Hopeless Romantic.

Spending three hours and having gone through every kind of treatment one could imagine, Ashley had had enough.

"Did you have a good time?" Amelia came out wearing her clothes, a grin on her face.

Ashley could only force a smile after witnessing her happiness. "Yes." At least one of them had a good time.

It wouldn't have been torture—if not for her engagement tomorrow.

Somewhere in the middle, her nerves had started jangling at the thought of it.

After the first meeting with the family, Ashley had already been reluctant to go through a second. But that wasn't all.

From tomorrow onwards, it would mark the beginning of her three miserable years.

Not that life had been great so far—it had been miserable too—but this would be a different kind of miserable.

"Hey, didn't you enjoy yourself? You don't look happy."

"Nothing like that. You're taking it the wrong way. I'm just nervous about tomorrow," Ashley said, waving her hands.

Amelia heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm sure it must feel unbelievable. You must've dreamt about this moment so many times. Now that it's finally happening, it doesn't even feel real."

She said it dreamily.

So she was one of those—a hopeless romantic.

Ashley forced a blush. She had no other choice, though she wished she could just give a deadpan look.

It was unbelievable—but not in the way she'd ever imagined. Not even in her nightmares.

"Since we're done here, let's go shopping!"

Ashley parted her lips, but not a single word came out.

Having no other choice, she followed her.

Skylar had a craze for shopping—she twisted and turned in it, as if it gave her pleasure.

But Amelia... she was on a whole other level. Just a glance, then a point, and the outfit was packed. They were currently in a nearby mall, also owned by the Clarks.

Behind them, a group of shop assistants followed.

Each one of them was already carrying three to four bags.

Ashley's mouth fell open. She was speechless.

What kind of shopping mania was this, oh heaven?

Amelia didn't seem like she was planning to stop! It was the seventh store they were entering, and she was blindly picking up outfits and handing them over.

"Did you burn all your clothes before coming out today?" Ashley couldn't keep it in anymore.

It was fine if Amelia wanted to shop, but at least spare her the walking! She just wanted to sleep!

"Ah, these?" Amelia looked at her. "These are for you."

Ashley choked on air. "W-what? Why though?"

"Consider it your engagement gift," she replied, unbothered.

"..."

Ashley felt like she was going crazy. She wanted to pull her hair out. "Look, I don't need anything. I appreciate the thought."

"About that," Amelia flashed her an innocent smile, "this order came from my dear cousin."

"Y-your cousin? Michael?"

"He didn't exactly tell me to shop. He just gave me his card and told us to bond. My definition of bonding is shopping."

Ashley massaged her forehead. What kind of bonding was this?

"But I still don't need clothes." Ashley looked helplessly at the bags. The more she tried to minimize the favors, the more kept getting added.

"We've already bought them. The mall has a no-return policy," Amelia shrugged.

"Then you take them."

"I can't. I picked them keeping your style in mind," Amelia said persistently. "We're done here now. Let's go somewhere else."

Before Ashley could argue, Amelia linked their arms and led the way to the car.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. It wasn't hard for Amelia to notice the gloom around her, but she chose not to comment.

By the time they had finished everything Amelia had planned, evening had set in.

"I hope you had a great time." Amelia's cheerfulness never wavered.

"I did." It wasn't entirely false.

Despite the looming thoughts of the shopping and the engagement, there had been small moments here and there that were good.

Amelia was actually good company—at least someone normal from that family.

"Now," Amelia clapped her hands enthusiastically, "it's time for a nice dinner before I finally let you go."

"Alright." Ashley had long stopped saying no. One thing she understood today—no one from the Clarks ever took no for an answer.

As Amelia began driving, the low-key black car made its appearance again. That was when Ashley realized they'd been followed all day.

Surprised, she voiced her doubt. "Was your bodyguard following us the whole time?"

Amelia grinned. "Yesss."

"I didn't even realize."

"He's that good of a bodyguard." And maybe it was her imagination, but Ashley noticed a distinct twinkle in Amelia's eyes.

"Is he older than us?" All the bodyguards she'd seen with Michael were over forty. She was sure of it.

"Yes—but just by two years."

"That young? How good of a fighter is he if he's the only one protecting you?"

"Amazing. Actually, he and Michael trained under the same trainer. That's how they became friends. Once, Michael got into trouble with some local goons—and let me emphasize, they were bulky and ridiculously strong."

Ashley mentally skipped the part where Michael was mentioned.

"Michael and Sebastian fought them off. That's when Grandpa noticed him. Coincidentally, it was around the same time I was rebelling against the long line of bodyguards assigned to me."

"So Grandpa told me to pick any man who could pass his tests, and that would be the only one I'd have to deal with."

Ashley asked curiously, "So you picked Sebastian?"

Amelia shook her head. "I almost didn't. But then something happened, and Sebastian came forward himself, asking me to choose him."

"And you agreed?"