Chapter 853 Inviting Trouble
Startled, Oscar instinctively wanted to soothe the sorrow in Amelia’s eyes. He had already stepped forward, but unexpectedly, someone pulled his arm in the next second.
“Oscar, what are you trying to do?” Isabella asked pitifully. Oscar regained his senses and smiled at her before replying, “Nothing.”
Olivia looked at the interaction between the duo, then at Amelia, who stood at the stairs and seemed hesitant to come down. A cold glint flashed across her eyes as she chastised, “Oscar, what in the world are you doing? Amelia is your wife, yet you used Isabella to upset her. Are you trying to humiliate her? Before this, I was angry with Amelia for leaving with Tony, but you insisted on remarrying her, so I gave in. The three of you should now be living a happy life together as a family, so what’s the meaning of this? Are you trying to send me to an early grave because you think I’m too healthy?”
Oscar’s expression turned grim, yet a doubtful glint flashed in his eyes. Subconsciously, he turned to look at Isabella, who gave him an innocent look before uttering softly, “Oscar, you won’t leave me, right?”
Concealing the puzzlement in his eyes, Oscar wrapped his arm around her waist and claimed, “Mom, Isabella is the woman I love. Regardless of what you think about her, I’ll never break up with her.”
Hearing that, Olivia scoffed in anger.
“You’re saying the woman you love is Isabella?” To Olivia, his words were an absurd assertion. “Who is Amelia to you, then? Oscar, even if you want to agitate Amelia, you shouldn’t make up a story like that. Do you know how hurtful that is?”
Oscar frowned and answered, “Who is Amelia? Mom, why do you keep bringing her up? There isn’t anything between her and me.”
When she heard his response, Olivia’s knees weakened, and her expression turned gloomy. It was only then she realized the seriousness of the situation. She knew Oscar wouldn’t possibly joke about such a thing childishly. Everything was fine yesterday, but now he’s acting as though he’s lost his memory. Of course, it’ll arouse anyone’s suspicion to hear that.
Olivia glanced at Isabella calmly, an indescribable glint flashing in her eyes. Clenching her fists, she suppressed the bewilderment in her chest before she beckoned to Amelia, who was still standing at the staircase.
“Amelia, hurry and come downstairs. Don’t fight with your husband. You know my heart can’t handle the stress,” Olivia suggested in a gentle voice. She acted as if she did not notice the change in Oscar’s emotions.
After hesitating for a moment, Amelia took a deep breath and walked down.
She went straight to Oscar, ignoring that he was holding Isabella’s hand tightly. “Oscar, do you truly not know me?” she questioned calmly.
Inadvertently, many scenes crossed Oscar’s mind when he stared intently at her. His heart suddenly softened, and he had the urge to reach out to touch the woman in front of him. Moreover, a niggling sensation at the back of his mind kept telling him the woman looked very familiar.
Meanwhile, Isabella gripped his hand tightly while shooting daggers at Amelia. “Ms. Winters, I’m the one Oscar loves. I hope that you won’t disturb our life.” Her tone sounded like she was staking her claim on Oscar. With that, she raised her head to look at Oscar before she uttered pitifully, “Oscar, didn’t you hate her in the past? Since you claim that you despise her, there’s no way that you can’t remember her.” Professor Zabinski told me he switched Oscar’s memories of me with Amelia. But why can’t he recall her now? After the effects of the medication and deep hypnosis, Oscar should hate Amelia, so why is this happening?
Oscar lowered his head to look at her and queried, “Should I hate her?”
Immediately, Isabella’s heart sank before she responded awkwardly, “Oscar, don’t tell me you like her?”
Oscar lifted his hand to tap her forehead and said gently, “Don’t overthink. You’re the only one I love.” Despite saying so, there was not much warmth within his eyes.
Compared to Isabella, he could not bring himself to be ruthless to Amelia. Instead, he kept feeling as though he had known the latter for a long time.
As he switched his gaze to Amelia, she met his eyes. “Oscar, have you truly forgotten me? If you’re just kidding, I’m willing to wait for you, no matter how long it takes for the joke to end. You promised to keep me company until we grow old, and then we’ll visit all the beautiful places in the country together. Besides that, you also mentioned we’ll build a classical bamboo building at the beach when we’re older, where we could wake up hearing the sound of the ocean. I’ll never forget all the promises you’ve made, and I’ll wait until the day you snap back to your senses. Don’t let me wait for too long, okay?” she asked with her lips curled slightly.
