the kitchen with some tomato sauce, "Here, try this. It's got flavor."

Amelia perked up, "Thanks."

Only with Sophia and Owen could she forget everything else and find a bit of happiness.

After dinner, the three of them held hands and walked by the small lake nearby.

Sophia asked worriedly, "Leaving Mr. Howard's protection will make things tough for you."

"That's the plan. Otherwise, how would Chris step in to protect me?"Amelia smiled faintly. "We were married for a few years, I know him well.He probably wants to play hard to get, waiting for me to come

Sophia sighed, "Once people have money, they get bored and come up with these games for fun."

Amelia laughed, "Just wish me luck."