Jackson helped Amelia into the car first before he got in himself.
Ignoring his injuries, he picked up a clean towel and wiped Amelia's wet hair.
His movements were very gentle for fear of hurting her. However, his expression changed when his gaze landed on her exposed skin.
Amelia, whom he had loved and cared for all his life, had been bullied so hard by that bastard.
This was not the first time. A full five years was enough to make Jackson regret a lifetime.
Seeing that Jackson was staring at her neck in a daze, Amelia subconsciously covered her neck and wrapped her coat tighter around her.
Jackson hurriedly explained, "Amelia, that's not what I meant. I just felt that I was too useless to make you hurt."
Amelia shook her head and said, "It's not his fault. I volunteered."
How could she blame James when she signed the agreement herself?
Jackson's heart trembled for a moment. Her willingness was harder for him to accept than if she had been forced.
Instead of answering, he continued to dry her hair with a dry towel.
Looking at him gently taking care of her, Amelia couldn't bear it, but there were some things that she had to make clear.
"Ryan, I have something to tell you..."
"Let's talk about it when we get back, okay?"
She was interrupted by Jackson as soon as she opened her mouth.
He seemed to have noticed something and didn't want to listen to her.
Seeing that his forehead was still wrapped in gauze, Amelia put down what she wanted to say first.
Jackson wanted to take her back to his villa, but Amelia didn't want to. She wanted to go back to Eva's apartment.
That small apartment gave her a sense of security. She could sleep better there.
Jackson had no choice but to send her back to her apartment, but he was unwilling to go upstairs because he was afraid that Amelia would tell him something after going upstairs.
Seeing this, Amelia was not hurrying to get out of the car. "Ryan, some things need to be made clear."
She didn't have much time left. This injury had worsened her condition. If it weren't for the special medicine that Stella gave her, she might not have had the strength to say much to him right now. While she still had some strength left, she wanted to ensure she said everything she needed to say.
"Don't take what I said in James's villa to heart. I said that just to leave safely."
She was referring to the sentence, "Now that Ryan is back, the misunderstanding has been resolved. I want to go back to him and be with him".
Jackson was smart enough to understand what she was talking about but couldn't accept it. "Why?"
She had already rejected James, so why wasn't she willing to return to him? Was she still blaming him?
Amelia looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ryan. It's my fault. I betrayed you first."
A trace of frustration appeared on Jackson's handsome face. "You didn't betray me. You sold yourself for me. And later, you did it because of anger...."
The corners of Amelia's mouth curled up slightly. "I was indeed angry at first, but later I was willing to do so."
Her light-hearted words made Jackson's breath catch.
It was as if a big hand was strangling his heart, making him unable to breathe.
"You.... fell in love with him?"
This question almost took Jackson's life away.
His eyes, which had finally recovered their original color, gradually turned red.
He looked at Amelia with his bloodshot eyes, pleading with her.
He seemed to be begging her to deny it. However, no matter how reluctant Amelia was to hurt him, she could only harden her heart now.
"Yes, I've fallen in love with him...."
She couldn't say if she loved James like she loved Ryan before or if she loved James more than she loved Ryan.
She always felt she couldn't help but fall in, and his every move was unforgettable.
Jackson had already realized it but didn't expect her to admit it.
She probably didn't care about his feelings because she didn't love him anymore.
It made sense. He had been absent for five years in that way, so it was normal for her to fall in love with someone else.
However, why did he feel so uncomfortable...
Jackson covered his chest and bent down in pain.
Heaving heavily, he tried to breathe but could not catch his breath.
The suffocating feeling gripped his heart, making it impossible for him to break free.
Sweat or tears rolled down her forehead.
In the end, he could only say, "Then what should I do..."
What should he do?
He had only lived for Amelia since he was a child.
She had fallen in love with James. What should he do?
Seeing him like this, Amelia's eyes were filled with guilt. "I'm sorry..."
Jackson raised his head, his bloodshot eyes reflecting her apologetic face. "I don't want your apology. I want you. Amelia, please don't love him anymore. Love me again, okay?"
He grabbed Amelia's cold hand and put it in his palm. "I'll treat you well in the future. I won't let you get hurt at all. Let's go back to the past and be as carefree as we were in school, okay?"
Amelia shook her head gently. "Ryan, we can't go back to the past..."
Jackson didn't believe her at all. "You're lying to me, aren't you? If you really loved him, you wouldn't have said those heartless words to him just now. You don't love him at all. You're just blaming me. That's why you lied to me like that..."
"I said those heartless words because he doesn't love me."