Upon hearing her words, Oscar felt a twinge in his heart. Suddenly, it was as though a part of his heart had become empty.
Cradling his head, he slowly crouched down and roared lowly. For a moment, he even doubted his own identity. He could remember everything, but Amelia was not in any of his memories. Nevertheless, he found her exceptionally familiar when he looked at her. It was as if they had known each other for years and gone through a lot together. Even though Isabella was the love of his life, he could not find the same feelings with her. On the contrary, he even felt a sense of dissonance between them.
Just as Amelia was about to squat down to check on Oscar, Isabella pushed her away.
“Go away! Oscar was clear in his rejection of you and already claimed he didn’t love you. Why are you still clinging to him like a burr?” Isabella cried.
Since she had gone to great lengths to make Oscar fall in love with her, she could not bear to let all her efforts go to waste.
As a result of being pushed, Amelia stumbled a few steps back and almost toppled to the ground.
Olivia held Amelia steady before she pulled Isabella up and howled, “Isabella, what have you done to Oscar? I accepted you as my goddaughter but not for you to take advantage of the Clinton family! You can’t do whatever you want in the Clintons’ territory. No matter what, Amelia is the Clinton family’s daughter-in-law and the real mistress of the house. You’re not allowed to be presumptuous!”
Isabella shook off Olivia’s hand and ran toward Oscar to hide behind him right away. “Oscar, help me! I’m scared,” she uttered in a piteous tone.
Instinctively, Oscar shielded her before getting to his feet. He looked at Olivia with a stoic expression while radiating a powerful presence. “Mom, you can vent your anger on me. Just don’t give Isabella a hard time.”
Olivia was so exasperated that she laughed.
Waving her hand, she replied, “Fine, I won’t get angry. I just want to reason with the Walker family.”
Meanwhile, Carol rushed over and grabbed Isabella. “Isabella, what the heck are you trying to do this time? Let me tell you, here isn’t the place for you to cause a ruckus. Come on, go back with me. Don’t annoy Mrs. Clinton any further, or I’ll skin you alive,” she chided.
Oscar knitted his brows and pulled Isabella over before responding, “Mom, Isabella is my woman now. Please don’t boss her around.”
Carol’s jaw dropped open at his response.
“O-Oscar, w-what did you call me?” she gibbered.
“Isabella is my wife, so how is it wrong for me to call you Mom?” Frowning, Oscar felt that everyone on that day was acting strange as they appeared astonished by his actions.
In fact, his unusual behavior was indeed a complete surprise.
Carol gulped at how things were spiraling out of control. If I don’t deal with this issue properly, the Walkers and the Clintons might become enemies. After all, Oscar is acting strangely, as though he’s possessed. Moreover, my daughter is the instigator of this incident. Mrs. Clinton is no fool. She’ll never tolerate a woman who caused her son to become like this by marrying into her family.
Being too scheming was taboo in prominent families.
One could strategize, but they were not allowed to have designs on others’ marriages blatantly, as it was a big no-no. Such behavior was unacceptable and despicable in high society. Furthermore, people who behaved in that way would come under severe censure.
“Isabella, hurry up and come here. Stop fooling around,” Carol begged with a worried expression.
Isabella hid behind Oscar while pretending to be weak. “Oscar, you’ll protect me, right?”
Pulling her into his arms, Oscar coldly swept his gaze over Carol, which made Carol’s legs nearly become jelly.
Although Amelia was heartbroken at the scene, a smile appeared on her face. Because of her reaction, everyone turned to look at her.
A hint of doubt flashed across Oscar’s eyes.
“You all can continue. I’ll head upstairs first.” Amelia’s gaze fell on Olivia before she said, “Mom, I shall bring Tony home for the time being. I don’t want him to witness such a farce because I’m worried he might get the wrong idea.”
Olivia nodded in response after thinking about it.
Amelia went upstairs without turning back. Soon after, she came down with the sleeping Tony in her arms.
Oscar rushed over to stop her. “Give Tony to me,” he demanded.
Staring at him, Amelia hoped that he had recovered his memory of her and they were still a happy family of three. But in the next moment, her fantasy shattered into pieces.
Oscar’s stiff voice sounded, “Tony is my son with Isabella. I can carry him.”
Amelia smiled faintly and replied bitterly, “You’re saying Tony is Isabella’s and your child?” To her, that statement was the funniest joke she had ever heard.
