“This is none of your fault, Amanda. He used you, just as he planned to use my daughter. So don’t apologise to me. Besides, you heard from your mother. Adeline helped her after the accident, even when she herself was in a bad condition. She chose to save you. That was just like her, always prioritising others. And you know what’s amazing? Even if you’re not her blood, you grew up to be just like her. You were passionate about honouring her memory, and you lived every day for both her and you. You were the best thing that happened to me after she was gone. So you’ll always be my granddaughter. You’re my family, do you understand?”
A tear rolled down Amanda’s face as she recalled Helena’s words after they had told her everything. She wiped her face and took a deep breath.
She was standing outside the mansion, in the backyard. It was late, around eleven o’clock.
The day had been a rollercoaster. Finally, everything was done. Helena had promised to make Charles pay for all the pain he had caused everyone. She had called her lawyers and set up an early morning meeting for the next day, which so happened to be New Year’s.
She had also asked Amanda and her mother to stay at the mansion until everything was settled.
Amanda had been speechless. But she shouldn’t have been surprised. Helena had always been so kind, and it had never been some kind of act made up to protect the family’s reputation. Looking at her, it wasn’t hard to see where Adeline had gotten her heart of gold.
Charles had said that Adeline had prioritized her over her life, and while his had been a lie, it wasn’t much different from the truth. Ruth had narrated to Helena how on the night of the accident, Adeline had tended to her before the paramedics arrived, despite her own injuries. She could as well have been the sole reason Amanda survived. Amanda didn’t regret spending most of her adult years until then trying to bring her dreams to life. It was just sad that it had all been futile.
Tipping her head, she looked up at the sky. It was clear and starlit, absolutely beautiful.
“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” Lucas’s voice came from behind her moments before a heavy jacket rested on her shoulders. “And cold.”
She smiled as she looked sideways at him. “Thank you.”
He looked down at her, a concerned look on his face. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and faced forward.
“It’ll be New Year’s in about an hour,” he commented.
“Yeah,” she agreed. During other years, she would be at some party, waiting to count down to the new year and watch a fireworks display.
“A new beginning.”
She nodded again but said nothing.
Lucas stepped in front of her and held her shoulders, his grey eyes looking into hers. Her heart swelled. She could never thank him enough for being with her through all this. Even when she pushed him away, he came back and didn’t try to cross the lines she had drawn. He was content just being there for her, and didn’t ask for anything in return.
If she let him go, she was sure of two things. One, it would take ages, if ever, to find someone like him.
Two, she would regret it.
His hands rested gently on the jacket he had placed on her shoulders. “Amanda, I hope you now realise there are people who care about you for you. And those who have misused your trust, well, it’s their loss. Just promise me you’ll not let them win.”
She knew what he meant. She hadn’t thought she could trust Lucas when they met, because of what happened with her engagement. But gradually, she had realised him and her ex-fiancé couldn’t be more different from each other. Her reluctance to trust Lucas with her heart had waned, and only the recent drama with Tyra and then Charles had gotten in her way. Within a week, they had toppled her world all over again, and she had found herself losing faith in everything she had ever believed in. But now, after all the sincerity Lucas had shown, it felt insensible, even to her, to let other people’s actions come between them.
She tore her eyes from his and stared at the ground between them. “I’m sorry, Lucas. You’ve been nothing but honest with me all along, you’ve given me so many happy moments, and yet I doubted you.”
Lucas’s hands rose to frame her face. “It’s not your fault. Right now, you badly want to protect yourself from being hurt again. It’s a natural response. I just wish there was a way I could show you my heart, then you’d know how badly I want to protect you from all the hurt. I know what you’ve been through, and I’d never forgive myself if I did anything to destroy your trust.”
A shaky smile graced her lips as she reached up to touch his face too. “I think you’ve shown me enough.”
He smiled too.
But her smile fell, and her face grew serious as her hand dropped to his chest. “I can’t really hide it anymore, but I like having you by my side. I need you. When I was at the resort, I wished you were there to comfort me, yet when you showed up, my fear won. And right now, my life is a mess, my emotions are all over the place, and I don’t want to latch onto you like some damsel in distress—”
“Latch onto me all you want, I promise I won’t mind.”
She laughed. “Lucas…”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Whether you like it or not, you’re a damsel in distress, and I’m the only knight available to you, Amanda. I’m a willing knight, so all you have to do is be my willing damsel.”
Her lips parted beneath his finger in a smile. “I’m not sure I want a cocky knight.”
He chuckled and removed his finger. “In all seriousness, though, Amanda, I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re a burden. I’m here to support you when you need it, and I don’t want you to ever feel bad about leaning on me. Okay?”
She nodded, then rose on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. “Okay.” Then she settled back onto her feet and looked up at him, her eyes staring into his. “I love you.”
She thought it would feel weird saying those words, because she had been so afraid for so long to admit it to herself. But the moment they left her lips, she felt a burst of joy in her chest. She wanted to say them again and again to him, because to her, nothing had ever sounded so true to her ears.
“I love you,” she repeated, her lips stretching into a smile. Rising to her feet again, she gave him a long kiss.
When she pulled back, he was smiling, his eyes twinkling in the dark. “I love you too, Amanda.”
He kissed her lips, then her cheeks, then her forehead. Finally, wrapping his arms around her body, he pulled her into a hug, holding her close. “I love you so much, Amanda.”