My Sugar and Your Spice (Amelia and Leo)

“Oh, thanks.” Amelie only realized she was supposed to take the ginger from him then. She took it and

peeled its skin off with a knife while Leo simply stood around and watched her. She was dumbfounded.

Why is he looking at me as if I’m putting on some performance for him? “The kitchen can smell pretty

oily and smoky after a while. I think you should wait outside, Mr. Alston. Food will be ready in 20

minutes.” She felt too uneasy about having him watching her cook, so she ‘kindly’ reminded him of the

stench in the kitchen.

Leo nodded to show acknowledgment but remained in his spot anyway. Amelie no longer knew what to

say. Fine, fine. He can watch me if he wants to. A rich guy like him has probably never seen anyone

preparing his food. Perhaps he thinks of me as one of those people on cooking shows. In the end, she

simply kept her focus on her food, completely ignoring the man’s existence.

“Are you good at cooking?” he questioned Amelie when he saw how smoothly she had chopped the

ginger into tiny slices. Amelie laughed to herself under her breath. “I bet rich guys like you don’t have

enough memory to remember everything about your lives. My main duty was to stay in the kitchen and

clean the house, remember?” Before she became a part of the Alston Family, she had never once

gotten her hands dirty.

Steven treated her like a princess, and he didn’t allow her to do any chores at all. However, after she

entered the Alston Family, she was downgraded to becoming a maid. Jodie and Melissa’s critical

comments would fill the house as Amelie desperately tried to complete all her chores. However, Amelie

no longer wanted to think about the past, so she merely poured some ginger and garlic into the oil

before frying it.

Soon enough, the room was filled with the heavy scent of ginger and garlic. Leo tilted his head a little

as he watched how smoothly and skillfully she cooked the food. She’s right. I never once paid attention

to her back in the Alston Residence. I hated her too much back then, so I didn’t show any care for what

my family did to her or what she was told to do in the house. Every time I saw her walking here and

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there with Miss Potts, and every time I saw her cooking or doing chores, I just assumed that she was

trying to attract my attention. But it’s now evident that she doesn’t need my wealth to live a good life on

her own, Leo thought.

“Is your father a cobbler as well?” he asked. Amelie was sweating from the heat as she cooked, but

she froze and turned to look at the man when she heard his random question. Her brows were pressed

into a puzzled frown when she realized the way he worded his sentence. Why did he ask if my father’s

a cobbler ‘as well’? Does he know anyone else who’s in the same line of work?

She let out a laugh without questioning Leo. She didn’t explain the reason she was laughing, but Leo

was quick to understand the reason for her laughter. He had been married to Amelie for four years, yet

he didn’t even know what her father worked as. A rather bashful look surfaced in his cold expression.

He reached out and held onto her arm right before she brought the bowl of soup out to the dining area.

“Were you a frequent visitor of the hospital in Quinn Town?” he asked.

Amelie turned around to stare at him. Did he recall something? She was about to make a comment

when his phone rang out of nowhere. “You should pick it up,” she uttered after some hesitation. She

still wasn’t too sure about how she was going to talk to him about the past.

While Leo picked up his phone, Amelie took this chance to exit the kitchen. He only joined them a while

later, looking somewhat uneasy. He rubbed his long fingers against his brows for a while before

glancing at Amelie and Bria. Bria was sitting in Amelie’s lap, but she was looking at Leo.

Amelie, on the other hand, didn’t bother to meet his gaze. “You should leave if you have something to

do, Mr. Alston.” Her tone was harsh and cold. When she walked out of the kitchen earlier, she

overheard the voice on the other end of the line. She heard Elyse’s name coming up in the

conversation. If Elyse is still interacting with him at this point, then it’s clear that their relationship is

something beyond their regular friendship. I guess that’s good, Amelie thought. If Leo pays more

attention to Elyse, then Carol will stop blaming me for taking up Leo’s time.

