Aaron’s been searching for Sandra’s birth certificate for several days. He must have found something by now, Amelia pondered. She immediately called Aaron, “Hey, Mr. Hall, any luck with that birth certificate?”

“Found it,” Aaron said. “The hospital already sent it out. It’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Perfect, thank you.” Amelia’s face lit up with delight.

Her crystal-clear laughter rang out like a melody, washing over Landon’s ears and soothing his soul. His mood lifted instantly, and he couldn’t help but ask, “What did you need that for?”

“Well, Sandra is older than me,” Amelia explained with growing satisfaction. “Which means dear old dad was sneaking around with her mother before I even existed. If this little detail about her background gets out, the Foster family would never accept her.”

In high society, those rich ladies had zero tolerance for mistresses and illegitimate children. Sandra’s background was exactly the kind that would make these socialites turn up their noses in disgust—especially Pamela, who had suffered deeply from a mistress’ schemes in her earlier years.

Landon’s heart sank as he asked coldly, “You still have feelings for Zachary?”

“Of course not,” Amelia scoffed, looking at him like he’d lost his mind. “After everything that bastard put me through? Give me some credit.”

“Then why are you trying to stop his marriage to Sandra?” Landon sneered, a strange bitterness rising in his chest. Hmph, she’s clearly still hung up on her ex. What a foolish woman, he thought to himself.

“Because they don’t get to ride off into the sunset like nothing happened.” Amelia shrugged. “I don’t want to make things easy for them.”

Landon didn’t believe her, but it wasn’t his business anyway. Tired from work, he started to drift off to sleep.

“You don’t believe me?” Amelia grew agitated, shaking him vigorously. “I feel nothing but hatred for Zachary, not love. Really.”

Disturbed from his near-sleep, Landon had no choice but to respond, “Whether you love him or hate him, it’s none of my business.”

“It is.” Amelia was fuming, hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath from anger. After spending her last life being played for a fool, she’d sworn she wouldn’t let anyone pull the wool over her eyes again. She couldn’t understand why Landon simply wouldn’t trust her.

“Landon, wake up. We need to talk this through properly,” Amelia shook his arm, calling out. “Landon.”

Landon continued to feign sleep, still as a corpse.

“I know you’re awake,” Amelia hissed, pinching his cheek and gradually increasing the pressure. “You can hear me.”

If Landon could feel pain, Amelia was determined to rouse him from his fake slumber. If she couldn’t, well, she just needed to pinch harder. Her fingers dug into his skin, transforming Landon’s perfect features into a grimace.

“Amelia, what the hell are you doing?” Wesley suddenly burst into the room, his voice sharp with anger.

“I was just—” Amelia snatched her hands back as if burned, but the anger still coursed through her veins.

“First the ‘accident’ with his back this morning, and now this?” Wesley’s face was thunderous, his normally calm demeanor shattered. “This is patient abuse, Amelia.”

“I… I was just giving him a massage,” Amelia mumbled, knowing how pathetic it sounded even as the words left her mouth.

“Cut the crap,” Wesley sneered, “I saw the whole thing. You were messing with him.”

When Gloria came upstairs to investigate the commotion, Amelia felt even more reluctant to admit she’d been tormenting Landon in front of his mother. After a moment’s thought, she claimed, “We were just… practicing facial pressure points. You know, for relaxation?”

“Oh yeah?” Wesley’s lips curled into a smirk as he held up his phone. “Then how do you explain this?”

Amelia’s face burned as she stared at the photo on his screen. There was no way to sugar-coat it – the photo clearly showed her being a complete jerk to Landon.

Gloria’s face hardened. “Amelia, what on earth-”

“It was his idea,” Amelia cut in desperately, throwing Landon under the bus without a second thought.

Gloria’s eyes lit up with sudden understanding. Ah, spicing things up in bed, huh? That’s sweet… Though it’s a bit embarrassing – who knew Landon was into that kind of thing? she thought.

“Mrs. Gloria, don’t believe her,” Wesley protested indignantly, pointing at Amelia. “She twisted Landon’s waist this morning, and now she’s pinching his face.” He had always felt Amelia wasn’t good enough for Landon.

