Deeply Wounded

~Song Recommendation: Jealous by Nina~

Tears came falling from Amy's eyes. She bowed down as she sobbed silently trying to hide her current state from the other people in the restaurant.

Her chest was in so much pain knowing that she just broke the heart of the man that she cared for. Who had been nothing but good to her and her family and loved her for years.

She doesn't want to do this, but what can she do when her stubborn heart beats for someone else? God knows how she tried to love him back over the years they spent together but the only thing that she can feel for him is brotherly love, nothing more, nothing less.

She was afraid that this time would come and she would lose another loved one. She had lost so many people and things in her life and if possible she wanted to keep Ash by her side. But it would be selfish of her to do that, now that she is aware that his heart is breaking into a million pieces; and it's her fault.

He is not an object that she can decide on what to do, he is not hers. She can't believe that she is doing this to him. If she feels this much torment, how much more is he feeling now?

"Amy…" she heard him say and she froze, petrified to look at him.

She couldn't hold it anymore, she burst out, cried her heart out, and covered her face with both of her hands. "I'm sorry… I'm so... so sorry…" Those were the only words that came out of her mouth.

Seeing her predicament, Ava and Mitch stood up from their seats but Ash signaled to them that everything was fine and that he got this under control. Since they were eavesdropping on Amy and Ash's conversation from the start, they sat back in their seats, knowing that Amy was safe, she was just pouring out her emotions.

"Amy, don't cry, I hate seeing you cry like this, it hurts me more to see that you're crying because of me," even though Ash is deeply wounded on the inside, he still can not hate her.

It's not her fault for falling for him, just like how he fell in love with her. He knows that despite Amy not seeing her as a man, she still holds him dear to her heart.

Perhaps he can accept that for now, just like what he has been doing for so many years now. Maybe her feelings for Henry will pass. They just met and it could be that she was overawed by him and someday she will have a change of heart.

He is patient and forbearing when it comes to Amy. He is willing to court her for as long as he needs to; he will wait for her to love him back. But it doesn't mean that he will just sit and watch while Henry is enjoying what he believes to be his.

Hearing him utter those words, she tried to calm down. She doesn't want to magnify his sorrow any more than she did.

When Amy finally stopped crying, Ash looked at Ava as he stood to move beside Amy; he silently asked for permission if he can sit beside her.

And as if Ava understood what he meant, she nodded and looked back at her food. She doesn't see or feel that it's wrong even though their boss strictly instructed them to not let Ash go near or touch Amy in any way. She will allow it this time given the situation.

Amy needs someone to comfort her and Ash is the best person to do that now, knowing their history.

Ash gave Amy a quick but tight hug, he smiled at her when he released her. It was not a blissful smile. It was a rueful beam that was evidently forced, and Amy knew that.

She has hurt him, but here he is, still trying to appease her. Trying his best to smile to lessen her guilt.

"Thank you for being honest with me Amy… I'll be OK… If ever things between you two did not work out, I am here…" But damn he is not OK, he is far from being OK. He is raging with anger and wrath.

At that moment he wanted to drag Henry to hell and beat him over and over until he begs to just kill him; to end his suffering. He has killed Henry in his mind over and over again ever since the night of the party.

He is so infuriated that even if he wants to spend more time with Amy, he has to part ways with her because is starting to lose his temper, and his heartbeat is increasing every second that he is with her. He can feel that the tightness in his chest is increasing.

He wanted to release that pent-up anger and the last thing that he wants is to lash out in front of her. "Amy I will not let you go…" he whispered, not wanting to let Ava and the rest hear him.

"I will not give up on you, one mistake from Henry, and I will take you away… I promise you that…" he added.

Amy listened to him silently as she kept her eyes on her hands that were fidgeting on the table. She doesn't want to make any movements that will make Ava and her team report this incident to Henry.

"I just hope you will not push me away, that's my only request," he muttered as he let out a heavy sigh, for the pain in his chest is not gonna go away any time soon.

"I will never do that Ash, we are family…" she mumbled as she anxiously looked at him, afraid to see the agony on his face that she caused.

"Thank you… I'll go ahead first, I have to go back to my office… I'll see you at Mary's party…" he pats her shoulder as he stands up. He walked away without waiting for her response.

Ava, Mitch, and Dave hastily moved to Amy's table to check on her. "Damn, your eyes and nose are so red. Boss will kill us if he sees you like this," Dave scoffed as he poured water into an empty glass and gave it to Amy.

