AMELIA
1998 Words
Bella had been awake for less than an hour when someone knocked.
Not the hesitant knock of a servant.
Not the controlled, measured knock Alexander used.
This one came with three quick taps, followed by another two.
“Come in?”
The door swung open.
Amelia appeared in the doorway, holding two steaming cups of coffee and wearing an expression that suggested she had already decided they were going to be friends.
“Good,” she said. “You're awake.”
Bella sat up straighter.
Amelia walked inside and placed one of the coffees on the bedside table.
“I brought you this.”
Bella looked at the cup.
Then at Amelia.
“I think I’m beginning to understand why Alexander looked so exhausted yesterday.”
“He looked exhausted?”
“Emotionally.”
Amelia laughed.
“He always looks emotionally exhausted. He just usually calls it being intimidating.”
Bella smiled.
For the first time since entering Sterling Mansion, the walls seemed slightly less imposing.
Amelia dropped gracefully into the armchair beside the window.
“So,” she said.
“So?”
“You married my brother.”
Bella looked at her.
“I’m aware.”
“And you're not terrified of him.”
Bella thought about it.
“He's intimidating.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Bella's lips curved.
“No.”
Amelia leaned forward.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“You're the first woman I’ve met who has looked Alexander Sterling directly in the eyes and disagreed with him without immediately reconsidering every decision that led her to that moment.”
Bella laughed.
“He isn't that bad.”
Amelia's eyebrows shot upward.
“You've known him for how long?”
“A few days.”
“Exactly.”
Bella shook her head.
“He's complicated.”
Amelia studied her.
“That is an unusually generous description.”
“What's yours?”
“Emotionally constipated.”
Bella burst out laughing.
Amelia covered her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to contain her own laughter.
“I’m sorry,” Bella said.
“Don't apologize. I've been waiting years for someone else to say it.”
Neither woman noticed the figure standing outside the partially opened door.
Alexander had stopped on his way downstairs.
He heard Bella laugh.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard that sound in his house.
His gaze moved toward the doorway.
Amelia was sitting comfortably in Bella's room, talking animatedly while Bella smiled.
Something tightened unexpectedly in his chest.
Why did that bother him?
It shouldn't.
Amelia liked people easily. She always had. She could walk into a room full of strangers and leave twenty minutes later knowing everyone's birthdays, favourite desserts, and childhood traumas.
Bella, apparently, was no exception.
Alexander turned away.
He had more important things to think about.
Unfortunately, his feet remained where they were.
Inside, Amelia lowered her voice dramatically.
“Tell me something.”
Bella narrowed her eyes.
“That depends.”
“Did Alexander actually scare you on your wedding night?”
Bella nearly choked.
“What?”
“You know. The whole terrifying billionaire husband thing.”
Bella stared at her.
“Amelia.”
“What?”
“You're his sister.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn't be asking me that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's inappropriate.”
Amelia shrugged.
“Fine. I'll ask a different question.”
Bella waited.
“Did he threaten you?”
Bella considered the question.
“No.”
“Did he glare at you?”
“Yes.”
“Did he give you one of those speeches where every sentence sounds like a legal warning?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you that this marriage has nothing to do with love?”
Bella's smile faded slightly.
“Yes.”
Amelia's teasing expression disappeared.
For a moment, something almost like concern crossed her face.
“He said that?”
Bella nodded.
Amelia looked toward the window.
“That sounds like him.”
Bella noticed the change.
“What do you mean?”
Amelia was silent for several seconds.
Then she looked back.
“Alexander has never been good at admitting when something matters to him.
“Nothing matters to him.”
“That isn't true.”
The answer came so quickly that Bella paused.
Amelia sighed.
“He just learned a long time ago that caring about people gives them something to use against you.”
Bella's fingers tightened slightly around her coffee cup.
She thought about Alexander's expression whenever his father's name was mentioned.
The coldness.
The grief he tried to bury beneath control.
“What happened to him?” Bella asked quietly.
Amelia looked at her.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
Amelia leaned back.
“My father died when Alexander was twenty-four.”
Bella's heart gave a small, unexpected pull.
“I know.”
“No. You know what the newspapers said.”
Amelia's voice had changed.
“My brother found him.”
Bella said nothing.
“He was the one who identified him. He was the one who had to call me. He was the one who had to tell our mother.”
Amelia's eyes lowered.
“After that, Alexander changed.”
“How?”
“He stopped sleeping.”
They carried more weight than Bella expected.
“He became obsessed with the company. With finding out what happened. With making sure nobody could ever hurt this family again.”
Amelia looked at her.
“And then your father's name became attached to everything.”
Bella's gaze fell.
“I didn't do anything.”
“I know.”
Bella looked up sharply.
“I never believed your father was guilty.”
Bella's breath caught.
“You didn't?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Alexander's anger always seemed too simple.”
Bella frowned.
“Richard was dead. Daniel was blamed. Alexander needed someone to hate.”
Bella stared at her.
“And you think my father was innocent?”
“I think people rarely understand a tragedy while they're standing inside it.”