“It’s not urgent,” Leo replied before he moved to sit beside Bria. Amelie stared at the man for a brief

moment, but the man was already busy picking up Bria’s bowl to scoop up some rice for her. He

scooped another bowl for himself before he reached for Amelie’s bowl in front of her. She was utterly

speechless at that point. Doesn’t he care about Elyse anymore? In that case, why did he seem so

uneasy earlier, then?

She only returned to her senses when she felt the weight of a bowl on her palm. What was I thinking

about? It doesn’t matter if Leo cares about Elyse. It’s none of my business. The person who should be

worried about this is Miss Joyner. Moreover, he’s probably only staying because he doesn’t want to

disappoint Bria. At that thought, Amelie looked up and focused on eating her meal.

She was a fast eater. She had been a much slower eater back when she was in Alston Residence.

Back then, she would slowly chew on one mouthful of food before swallowing it. She used to seem a lot

more cautious and fearful. She was so alert that she used to sit only on the edge of her chair. However,

right now, Amelie seemed much calmer and more natural in front of Leo. She didn’t even seem to

bother with her mannerisms as she casually ate her food.

Leo was stunned to see the way she ate. They had eaten in a restaurant the day before, so Amelie

might have been a little more careful with the way she ate then. However, when he saw her true nature,

he didn’t feel disgusted at all. If anything, he felt comforted by the sight of her. “Hurry up and eat,

Daddy,” Bria urged him by knocking on his bowl. Then, the younger girl placed some food in it.

“Thank you,” he uttered before he started eating his meal. Bria hurried off to play with her toys after

they were done with the meal. Leo watched as Amelie cleaned the table up with an apron around her

waist. For some reason, she seemed both similar yet completely different from the person she was

back when she was in the Alston Family. Leo couldn’t tell what the change was about.

When he glanced at his daughter, who was playing on her own in the hall, and the woman who was

hard at work before his eyes, he felt a wave of serenity washing over him. It felt as if he had finally got

home after walking through a snowstorm. This was something he had never experienced back when he

was in the Alston Residence.

Amelie felt somewhat puzzled when she walked out of the kitchen after washing her bowls. Why is Leo

still here? He still needs to work even if he doesn’t want to meet Elyse, right? Why is he acting as if he

has just shut down his business and has nothing better to do?

She was aware of how well Leo’s company was doing. They had just revealed their report for the first

quarter and saw a 300% increase in their net profit. Leo’s business used to be considered a significant

organization within the city, but at this point, it was practically recognized across the whole nation. He

didn’t have many competitors. Amelie heard that he had tons of projects to handle.

She was just thinking about that matter when she heard her doorbell ring. She had no idea who would

visit her at that time of the day. She was about to walk over when she saw Bria had already tottered

over to the door. “Grandpa must be home!” the little girl cried out excitedly as she pulled the door open.

Amelie didn’t hear Steven’s voice ring out even after the door was opened for a while. And Bria didn’t

say anything, either. Amelie turned around to see a wheelchair sitting outside her front door. Dressed in

white, a long-haired woman sat in the wheelchair with her face covered in makeup. It was none other

than Elyse.

Elyse’s leg hadn’t fully recovered yet, but she didn’t want to seem like a mess when she returned to the

company. So, she ordered her doctors to give her some painkillers before she put on her heels and

headed to work. However, she was back in a wheelchair right now, her arms resting on either side of

her wheelchair. Her legs were covered by long white pants, so one couldn’t see the condition of her

legs.

There were beads of sweat on her forehead, and she seemed rather anxious. When Elyse met gazes

with Bria, she reached her hands out and held Bria’s shoulders. “Is your father here, Bria?”

“What are you doing here?” Leo walked over with a grim look on his face. He bent down and picked

Bria up before giving Elyse an icy, distant glare. Elyse eyed him helplessly. She pouted at the sight of

how cold and heartless he seemed toward her. “I have some important matters I need your help with,”

she said.

“What is it?” he asked in the same icy tone.

Amelie was standing a distance away, quietly observing their interactions with one another. She could

hear Elyse’s soft reply. “It’s about my sister…”