"Please promise me that you won't tell him. I don't wanna cause trouble for Ash. We've known each other for more than twenty years now. He won't hurt me I promise you," Amy almost begged Dave and the rest.

"We won't don't worry. Ash paid the bill before he left, so how about you continue shopping, we'll stay with you this time, so cheer up. Let's buy toys for Jena and Jayson until you go broke, how about that?" Ava picked up Amy's bag and pulled her to stand so they could accomplish what they had come there for.

The four of them spent their whole afternoon in the mall buying different things that they thought the kids would like. From toys to books and art supplies.

Amy seems to feel uplifted after buying a lot of gifts for Jena and Jayson. It was actually too much that all four of them had trouble carrying all the paper bags and boxes going to the car park.

It's been a long while since the last time the siblings had anything new or they like, except for the necessities. Back then Amy couldn't waste a single penny as she needed every piece of it for the operation.

'I wonder how they are doing,' Amy mused. It has been more than a week since they left. She got so busy with the investment contract contest that she was not able to call them daily. The last time she talked to them was four days ago when she was on the farm preparing for their presentation.

Aunt Alice said that Jayson hasn't been given a schedule for the operation yet, since the doctors are waiting for his glucose level to normalize before they can perform any operation.

They said that it usually happens and is a known side effect when a patient takes steroids for a long period of time. But it was something unavoidable since he needed that to control the inflammation in his legs.

She was also able to talk to the doctor in charge and was told to not worry since they were monitoring Jayson very closely. His blood chemistry is improving every day, so if everything goes as they hoped, he might have the surgery this coming weekend.

'I miss those two rascals,' she smiled internally, feeling happy that even if her lunch was a mess, there were still a lot of things to be grateful for.

They arrived home just about before dinner and Amy hurriedly went inside and left everything she bought to Charles, Demi, and some of the maids.

She went straight to Henry's study but he was not there. She was about to climb the grand staircase when Charles saw her.

"Ms. Bell, Mr. Welsh is not yet home. He said he would be late tonight to finish some work. He told me to tell you to not wait for him. He'll see you in the morning."

Amy pouted upon hearing this and instructed the butler to just bring her dinner to her room. She's tired from all the drama she went through today and prefers to eat alone if Henry is not there to join her.

She still has a lot of work to do in her book anyway, so this might be a blessing in disguise, she thought.

The time passed quickly after doing a lot of unpacking and writing. She felt proud and motivated by everything that she had attained today. However, she felt that it seemed like something was missing that she couldn't remember.

She tried to think hard about what it was. Then she remembered, she hadn't talked to Henry the whole day. This is the first time that it happened ever since she signed his six months contract.

Even when he was overseas, they always talked over the phone, but today, no one dialed each other's number.

She tosses and turns in her bed, brooding if she will call him or not.

In the end, she picked up her phone and called him. His phone rang several times but to no avail. She tried one more time and still the same.

She stopped attempting, thinking about what Charles had said, that he was finishing some work. Before she could put her phone on the side table, it beeped and she immediately unlocked it to see what it was.

It was Henry, and although it wasn't the video or voice call that she was waiting for, she was still delighted that he responded back.

[Sorry baby, I'm in the boardroom right now. We're having a meeting with some of the executives about your farm, so I can't call you right now. Please don't stay up late waiting for me. Go to sleep, I'll fill you in tomorrow. Got to go now. Goodnight.]

Amy was scrunching her eyebrows while reading the message. She got curious regarding what is it about her farm that it took them this late just to talk about it.

It must be serious, for him not to be able to spare her a few minutes of his time, she thought. But the thing that is really eyebrow-raising is that there was no 'I miss you,' in the text. 'Does it mean that he did not really miss me?' she pondered.

She remembered the list that she was trying to complete to reward him. In there, she saw three that she could pull off at once. 'Record a romantic message for him; Wear his clothes and take a photo; Send a naughty voicemail,' and that's what she did.

She went to Henry's room and put on his oversized sleeveless shirt that had wide openings on the sides. She wore that without her bra and took a picture of herself in front of a full-length mirror.

She then sent it to him together with her recorded message. [I'm borrowing this if you don't mind. It's so comfy to sleep in this without wearing anything underneath. I miss you, Henry, goodnight.]

"That should be naughty enough even though it is not a voicemail," She chuckled. She tried her best to come up with something naughty, to follow the list.

She had done seven out of fifteen, so she only needed to do eight more, she pondered as she then turned off her phone, thinking that Henry might call her back after getting her message.

She was blushing and so embarrassed at herself right now for what she just did that she didn't want to talk or face Henry this soon.