A Matter of Wife and Love by Mila

Someone held her just in time, though barely—it was the driver. Before Amelie could do anything, she was held by

the waist and pulled away from the driver just then. Then, she saw the silhouette of a man standing beside her. It

belonged to someone she could recognize anywhere.

Leo was silent. His lips were pursed, and he shot a sharp look at the woman who mindlessly opened her door

without checking her surroundings. Scared, the woman fell back into the car, and the door slid shut automatically,

slamming into her foot.

The driver—most likely the woman’s boyfriend—tried to help, but he was too late.

The woman howled in pain.

“Next time you’re so careless, you’re not getting off with just a bruised foot,” said Leo coolly.

When the driver raised his head to meet Leo’s eyes, he froze as if stricken by fear. In most cases, the man

should’ve fought with Leo to protect his girlfriend, but the murderous gleam within Leo’s gaze had made him

chicken out.

Amelie thought the way Leo punished the woman was a bit too much, though what the woman did earlier was

indeed careless. If Amelie hadn’t moved back fast enough, the door would have slammed into Bria and her. In the

end, she merely thanked the man and didn’t say anything else after that.

Leo pulled his hand back and took Bria into his arms. Then, he went ahead without saying another word.

Amelie scratched her nose in confusion. Is he… mad? Did I do something wrong? She spent four years observing

the man. She knew how he expressed his anger, but she hadn’t gotten to know him too well, so she had no idea

why he was angry. Though, she didn’t bother to figure out the reason and went after them.

Leo and Bria entered the elevator. The moment Amelie was about to walk into the elevator, the door started sliding

shut. Most elevator doors would open back up the moment they slammed into someone, but that slam was awful

nonetheless. Figuring she wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge it, Amelie closed her eyes as she waited for the impact

to land, but she felt nothing even after a long while.

“Come in, Mommy,” Bria said.

When Amelie opened her eyes, she saw a pair of hands holding the doors back. Those were Leo’s hands, and Bria

was hanging from the man’s neck, holding him tightly.

Amelie quickly hopped in and stood at the corner.

Leo pulled his hands back in silence and held Bria once again while throwing a glance at Amelie. His gaze filled with

admonishment.

The little girl in his arms chuckled. “You’re such an airhead, Mommy. Good thing Daddy is always protecting you.”

Her head bumped into the man’s chin as she giggled.

The man said nothing. He merely covered her head with his hand so she wouldn’t hurt herself. He looked just like a

father taking care of his child.

An old woman who shared the elevator with them happily said, “It’s a father’s job to protect his wife.” She looked at

them. “The three of you look great together, not to mention beautiful, too. You’re the perfect family I’ve ever

seen.”

Amelie wanted to say they were not a family, but then she noticed the smile on her daughter’s face. It was a

beautiful, happy smile. If I said that, that’d be too cruel to her. I should stay quiet instead. With that in mind, she

remained silent.

Even though she tried not to look at Leo’s face, she could still see his chin and lips when she looked at Bria since he

was holding the little girl. She couldn’t help but notice a slight smile on his lips. Is he… smiling? Why? She realized

just then she might actually not know the man that well.

Starlight Tower’s restaurant was resplendent and bright, and it was filled with comfy little couches. The place looked

like a warm and inviting cottage. Since Leo made his reservations, they got the window view. The city unfurled

beneath them, and lights were coming on like stars twinkling in the night sky.

Bria giggled happily, extending her hands in an attempt to catch the ‘stars.’ Leo let her do what she wanted.

The food here was marvelous. A moment later, they were served with big Amidalia lobsters, beautifully cut foie

gras, and T-bone steaks imported from Amidalia. In the end, the manager even served them wine, saying that the

patrons dubbed them ‘the best customer for the night.’ After pouring them two glasses of wine, the manager

bowed before leaving the family of three to dine in peace.

Amelie looked at the wine awkwardly. She figured the both of them shouldn’t be drinking wine together since they

were not a couple. Thus, she ignored it and focused on cutting the steak for Bria.

Elegantly, Leo picked his glass up and twirled the wine within, though his gaze fixed on the lady and the girl. He

noticed Amelie trying clumsily to cut the steak, and he smiled.

Thanks to Steven feeding her all kinds of food since she was a child, Amelie didn’t really have any desire to eat

these kinds of food. She seldom went for fine dining over the years. Even during the times that she did go, Julia

would be the one to cut up the steak for her. Ever since she married Leo, she never ate out. This was the first time

she was cutting up steak, and she wanted to do it well, but the cutlery wouldn’t do as she wanted them to. She

either couldn’t cut the meat up, or it would slide past the knife. A few moments later, droplets of sweat formed on

her forehead, making her look miserable.

Just when she was wondering what she should do, someone took the plate away. Surprised, she looked up only to

meet a gaze of resignation and… a hint of love. No way. I must be seeing things.

Amelie was stunned for a while, only snapping out of it when Leo extended his hand toward her. Oh, he’s trying to

help. She quickly handed the cutlery to him. Once he had the cutlery, like a noble from the medieval era, he cut

into the steak perfectly, slicing them up into perfect, equal sizes. The pieces of meat looked just like a work of art.

That’s a super-rich guy for you. While Leo was cutting up the steak, Amelie wrote some replies to her more urgent

texts. When she raised her head again, two plates of bite-sized steak sat before her. One of those plates was given

to Bria. Just when she thought the other one was for Leo himself, he pushed it to her.

Oh, you shouldn’t. Though, Amelie didn’t reject his kind gesture. She dug right into it like her daughter. Unlike Leo,

both of them were wolfing the meat down.

Despite Leo’s distaste for people who had no regard for table manners, he couldn’t bring himself to dislike these

girls. Instead, he felt proud, thinking that he managed to make these girls happy.

While they were having the time of their lives, Elyse was having the time of her life as well, only in the opposite way.