Page 29 of Grumpy Bossy Billionaire Enemy

"Is that what you think of me?" Amelia scoffed. "A selfish partner who thought of her family's well-being alone?"

I bit my lip. “I’m sorry, Amelia, I- I,” I stuttered. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Oh, you meant it to sound the way it sounded.”

I slammed my head on the pillow. What was I doing? Letting this cause a rift between us. We were in Maldives for our honeymoon vacation and not to pick meaningless fights. A few years ago, I would have been too reckless to even consider negotiating with this journalist. I wouldn't have cared what Mother would say about it, nor would I have bothered about what the news could do to my parents' empire.

I was not a reckless thirty-year-old anymore. I was a forty-three-year-old billionaire trying to maintain the status I had gotten. I was a man who understood that whatever I did now affected my family the most, especially now that Amelia was my immediate family.

I held Amelia and muttered, “I am sorry. I didn't mean for any of that to happen. I didn't mean to hurt you.”

Shaking her head profusely, she tried to move away. She was furious that I was still shutting my lips about the blackmail. I walked to her and quickly pulled her by the waist, drawing her to me.

“Amelia, hey…look at me….please…” I used two fingers and lifted her chin to meet my eyes. "I'm truly sorry. What I said was careless."

“I know I don't mean much to you, but…”

I knew she was persistent with the question because she truly cared about me and our future. But first, her appealing lips called to mine.

"Shush…" I said and claimed her mouth in a hot kiss. “You mean the world to me.” I pulled her to the edge of the bed, and we sat facing each other.

I sighed as I told her the incident and the blackmail. "I was quite reckless in my twenties. I wanted to rebel against the strict rule of being a Robinson such that I took it overboard."

I swallowed. "I couldn't stop my recklessness; I didn't know how to stop. I made a lot of messes, which my parents' money covered up to avoid escalation." I looked at Amelia. "I did drugs, too."

Amelia looked surprised and not judgmental. So I continued, “I was arrested a few times but never convicted. Troy often bailed me out, keeping most of it away from Mother.”

“Then, one night, I had a lot to drink. So much that I can't remember doing what I did."

“What did you do?”

“I beat someone at a party into a coma.” I paused, letting the horrible sight of Gary’s blood leave my head. “His name was Gary, a random guy I met at the club.”

Amelia sighed heavily, "Did you do it?"

That’s a question Mother and Troy had asked me a million times – and a million times, I’d tell them that I didn't know.

"My memory was foggy from the alcohol, and I didn't know if I had done it."

What happened after that?” Amelia continued to inquire.

“My parents used their money to get the story off the media. They paid a lot of people to keep their mouths shut, but somehow, the story had slipped out, and someone was threatening to publish it on the news if we didn't pay.”

“Yes.” I shook my head. “I can’t afford to let it go out there. Not now that I’m married to you...”

"You can't keep paying the blackmailer," Amelia interjected. "He'll drain you for as long as he can. This blackmailing could go on for years, a decade, maybe."

“I don't know what to do,” I cut in. “Things are different now; I can't afford to be reckless!”

Amelia went silent, trying to rack her brain for some answer. “Have you tried to investigate that night? Look into the CCTV or speak with witnesses?”

I shook my head. “There wasn’t time for that. They caught me over the almost-lifeless body with blood on my hands, and it was established that I did it.”

Amelia thought something else may have happened to Gary. She thought I was just at the wrong place at the right time.

I held her hand and said, “You don't have to see the good in me, Amelia. I tended to do things. I was an alcoholic and a restless dude.”

“No,” Amelia protested. “You can't assume based on your previous behavior, but you couldn't have beaten that man to a pulp!” She paused and continued, “I think you should talk to the victim or someone at the club that night.”

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