Amelia calmly interrupted Jackson. "He bought me because I look like Ms. Moore. I'm just a substitute. Now that Ms. Moore is back, he will marry her soon. I can only cut off all ties with him."
Another reason was that she was about to die. She didn't want James to see her miserable state before she died. It was too ugly.
She thought that even if she were to die , she had to leave a good impression on James. When he finds out in the future.
If he could still remember her in the future, he would only remember her delicate and beautiful face, not her disfigured appearance.
Jackson looked at her and suddenly gave a bitter smile.
If she was just a substitute, why did he touch her after Emily returned?
Moreover, James did it before him, clearly declaring his
sovereignty.
Perhaps it was because James had never expressed his feelings for Amelia that she didn't know how crazy the possessiveness hidden in that man's eyes was.
However, even though Amelia thought James didn't love her, she still fell in love with him. Jackson couldn't judge how deep her love was.
His heart ached as if a needle had pricked it, but he couldn't do anything to her.
He held her hand tightly, his fingertips trembling.
"Amelia, he doesn't love you. Can you let him go and start over with me?"
Even though he knew James had feelings for her, he didn't want to tell her. His selfishness only wanted Amelia to return to his side.
He couldn't remember when he started to fall in love with Amelia, but he had loved her since he could remember.
How could he let go of someone he had loved for half his life just like that?
However, Amelia pushed his hand away...
"Ryan, even if you don't mind, we can't start over..."
He was also the man she had once loved. Similarly, she did not want him to see her miserable state before she died.
Only by severing ties with him would he stop pestering her, and she could leave this world at ease.
"Ryan, do you know why I'm here to entertain you? It was Emily who forced me to do this. Otherwise, I would never have seen you again!"
"I've completely let go of you. I hope you can also let go of me and return to Imperial Capital to manage the Collins Group. That's your home."
After finishing her words in one breath, Amelia wanted to push the door and leave, but Jackson hugged her from behind.
He buried his head weakly in her neck and choked with sobs.
"Amelia, I can't let you go. I can't let go for the rest of my life. Don't abandon me, okay?"
Jackson was inherently stubborn and paranoid, unlike James, who was arrog ant and cold-hearted. Jackson won't just turn around and leave after a few harsh words. To break cleanly with him, Amelia had to be even harsher.
Amelia took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and said, "Mr. Collins, listen carefully. I don't care if you can let it go or not. Anyway, I don't love you anymore. If you keep bugging me now, you will only make me look down on you and annoy you."
She pried open his fingers one by one that were pressing against her waist and continued in a cold voice: "Do you think I can still reconcile with you after your elder brother kicked me twice? I'm telling you, it's impossible. Those two kicks only made me hate you even more, and because you didn't return to the Imperial Capital, I was forced to entertain you, which made me even more disgusted with you."
It was only a moment from being abandoned to disgusted, but Jackson felt like falling into hell, "Amelia.."
His face was full of disbelief as if he couldn't believe that Amelia, who used to be so delicate and lovely, would say such harsh words to him.
"Mr. Collins, there are plenty of women in the world. Why do you have to stay with me? Besides, I don't love you anymore."
Jackson's eyes were full of sadness. He stared blankly at Amelia in front of him, unable to utter a word.
Amelia clenched her fists, suppressed the pain in her heart, gritted her teeth, and said, "I don't want to entertain you anymore. Please go back to the Imperial Capital. Please don't come to me again in the
future. It's too annoying."
After saying this, she left without looking back, as if she didn't care at all.
As her fading figure disappeared from Jackson's blurred vision, the mist dampened his eyes, and at the moment when tears fell uncontrollably, Jackson came to his senses.
He pushed open the car door and followed the back unwillingly.
Amelia knew he was following her, so she sighed deeply and went upstairs alone, ignoring him.
She knew about Ryan's feelings for her. He had always doted on her since childhood, giving her everything she wanted. As they grew up, he worked hard to earn money to provide her with a good life. He had been working part-time jobs since high school.
Such a good young man must have loved her so much that he would do anything for her.
However, what she could repay him with was to shift her love and have less than two months to live.
She had once asked him what he would do if she had passed away before he.
Ryan said, "Then I'll go with you and commit suicide in front of your grave. I'll never let you be alone on the way to hell."
He was a man of his word, so she believed he would not do anything foolish now that he had found her home and had a backup plan. However, Amelia was still afraid to tell him she was about to leave this world.
She pushed the door open and ordered her apartment while Jackson stood guard at the door, staring at the door motionlessly.
The dozens of bodyguards behind him all looked puzzled
Their president seemed to have changed since a stick had hit him.
Although he still looked refined and noble, his eyes showed a trace of sadness.