Love Me Back (Amelia and Daniel) novel Chapter 129

Amelia’s blunt honesty left Grandma Edith no time to feign illness or put up a defense.

The two elders exchanged a glance—a glance that made it obvious both were silently cursing their own grandchild, and not in polite terms.

Amelia said, “Please, let’s not play word games or send secret signals. I’ve made up my mind about the divorce. I hope you’ll understand.”

Mr. Ethan Campbell, exposed and embarrassed, coughed and turned his face away.

Grandma Edith’s gaze was layered with emotion as she looked at Amelia. After a long pause, she sighed. “Stand up, dear. Come, sit here with me.”

Amelia knew where this was going. “Grandma, you don’t have to try to talk me out of it. I’m not acting out of anger or spite. I’ve given this a lot of thought. I just don’t want to be married to Daniel anymore.”

Grandma Edith took her hand and let out another heavy sigh. “How did it come to this? You and Daniel were meant to be together—a match made in heaven. If you miss this lifetime, you might have to wait a thousand years for another chance.”

“If I could, Grandma, I’d gladly skip the next thousand years too,” Amelia replied quietly.

She never wanted to see Daniel again.

Grandma Edith’s hand froze, her eyes instantly brimming with tears—some for Daniel’s failings, but mostly for Amelia’s heartbreak.

What kind of strength did it take for a woman to say these things, without a single tear?

Grandma Edith’s heart twisted painfully as she placed her wrinkled hand on Amelia’s cheek, her voice breaking. “How did it come to this… Two good kids, and now it’s all fallen apart…”

Amelia gently brushed her grandmother’s silver hair. “You have to remember to take your medicine on time. No more running around and getting yourself hurt. Look, you hit your head and it must still hurt. I’ll spend this New Year with you, but after that, I won’t be around. Even if I’m not here, you have to stay healthy, live long, and be happy. Make it to two hundred, Grandma.”

By the time Amelia left, Grandma Edith was sobbing in Mr. Campbell’s arms like a child.

With nowhere else to go, Amelia returned to the research center.

The security guard on duty looked at her in surprise. “You’re not home for the holidays?”

Standing there at the turn of the year, Amelia couldn’t bring herself to explain her situation. She made up something on the spot. “Had dinner with the family, but there was some work I had to take care of here, so I came back.”

She swiped her badge and started walking in when the guard suddenly called after her.

She turned. The guard hurried over and pressed a box into her hands. “You probably didn’t eat much at dinner—my wife made these dumplings, still warm. Have some.”

Amelia offered a heartfelt thank you and walked on, clutching the box of still-warm dumplings.

Almost everyone had gone home for the holidays, and the center was eerily quiet. Even the wind seemed colder than usual, whipping the trees and making Amelia’s eyes sting.

She stared ahead into the thick darkness, suddenly reminded of the path she used to walk as a child in the orphanage—just as lonely, just as dim, just as alone.

Suddenly, the exhaustion caught up with her. Amelia stopped, crouched down, and hugged the box of dumplings to her chest, crying silently.

…

She spent the night cleaning her room and packing, not crawling into bed until the middle of the night. When she finally woke, it was already noon.

Amelia stared up at the ceiling and replied dully, “Thinking about where I’d want to be buried if I died.”

Sophia shot upright on her sofa, alarmed. “Don’t you dare! You’ve only ever slept with one piece-of-trash ex—sure, Scumbag Daniel’s easy on the eyes, but there are so many other types out there you haven’t even tried! You promised to sample the world’s finest men!”

Amelia couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s wild mouth. She rolled over in bed. “Relax. They’re all alive and well—why should I be the one to die? I’m just thinking about which part of Silkwood has the worst feng shui so I can recommend it for their future graves.”

Sophia gave her a virtual thumbs up. “That’s my girl—nothing more beautiful than a woman who knows her own mind. You’re killing it right now.”

After goofing around and chatting with Sophia, Amelia felt a bit lighter. She hung up and aimlessly scrolled through Pinterest.

The algorithm seemed to read her mind; the moment she opened the app, it flooded her feed with posts about Blue Haven Island.

That’s when she remembered—the Blue Haven Island trip she’d planned for the second day of the new year.

Clearly, that trip wasn’t going to happen.

The hope she’d been clinging to dissolved into a bitter ache. Once again, Amelia wondered what terrible thing she’d done in a past life to deserve meeting Daniel in this one.

She thought that would be the end of it. No trip, no more expectations. But the next evening, a message came from an unknown number—a photo.

Crystal blue water like melted sapphire, and Violet sitting on Blue Haven Island’s iconic rosy-pink sand, her face fresh and beautiful beneath a lace-trimmed sunhat.

So Blue Haven Island still happened—just not with Amelia. Violet had gone instead.