When James heard that the person who hit Amanda was her father, his confidence evaporated instantly.
He had thought that, with his newly gained Super Physique, some foolish villain would show up to hand him free experience points.
But noâwhat he got was a final boss.
This wasn't someone he could fight, nor someone he could argue with. What was he supposed to do now?
"Why did your dad hit you?" James asked cautiously.
"My dad has a short temper. He doesn't want me working at the bar, and I talked back," Amanda said, brushing the issue off lightly.
In reality, the situation was much more complicated.
Earlier in the day, after dropping Timmy off at school, Amanda's parents asked her to come home to meet someone.
When she arrived, the "someone" was already there, sitting stiffly in the living room, sipping tea.
He was a man in his thirties, dressed impeccably in a suit and tie. His black-rimmed glasses gave him a refined, scholarly appearance.
Through introductions, Amanda learned that the man had a car, a house, and a stable job.
The only downside was that he was a bit dullâand divorced.
Apparently, his ex-wife had left him for a wealthy man.
Amanda had told her parents countless times to stop trying to set her up on blind dates.
She was done with this nonsense.
But her parents wouldn't listen. They insisted that Timmy needed a stepfather, claiming that they couldn't bear the shame of their daughter being a single mother forever.
Feeling helpless, Amanda flashed her wrist tattoo at the man and casually mentioned that she worked at a bar.
The refined man looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
To him, bars were chaotic places where no decent woman would work.
Seeing how beautiful Amanda was, he assumed she must attract plenty of attention from men.
Marrying her would likely bring endless trouble.
His ex-wife had been beautiful tooâand look how that turned out.
Not wanting to repeat his mistakes, the man excused himself and left.
Amanda's father, Edgar, was furious with her behavior.
She had already refused to listen to him in the past, insisting on staying with that delinquent who had since been stabbed to death years ago.
Now, she still wouldn't settle down and marry a good man.
And she refused to quit her job at the bar, which Edgar felt brought shame to the entire family.
In his anger, Edgar slapped Amanda and shouted,
"I don't have a daughter like you!"
Amanda had said nothing, simply clutching her cheek as she left.
She drove home and cried in her room all morning, only stopping when James arrived.
Faced with James's question about why her father had hit her, Amanda chose not to tell the full truth.
She didn't want James to misunderstand her.
As things stood, she was already content with their relationship and didn't dare ask for more.
Brushing it off, she said lightly,
"So, are you staying for lunch? I can cook something for you."
"Don't worry about cooking. I'll order food from a hotel," James replied.
He could sense that Amanda was hiding something.
But he didn't press her. After all, this was her personal business, and prying would only make him seem nosy.
If he really wanted to know, he could investigate privately later.
He pulled Amanda to sit on the bed, gently stroking the red marks on her face.
"Does it hurt? Your dad went too farâhow could he hit you in the face?" James said, clearly upset.
"It's fine. He didn't hit me that hard. It'll fade soon," Amanda said, trying to comfort him.
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Even if he's your dad, he has no right to hit my woman. Next time things start to escalate, just avoid him, okay?" James said, his heart aching for her.
"I let him hit me on purpose," Amanda said softly, tracing circles on James's chest with her finger.
She was wearing a V-neck dress, her collarbone and the fair skin below creating an enticing view.
James was momentarily distracted, his thoughts wandering.
Realizing where his mind had gone, he silently cursed himself for being such a scumbag.
His woman had been hit, and all he could think about was taking advantage of her.
Shaking himself back to reality, he asked,
"Why would you do that? Why let him hit you?"
"I wanted to let him vent his anger. It's not easy raising such a rebellious daughter," Amanda said calmly, her face devoid of emotion.
James didn't know how to respond.
This woman was both gentle and stubborn, so understanding it made his heart ache.
She was willing to give in as much as possible to the people she cared about.
Sighing, James said,
"Once you get things sorted at the bar, just stop telling people you work there."
"Okay, I know," Amanda replied, nodding obediently as she leaned into James's arms and closed her eyes.
Having someone she liked to comfort her made her feel much better.
No matter how old a woman was, she still wanted to feel cared for and protected.
"Enough about me," Amanda said. "You've changed a lot in the past couple of daysâyou've gotten stronger."
She squeezed James's muscles, touching him here and there.
Even his scent seemed to carry an overwhelming masculinity now.
Breathing it in made her cheeks flush slightly.
James, feeling himself being teased, calmed down, but another fire began to ignite inside him.
"Stop touching me, or I might take you right here," James warned.
Amanda laughed softly and stopped her hands.
Watching James struggle to hold back, she smirked mischievously.
"Is my face such a disappointment to you?" Amanda asked suddenly.
James hadn't expected her to think about that, especially after being slapped.
He couldn't help but feel like a jerk.
"Do you think I only come to see you for that reason?" James said, pretending to be righteous.
In reality, that was exactly why he had come over.
He had planned to "work hard" for the next few days, sowing the seeds of his future "strong offspring."
If Amanda got the child he had promised her, her affection score might max out.
But the slap had ruined his plans.
With Amanda in such a bad mood, James didn't dare push her.
Amanda, noticing his exaggerated expression, blinked playfully and said with a laugh,
"Then why is your hand wandering?"
"It has a mind of its ownâwhat do you want me to do about it?" James replied shamelessly.
Rolling her eyes, Amanda said,
"Should I turn around then? That way you won't have to see."
With that, she reached back to pull down the zipper on her dress.
This gesture of passive acceptance made James feel a twinge of guilt.
He quickly stopped her, saying,
"Don't. I'm a decent man."
In his haste, he accidentally tugged at Amanda's dress, revealing her smooth, fair skin.
For a moment, everything was laid bare.
Much later...
"I'll hire a nanny for you. Timmy can move in here, so you won't have to keep going back to your parents," James said, exhaling a puff of smoke.
He enjoyed smoking in front of Amanda during moments like thisâit gave him a sense of accomplishment.
"No need. I'm not used to having another person around. I can take care of Timmy myself," Amanda said, shaking her head softly.
James, bothered by her hair tickling him, brushed it behind her ear, exposing her delicate profile.
The red marks on her face had faded with time, now barely noticeable unless one looked closely.
"How can someone as beautiful as you be so unlucky? You don't even know how to enjoy life," James sighed.
"I'm picky, and I have a bit of a cleanliness obsession. I'm afraid I'd just scare the nanny away," Amanda explained.
"So what if you scare them off? Doing everything yourself is too exhausting," James said, feeling sorry for her.
"Not as exhausting as you," Amanda teased, poking his forehead with her slender finger.
"Walking around with your cologne lingering all over youâare you afraid people won't know you had a girl with you last night?"
She smiled as she warned him,
"Next time you go see another girl, make sure to air out the scent. Don't let anyone catch on."
James sniffed himself curiously.
"Really? I don't smell anything."
"Of course you don'tâyou're not a woman," Amanda said, giving him a playful side-eye.
"And I can tellâit's Tailsa's scent on you."
She didn't mind that James had been with Tailsa.
She just didn't want him to overwork himself.
James was stunned. "What the hell? You can tell just from that?"
Leaning her chin on his shoulder, Amanda chuckled.
"Didn't you know? When it comes to catching men cheating, every woman is Sherlock Holmes."
"Impressive," James muttered, his interest piqued.
He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray by the bed and leaned back over Amanda.
She gasped in surprise.
"Did you take something?"
"Nope. I've just been holding back my strength until now," James declared confidently.