The Heir's Redemption; Leonid Triumphs Over wealth

CHAPTER 9

"We can celebrate now without any distractions. I will order more drinks. Amelia said.

"Go ahead, sweetie." Mrs. Harrington said

Amelia touched her neck and took out the necklace Leonid had bought earlier.

"Leonid bought me a necklace; it is actually really pretty. I love it."

At the mention of the necklace, Mr. Harrington scoffed in disgust.

"A $20 to $50 necklace. Amelia, you are worth more than that." Mr. Harrington complained.

Amelia glanced at Leonid before inspecting the necklace again. "It's not worth $50; it costs more than you think it does."

Mr. Harrington snickered. "As long as it comes from Leonid, it is going to be awful and cheap."

Amelia stopped touching the necklace. The necklace stayed on her chest, and she refused to argue with her parents about the necklace. Apart from the fact that it was not worth the argument, they were going to keep on saying her husband was cheap.

Leonid felt like a ghost as they all began talking, totally ignoring him in the picture. Amelia had tried to bring him into the discussion many times, but the look her parents gave him let him know that they wanted him to be silent.

The wine she ordered had arrived, and they had begun drinking while Leonid only stared at his empty glass. He didn't know what they would think of him if he took a bottle of wine and poured himself a drink. They were probably going to scream at him or embarrass him.

He watched them drink, and no one was asking him to take a glass. The discussion was getting more private, and he tried to pay less attention to what they were saying and try to think about something else.

"I invited someone over to celebrate us." Mrs. Harrington announced

Amelia raised her brows, her disappointment evident. "You said this was a family dinner; why would you invite someone else?"

"I did say this is a family dinner; you also invited Leonid. I decided to invite mine."

"Leonid is part of the family." She corrected. "Leonid is my husband, and he should be with me."

Leonid glanced at both her mother and daughter. Amelia raised a glass to her lips and took a sip.

"Would you tell me who your guest is?" Amelia asked her mother.

"You will see." His father said, "He would be here in 20 seconds."

"Is he a business partner or someone more or better?" She asked 

"No," he answered.

"No? Who is he?"

Before her father could respond, someone pushed open the door and entered. His flashy shoes emitted light; he was putting on sunglasses and had a huge grin on his face. Leonid glanced back to see who was coming.

The guy walked to their table and took off our glasses. Amelia let out a sign of frustration, pulled out a chair, and sat beside her.

"Hi Harrington, Hello, Mrs. Harrington.

Leonid frowned. How could he not recognize the guy who wants his wife back?The guy who had embarrassed him at the car wash The guy is none other than Ethan Storm.

"Hi momma." Ethan said, leaning in and kissing Amelia on the cheek.

Amelia pulled away from him. Taking her handkerchief from the table, she wiped her cheek with it.

"I'm not your momma." She said. Turning to her parents, she placed the handkerchief on the table. "I don't know why you both decided to invite him to a family dinner."

"He is part of the family." Mrs. Harrington responded.

"He has to be here to celebrate with us; he helped us get the contract." Mr. Harrington added

Leonid watched the way Amelia's parents reacted to Ethan. It was in no way close to the way he was being treated, even though he was married to their precious only daughter. He was still treated like sh*t.

"Hey Leopoor, you were allowed to sit today. Impressive." Ethan said, his voice tinted with a bit of mockery.

Leonid's gaze turned to him, and he shot Ethan a glare. "Yes. I was invited by my wife."

Ethan's lips curled into a wicked smile. "It won't be long before you stop calling my wife your wife."

Leonid's gaze shifted from him to Amelia. "Do you have an idea what he is talking about?"

Amelia stared at him. "I don't; you know Ethan likes to say weird stuff to get his target."

The place fell quiet, and Leonid's palm was starting to get sweaty thinking about what Ethan had said.

"We did not only invite him to celebrate our achievement. We invited him to bring you two back together." Mrs. Harrington said her Italian drawl was deeper.

Leonid's eyes shot up, and his eyes widened at what they had said. He glanced at Ethan, who was smiling at him.

"I don't understand what you both are talking about." Amelia yelled, slamming her glass on the table. "What is the meaning of this?"

Leonid glanced at her. He moved his hand under the table and covered it with his. She stared at him before turning back to her parents.

"We know what is best for you, Amelia. We are getting you married to Ethan; he is the one for you." Mr. Harrington said

"Did I say I needed a husband?" Amelia snarled. "Did I ever tell you I was going to leave Leonid?"

"We are not asking you to leave him; we are telling you to leave him." Mrs. Harrington yelled, her anger matching Amelia's.

Amelia had inherited two things from her mother: her looks and her temper.

"You can't be serious when you ask me to leave my husband and get married to a pathetic loser." Amelia yelled.

Leonid glanced around; their high-pitched voice had already caught the attention of other diners. Leonid closed his eyes in frustration and opened them almost immediately. He knew another article was going to spread again about the Harringtons publicly asking their daughter to leave the debtor.

"A pathetic loser?" Mr. Harrington scoffed, "You call Ethan a pathetic loser when your husband is clearly the one."

"He is not a loser like Ethan. You want me to get back with him after all he did?"

"Amelia." Her mother called. "Ethan already explained and apologized for all he did, and we forgave him. He deserves you and not Leonid."

Ethan was grinning from ear to ear as he watched Leonid. Leonid felt like standing up and leaving with his wife, but that might cause more embarrassment, and he was going to be targeted by Ethan again.

"Leonid is better; he loves me for who I am. He did not try to cheat on me or betray my trust in him."

"That's because if he loses you, no one will ever look at him." Ethan said. "If you let him go, he would never get a woman like you."

"Ethan!" Leonid cursed in a low voice.

"What happened, Leonid? The cat got your tongue?" Ethan questioned.

Leonid's teeth gritted in frustration. He knew that Ethan's words were true, but he was sometimes scared to lose Amelia. Not because he was poor, but because he loved her.

"Ethan, you have no right to talk to my husband that way." Amelia hushed. "We are family discussing; you cannot add your opinion."

"He is part of the family now." Mrs. Harrington said

"Perhaps he is part of the family when you divorce Dad and get married to him," Amelia hissed.

There was a slam of glass on the wall. The glass hit the wall and broke into pieces. The pieces dropped to the floor. Mrs. Harrington grabbed another glass to slam against the wall, but Ethan stopped her.

"Mother in law, don't do this." Ethan said.

"How dare you ask me that?" Mrs. Harrington asked Amelia.

Both of them glared at each other. Leonid squeezed Amelia's hand, but she pulled her hand away instead.

"You can't keep deciding for me."

"We are your parents; your business is still growing, but it is not stable and needs some investment, and Ethan can help with it. You are still living off our money and claim not to let us decide for you. Being with Leonid is destroying your future. The Harringtons had never married to the poor for centuries, but you broke that record by marrying." Mr. Harrington stopped to point at Leonid. "Him? He can't even help your business grow, is that what you call a partner? He is just a liability and a burden."

Amelia's teeth clenched, and she glared at Ethan, who was forcing himself not to smile. Leonid kept on being silent; there was nothing he could say in this situation. If only he could say anything, even if he said something, he was going to be ignored by them. Especially when they have made up their minds to get rid of him.

"Hey, Leopoor," Ethan called out. "I will give you $1 million to leave Amelia. The money can do a lot of good for you and help with the debt. What do you say? Are you doing it?"