When Oscar stretched out his hands to try and take Tony forcefully, Amelia avoided him.
Olivia hurried over to stop Oscar. “Oscar, stop this nonsense. Don’t let Tony notice the change in you, or he’ll be sad,” she uttered under her breath.
Oscar looked at Olivia with a conflicted expression. He knitted his eyebrows and responded, “Mom, what happened to you? Isabella is your daughter-in-law and Tony’s mother. Why would you say otherwise?”
Furrowing her brows, Olivia claimed, “Oscar, you’re not in your right mind currently. Let’s talk when you’ve regained your senses. For now, everyone should head back to their own homes. Let’s make things clear later at night when everyone is here.”
Oscar frowned, seemingly in deep thought.
Meanwhile, Isabella walked over and carefully said, “Oscar, you won’t leave me, right?”
While glaring at her, Olivia thundered, “Isabella, that’s enough! Go home with your mother. Be thankful you’re still my goddaughter. Otherwise, you can’t blame me for what I might do. No one can mess with the Clinton family as they please. You are but one woman, so you’re no match for the Clinton family.”
Her words made a chill run down Isabella’s spine. The latter cautiously inched toward Oscar.
Oscar wrapped his arm around her shoulder and uttered in frustration, “Mom, you’ve lost your cool. I’ll bring Isabella over when you’ve calmed down.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, he held Isabella and left. When he passed by Amelia, he shot her a glance before turning sideways to walk away. He even paid no heed to Tony.
Stunned, Amelia froze on the spot with Tony in her embrace. She tightened her grip subconsciously while inhaling the milky scent of Tony’s body so that she could feel that Tony still belonged to her.
Everything had happened too quickly, and she could barely cope with it.
Olivia approached Amelia and wanted to take Tony from the latter, but the latter evaded her. Hanging her head low. Amelia said, “Mom, I’m bringing Tony home now.”
“Where are you heading? Now that Oscar firmly believes that Isabella is his wife, they must have returned to your condominium. If you go back now, the situation will be awkward.” Olivia went straight to the point.
Amelia gazed at Olivia with a lost look in her eyes as she asked softly, “Mom, I don’t have a home now, do I?”
Upon hearing her question, Olivia felt a twinge in her heart. “It’s all right. This place is also your home. As long as I’m here, I’ll never allow anyone to mess with you,” she comforted.
Amelia could only squeeze out a smile.
Meanwhile, Carol leaned in closer and uttered with an apologetic smile, “My apologies, Mrs. Clinton. It never occurred to me that Isabella would do such things. I’m going to teach her a lesson when I go back.”
Olivia’s expression turned cold, and the look in her eyes was less friendly compared to before when she glanced at Carol. “Mrs. Walker, my family became in-laws with the Walker family because we trust you, not because we wanted to invite trouble and let your daughter take advantage of my son. Owen and I are still alive, yet she has made her move on Oscar. Does she think we’re pushovers?” she replied icily.
Carol paled upon hearing that. She promptly answered, “Mrs. Clinton, what are you talking about? I’ll chastise Isabella and send Oscar back to you untouched. I guarantee that he won’t suffer from any side effects.”
“I certainly hope so. Otherwise, I’ll have Stephanie and Noah get a divorce. Their child can stay with the Clintons as we’re more than able to take care of the kid.”
“No, please don’t! It’s just my daughter throwing a tantrum. It has nothing to do with Noah and Stephanie.” Carol added anxiously, “I’ll ask Isabella’s dad to give Isabella a lecture. Don’t worry.”
Olivia snorted in response as Carol scurried out of the Clinton residence.
After that, Olivia led Amelia to sit down on the couch before asking, “Amelia, didn’t you find anything suspicious about Oscar’s behavior before?”
Heaving a sigh, Amelia answered, “Mom, I did have doubts in the past, but Isabella was very careful in how she drugged him. Plus, you adored her, and Stephanie defended her. Even if I wanted to do anything, I couldn’t. Besides that, I had Oscar do a check-up at the hospital before, and the results showed no problem at all. Hence, I let go of all my suspicion. You know everything that happened after that. I really have no idea what she has done to Oscar. Now, I’m only afraid that she had cast some kind of black magic upon him.”
Olivia’s expression darkened, and she uttered solemnly, “What an ungrateful person! I doted on her and treated her with affection, but she became an ingrate instead.”
Amelia lowered her gaze as she caressed Tony’s face, but a glint of worry lingered in her eyes.