A silence settled between them.
For years, she'd been told the opposite.
That her father had betrayed Richard Sterling.
That the evidence had been undeniable.
Yet here was Alexander's sister, sitting in his mansion, telling her she had never believed the story.
A strange warmth spread through Bella's chest.
“Thank you.”
Amelia smiled.
“Don't thank me yet.”
Bella looked up.
“Why?”
“Because my brother is going to be unbearable when he discovers we've become friends.”
Bella laughed.
“I thought he was already unbearable.”
“He can get worse.”
“That doesn't seem possible.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Amelia leaned closer.
“You have no idea.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“I can hear you.”
Both women froze.
His expression was perfectly controlled.
His eyes were not.
Amelia smiled innocently.
“Good morning, Alexander.”
“You've been here for twenty minutes.”
“Twenty-three.”
His jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because your wife is interesting.”
Alexander's gaze shifted toward Bella.
She was sitting against the headboard, hair slightly dishevelled from sleep.
For one brief, treacherous second, his mind registered the softness of her appearance before reason slammed the door shut.
His eyes moved away.
Bella noticed.
He seemed to have developed an extraordinary habit of looking at her and then behaving as though the sight offended him.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“You looked at me strangely.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
Alexander's jaw flexed.
Amelia watched the exchange with undisguised amusement.
“Oh, this is going to be fun.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Leave.”
“Gladly.”
She walked toward the door, then paused beside Alexander.
“Oh, and Alexander?”
“What?”
“She likes coffee with two sugars.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I didn't ask.”
“I know.”
Amelia walked away.
“She likes you,” Alexander said.
“Your sister?”
“Yes.”
“She seems nice.”
“She is.”
The answer came quieter than expected.
“You love her.”
Alexander's eyes hardened.
“Of course I do.”
There was no hesitation this time.
Bella smiled faintly.
It was the first uncomplicated answer he'd given her.
Alexander noticed the smile.
And hated the effect it had on him.
His fingers curled at his sides.
He needed distance.
Immediately.
“You have breakfast in thirty minutes.”
Bella raised an eyebrow.
“Is that an invitation?”
“It's a schedule.”
“Very romantic.”
His eyes snapped to hers.
Bella smiled.
Alexander looked away first.
“Thirty minutes.”
He turned and left.
“What is wrong with that man?”
Downstairs, Alexander entered the dining room.
Sebastian was already seated at the far end of the table, reviewing documents.
He looked up.
“Good morning.”
Alexander sat.
“Morning.”
Sebastian studied him.
“You look irritated.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Amelia.”
Sebastian nodded.
“That explains it.”
Alexander opened a file.
“She has been in Bella's room.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty-three minutes.”
Sebastian's eyebrows rose.
“You counted?”
Alexander stopped.
He looked down at the document.
“No.”
“You just said twenty-three.”
“I heard them talking.”
“Right.”
“Don't.
“I haven't said anything.”
“You're about to.”
“I was merely going to observe that Amelia has apparently adopted your wife.”
Alexander returned his attention to the papers.
“That's her choice.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No.”
“You answered too quickly.”
Alexander slowly raised his eyes.
“Would you like to keep your job?”
“Very much.”
“Then eat your breakfast.
The doors opened.
Bella entered.
Alexander looked up.
And immediately regretted it.
She had changed into a simple dark-green dress, elegant without trying to be. Her hair fell naturally over her shoulders, and there was something infuriatingly effortless about her appearance.
His body reacted before his mind could intervene.
A tightening in his chest.
A subtle shift in his breathing.
His gaze lingered for half a second too long.
Then he forced himself to look away.
His wife because of revenge.
A complication.
Nothing more.
“Good morning,” Bella said.
Sebastian smiled.
“Good morning, Mrs. Sterling.”
“Please call me Bella.”
Alexander's gaze returned to her.
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because Mrs. Sterling sounds like I'm eighty.”
Sebastian laughed.
Alexander's mouth almost moved.
Almost.
Bella caught it.
“Were you about to smile?”
“No.”
“You were.”
“I wasn't.”
“You absolutely were.”
Sebastian looked down at his plate, suddenly fascinated by breakfast.
Alexander gave him a warning glance.
Bella reached for her coffee.
Then paused.
“Two sugars.”
She looked at Amelia, who had just entered the dining room.
Amelia winked.
Alexander stared at his sister.
“You told her.”
“I told her.”
Bella smiled.
Alexander looked between them.
Something strange happened inside him.
Not jealousy.
It was simply irritation.
Because somehow, in less than a day, Amelia had managed to make Bella comfortable in a house where Alexander had spent years making everyone else careful.
He should have been annoyed.
Instead, as Bella laughed at something Amelia said, he found himself watching her again.
The sound of her laughter filled the enormous dining room.
Their eyes met.
Neither moved.
His pulse betrayed him first.
Alexander broke eye contact.
Bella's lips curved.
She had seen it.
And for reasons she couldn't explain, she was beginning to wonder what exactly Alexander Sterling was trying so desperately to hide.
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