“Oh honey,” Gloria chuckled, shaking her head. Wesley, still single, was absolutely shocked. “Mrs. Gloria, has she managed to deceive you too?”

“Well…” Gloria’s cheeks flushed. “You’ll understand once you have a girlfriend.”

A terrifying thought suddenly struck Wesley. Does Mrs. Gloria play these games with her husband too?

“Watch closely, Dr. Harrington. We aren’t over yet.” Amelia’s voice was steady despite her racing pulse as she cradled Landon’s face in her hands. Her lips brushed against his – a feather-light kiss that ended almost as quickly as it began. Landon’s mind went completely blank. Amelia, have you lost your mind? I dare you to do that again.

Amelia stood up, her cheeks flushed, and boldly challenged Wesley, “Well, Dr. Harrington? Was that clear enough for you?” Wesley stood rooted to the spot, looking like he’d been pole-axed.

Amelia’s heart hammered against her ribs as she tried to catch her breath. In both her lives, this was her first time kissing a man. She hadn’t expected it to feel so electric.

“Oh Wesley, stop making such a fuss,” Gloria chuckled behind her hand. “You should focus on finding yourself a girlfriend instead.”

“Hey, I’m working on it,” Wesley protested with a boyish grin. “There’s someone special, but you know… these things take time.”

“Then hurry up and get her, and you can have all the kisses you want,” Amelia teased with a slight smirk.

She studied Wesley with amusement. Who would’ve thought the brilliant and handsome Dr. Harrington was such an innocent soul? she mused to herself. If Landon’s friend is like this, he must be quite the gentleman himself.

“You…” Wesley sputtered indignantly, then grumbled, “Well, how do you explain his sprained back then?”

Gloria slapped her hand over Wesley’s mouth, “Stop asking. Just stop.” She was convinced Landon’s injury must have resulted from some rather passionate bedroom activities that led to him falling off the bed.

“Mrs. Gloria…” Wesley shot Gloria a wounded look. Great, he thought. Amelia’s got both Landon and Gloria wrapped around her little finger.

“How bad is his back?” Amelia asked, fidgeting with her sleeve.

“It’s sprained. Any worse and he could have dislocated his spine,” Wesley replied angrily.

“Right. Um, next time I’ll be more careful not to fall off the bed,” Amelia said sheepishly, glancing at Gloria to make sure she wasn’t angry.

“Wesley, go change Landon’s bandages now,” Gloria urged.

Amelia was secretly alarmed she hadn’t realized Landon’s injuries were serious enough to need bandaging.

After changing the bandages, Wesley paused at the doorway and couldn’t help but add reproachfully, “Just… Please make sure Landon doesn’t get hurt again.”

“I won’t let it happen again, I promise.” Amelia nodded vigorously.

“It’s getting late now. Amy, you must be exhausted after a long day at the office. You should get some rest,” Gloria said, her eyes casually drifting to the documents on the desk. Sure enough, they were already signed with comments added.

Amelia has zero work experience – how could she possibly know all this? Gloria mused to herself with an approving nod. Aaron wasn’t exaggerating – there’s something about her that gets through to Landon. I haven’t seen him this responsive in weeks. Maybe we’ll finally get the old Landon back.

Gloria smiled fondly, convinced that Amelia was truly heaven-sent. She left the room with a knowing smile, giving Amelia and Landon some privacy.

Finally alone, Amelia let out a relieved sigh. She reached out to examine Landon’s waist, wanting to check his injury.

The moment her fingertips brushed against his skin, electricity seemed to crackle between them. Landon drew in a sharp breath. “Ah-”

Amelia quickly pulled her hand back. “Does it still hurt?”

Don’t touch me, Landon snapped, his tone sour.

Amelia’s growing boldness was doing things to Landon’s composure. That fleeting kiss – soft as a whisper against his lips – had left an imprint he couldn’t shake, no matter how hard he tried.

“Fine, I won’t touch you. You can have the bed tonight.” Amelia’s lips turned down in a slight pout, looking slightly hurt.