A Matter of Wife and Love

Chapter 39

“What’s going on?” Amelie hastily asked.

Hearing that something might happen to her father, she felt her heart racing quickly.

Abby scratched her messy hair. “I’m not sure either. I was at the store buying groceries when I saw your dad walking out with a knife. I asked him why he bought a knife, but he didn’t even look at me. He just walked away angrily.”

“He bought a knife and left?” She hadn’t seen her father coming home, much less a knife.

What is he planning to do with the knife?

“Your dad has always been a quiet person, but he’d always greet his old neighbors. He never ignored us like he did today,” Abby continued.

“Do you know if my dad got in a fight with someone recently?” Amelie hastily asked.

This was no small matter, for a person’s life might be on the line.

Abby shook her head. “Your dad is an amiable person, and everyone on this street likes him. How could he get into a fight with anyone? Moreover, your dad doesn’t like to bear grudges.”

Amelie also agreed with Abby’s words.

Her father wouldn’t get mad at anything, save for matters related to her. He was especially loving and serious when it came to her.

“Did you see where my dad went? Which direction did he head in?”

The less she knew of her father’s reasons for buying the knife, the more anxious Amelie became.

“That way!” Abby pointed ahead. “Probably in the direction of the small train station!”

“The small train station?”

It was a small town, and the residents couldn’t take the high-speed train or a plane from there. They generally took the train if they were going somewhere faraway.

Is Dad going somewhere far from home?

Amelie asked Abby to look after Bria, then hastily ran off to pursue her father.

As she ran, she dialed Steven’s number.

The call went through.

“Dad, why aren’t you back yet?” Amelie tried her best to ask calmly, not letting her father catch on.

“I have something urgent to attend to, so I won’t be able to come home tonight. You and Bria can sleep in the small room in the back. I’ve already changed the sheets, and the blankets are new too,” Steven commented on the other end of the line. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“What emergency is it that you have to be in such a hurry?” she asked as she walked.

He didn’t mention anything. “Be good and rest up. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Amelie knew she couldn’t get anything out of him, but she also feared that he might leave on the train, so she could only hang up.

Just then, a trishaw passed by her.

She leaped onto the trishaw and made her way to the small train station on the wobbly vehicle.

On the desolate stone steps outside the train station, she caught sight of Steven’s figure.

He sat there with his bent back, a cigarette in his hand as he puffed sullenly.

A number of cigarette butts were already discarded in the small garbage bag next to him.

Even though her father was a shoemaker, he was always particular about these things. He had never smoked before, nor had he ever been so dispirited.

Amelie saw a small black bag sitting next to him. It must be the knife Abby was talking about.

She hastily ran over to him. “Dad, why are you here?”

When Steven saw her, he froze a little. He hastily hid the small black bag and tossed the cigarette away, rubbing his hands as he said, “What brings you here? Didn’t I ask you and Bria to go to bed?”

“How can we just go to bed if you don’t come home?” Amelie queried while looking at him. Then, she peered into the small train station.

“Where are you going?”

Steven lowered his head in silence.

Amelie ran up to him. Then, with great familiarity, she took out the old wallet in his pocket and produced a ticket from within.

The destination of the ticket was Sterlington.

Sterlington was the city where Leo’s house was situated!

“Dad, are you… going to the Alston Residence? Amelie suddenly recalled Steven’s expression when Bria said Amelie could cook. She immediately understood something.

Having his thoughts seen through, Steven pursed his lips tightly.

“Dad, what are you thinking of doing there? Don’t tell me you’re going to kill Leo!”

As she spoke, Amelie was shocked at her own words.

“I’m just going to ask them how exactly they treated you!” he said sullenly, his eyes obviously reddening.

He looked at her, heartbroken. “My darling daughter was plump and healthy when she married into their family, but now, she’s become emaciated!”

At first, he only thought that Amelie had lost a lot of weight, but when Bria mentioned how good Amelie’s cooking was, he realized that the Alstons might not have been treating his daughter with due respect.

All these years, he had refrained from visiting the Alstons and contacting Amelie because he wanted Amelie to live freely in that home, not to be bullied like this.

Her father’s concern was like a silent sword that pierced Amelie’s heart.

It was dull but painful!

Tears streamed down her face like rain.

She held Steven back. “Don’t go, Dad. There’s something I haven’t told you. Leo and I… filed for divorce.”

This news took him by huge surprise.

Amelie nodded. “I’m sorry, Dad. I should have listened to you instead of going to Leo and getting married to him.”

Steven disapproved of their marriage at first, and he had stopped her before.

In the end, he couldn’t win against her persistence, so he handed his precious daughter over to the Alstons.

This marriage not only exhausted her inside and out; even her child and father had to bear the injustice.

Steven felt an unspeakable regret in his heart.

Amelie hugged Steven as she sobbed and apologized profusely.

Steven held his daughter lovingly, his heavily calloused hands caressing her hair like he had always done when she was younger. “Child, don’t cry. Divorce isn’t a bad thing. I just want you to be safe and sound.”

He even let out an obvious sigh in relief.

Truth be told, right from the moment Amelie married into the Alston Family, Steven could see from the Alstons’ behavior that dark days awaited his daughter.

Steven couldn’t convince his daughter, but he also thought that no matter how dark the days ahead might be, the Alstons wouldn’t treat Amelie unfairly.

He was furious not only because of the Alstons’ cruelty, but also because of his own negligence toward his daughter.

In the end, the two went home together.

Amelie was silent about the knife and pretended she didn’t know he had purchased any knives.

Despite that, she secretly told Bria not to mention their lives in the Alston Residence ever again.

During her days in the Alston Family, she was treated even worse than a common servant.

Her father loved her to bits, so if he knew that, he might really grab the knife and kill them.

After Bria went to sleep, Amelie accompanied her father at the entrance of the house, sitting down just like they used to in the past.

As the two enjoyed the cool mountain breeze, they talked about things in the past.

Laughter could be heard time and again from their mouths.

Amelie gazed at the foggy mountain in the distance, then turned to look at the smile on her father’s face. She was suddenly overcome with emotion.

Her hometown was so nice and comfortable. Why would she want to go somewhere cold like the Alston Residence just to suffer?

“What are your plans from now on?” After chatting for a while, they finally moved to the main topic.

Steven already knew that Amelie had cut off all ties with the Alston Family.

He wasn’t particularly worried about cutting off ties, he was more concerned about her future.

“I’ll rest for a bit ” Amelie leaned her head against him, acting as if she were made of jelly. “I’ll freeload on you for a while!”

Steven patted his daughter as she clung onto his arm. He smiled jovially as he said, “Sure, sure.”

He even wanted his daughter to depend on him for the rest of her life.

“Just stay here. You can live here for as long as you want!”

Amelie chatted late into the night with Steven.

Also, now that she was back on familiar soil, her entire body felt relaxed. Amelie slept exceptionally well that night.

Then, at an unknown hour, knocks sounded on the door.

The knocks were loud, dull, and rapid. Moreover, they were so forceful that the door trembled.