A Naive Bride for the Sophisticated CEO novel Chapter 74

“I’m done, Amelia. I’ll head out now. What else do you need for you and Alice? I’ll get everything.”

“When you go out, you’ll lock us in the house right?” She asked, staring at his face. Fred gulped hard and looked away.

“Yeah. I…”

“You don’t trust me to leave me alone in the house without restraint.”

“I’m sorry, Amelia. But I can’t be careless with you. Not anymore.”

Amelia chuckled and shook her head and looked at him. “You don’t have to feel so bad about it. I understand you, okay? But I have a request.”

Fred bounced his head slowly and looked at her. “What is your request?”

“Can I at least go with you? It’s been so long I took Alice on a stroll. She seems bored already. I would love to take her out today. So can we go with you to the mall? I’d be able to recollect other things I need when I see them too.”

“That is your request?” He asked, and she bounced her head excitedly.

“That’s all I’m asking. I’ll be with you and I promise I won’t try to do anything stupid. Maybe then, you’ll be able to trust me.”

“Okay. You should prepare then.” He responded, and she sprang to her feet in excitement and headed into the room where Alice laid.

*

They headed out of the house and walked down the lonely street to the busy road to board a taxi.

Amelia carried Alice in her arms, and rested her head on her shoulder. She dressed her in clothes that could shield her from the cold weather. She wore a head warmer on her head too.

Fred walked next to them and tried holding hands with Amelia. Amelia noticed this and made sure they had contact.

When he felt her hand touch his, he looked at her face and noticed she wasn’t even paying attention to him.

‘Does that mean she involuntarily made our hands touch? She doesn’t mind if I hold her hand in public?’ He thought.

He summoned courage and took her hand in his. When he held her hand, she looked at his face and grinned. She adjusted Alice and focused on her walking.

She also responded to his touch and held him too. Fred felt butterflies in his belly. His joy knew no bounds.

‘Is this real? Does she truly want us to be a thing, or she is just trying to gain my trust. I need to be very careful.’

Soon, a taxi approached them and Fred waved it down. They got into the taxi and headed to the shopping mall.

***

Penelope got back to James’ mansion feeling so tired. She got into the living room and found no one there.

“Where is everyone? Helen, are you there?! I’m back!” She called out, but got no response.

“James?!” She also called out but it was the same thing. She got to response.

“Where did they all go?” She slammed into the couch and pulled out her phone from her bag. She unlocked it and put a call across to Helen.

She placed the phone on her ear and waited for her to respond.

“Penelope. Are you back? I texted you that I’d be heading out to get groceries for dinner.”

“For real? Wow, I didn’t see the message. So you are at the mall now, right?”

“Yes. I’ll be back in twenty to twenty five minutes. We’ll prepare dinner together, okay?”

“Sure! What of James? He is nowhere to be found.”

“Oh, he went to the office. It was a very important and urgent issue, so he had to go. He’ll be back for dinner too.”

“Alright. See you soon.”

“Hold on! Charles will be there soon too. He is back from his trip and is heading straight to James’.”

Penelope’s heart sank to her belly as she listened to her. She gulped hard and nodded.

“Okay.”

“Please take care of him before I arrive. I told him not to return today but he would never listen. He can’t leave for a whole day when his son is under great pressure.”

“It’s understandable. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Sure! Bye!”

She hung up the call and placed the phone on the table. ‘So we’ll be alone. Oh God, I need to compose myself.’

She hurriedly stood up and adjusted her dress. She began to fidget and started shaking her legs. She folded her hands and started breathing hard.

“It’s been years, why do I still feel like this? Penelope, you have Hopper now.” She mumbled to herself.

“Ding! Dong!”

The sound of the doorbell jolted Penelope out of her thoughts and she sprang to her feet. Her heart began to thump against her chest vigorously as she approached the door.