The room fell into silence as they both watched Amie’s response.
For the first few seconds, her hand tightened around the spoon, then she forced a smile at them.
Serena smirked, wanting to evoke more emotion from Amie and pqretend to be the mother who actually cared about her.
"What actually happened between you and Rauf?"
Amie dropped the spoon and burst into practiced tears. She held the edge of the table and actually hiccupped as if she was trying to swallow her tears.
She did that for a minute.
Chris was tempted to tell her to cut the crap and go straight to the point. But just at that moment, Amie put a pause to her fake tears.
"Rauf and I have always been in love," she started, trying to hold Chris’s gaze because she thought Serena couldn’t see her.
She needed Chris to believe every expression on her face.
"Rauf fell in love with me when he used to pay visits to my father. Back then, I was more of the reason why he came to the house. And fortunately, I was able to reciprocate his feelings."
Serena picked up a glass of juice and sipped it gently while looking at Amie through her glasses.
"I don’t want to bore you guys with a long tale. Eventually, we picked a wedding date, but then Rauf got into an accident. That was when June decided to steal him."
Chris tightened his hand underneath the table. He hated that she was spinning tales about June.
"During that period, she deceived Rauf into believing she was his legal wife. But in truth, I am."
She finally turned to Serena.
"Mother, you have to believe me. I’m Mrs Salvador. June has never been. She only wanted to take advantage of Rauf’s blindness."
Amie pouted, painting the picture of a broken woman. She pushed her plate forward.
"I don’t think I have the appetite to eat anymore."
"Mother!" she said, holding Serena’s hand tightly. "Promise you’re going to help me get my husband back."
Serena stared at her, then patted her arm gently.
"If Rauf is truly your husband, then I’ll do what I can to help you."
Amie beamed. "Thank you, Mother."
Then she turned shyly to Chris.
"Thank you, Brother. I’ll be so happy if you can teach her a lesson for me."
Serena nodded. "Of course. No one would dare steal what belongs to my daughter."
With Serena’s assurance, Amie stood up from the chair.
But as she intended to take her leave, Serena stopped her.
"Amie!"
She paused, turning with the perfect look of sadness on her face.
"Just to take your mind off things, I think you should go with Chris to the company tomorrow."
Amie faced her completely, forgetting to act sad as her face bloomed into a bright smile.
"Really? You’re letting me go to the company?"
Serena nodded. "Yes. You’ll need to start learning the roots of the company."
Amie didn’t bother hiding her joy as she engulfed Serena in a tight hug.
"Thank you, Mother."
Serena nodded.
And before anything else could dampen her joy, Amie left the room, ready to report the progress to her father.
Once she was gone, Chris’s face contorted into a frown.
"Are you really going to let her go to the office?"
Serena smiled. "Of course. All she has to do is walk around the office, act like she owns it, and information will get back to the Monterrios that the heir has started working at the company."
Chris nodded.
It was the perfect plan.
There was no point waiting to know if the little test the Monterrios had given them had failed or passed. They needed to make them sure of their assessment.
"And money?"
"Don’t give her anything. I believe she’ll be satisfied with bossing others around for a while. She’ll barely remember she needs money from me."
But Chris doubted that.
Amie, who could burn through the money on the card he gave her in less than a month, could burn through anything.
Chris moved to stand up.
The thought of accompanying Amie to the office already sounded so bitter to him. He needed to prepare himself mentally.
"And Chris?" Serena added. "Make sure to position her where the gossip is at its peak. It seems she has a knack for storytelling."
Understanding exactly what Serena meant, Chris nodded.
"I’ll be sure to do that."
Amie got to her room with the wild smile still on her face.
She called her father to tell him about the progress.
"Great! Once you’re in the office, make sure to get some of the important documents they wouldn’t want leaked."
Amie frowned. "Why do we need that?"
"We’ll need leverage over them in case anything goes wrong."
Amie nodded.
Her father was so wise, but...
"How do we solve the issue with Rauf? Without him, Mother refuses to give me any funds."
A low chuckle came from the other side of the phone.
"Don’t bother yourself too much about Rauf. Soon, he will be all yours. Just work on getting as much information as you can about the Vassaris."
But amidst the excitement, Amie felt her heart pounding.
"Father, do you think we can truly pull this off?"
The reassuring sound of his laughter made her breathe in relief.
"We’ve already pulled it this far. With just a little more push, the Vassari empire will be ours."
The thought of what she stood to gain made Amie almost bounce on her feet.
Yet, regardless of how much she trusted her father, she couldn’t help her curiosity.
Ever since Elena had started supporting them, she had always wondered what exactly was going on with her.
Maybe if she knew what her father was holding against Elena, she might be able to hold it against Rauf too.
"Father!" Her tone turned serious and low. "Could you tell me why Mrs Salvador Snr keeps doing whatever you ask of her?"
Instead of the response she expected, he only gave a hearty laugh.
"You’ll know soon. But for now, focus on getting as much as you can."