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"I'll just…" Styles jerked his thumb to the side and cleared his throat, unsure of what to really say to the two people since it was obvious that he was giving them privacy. "Good night."

Amelia finished clearing up the table after their dinner with the help of Styles, and Damien who was still a bit awkward around her. Now that she and her son were left alone, she felt nervous knowing that the inevitable 'talk' has come.

"Would you like to drink tea? I prepared some oolong…" she offered, in which Damien nodded with an unreadable expression. She smiled at him as she told him to wait in the living room.

Damien rubbed the palms of his hands against his pantsuit, wiping the moist off as he watched Amelia serve him tea. He offered to make the tea earlier but she insisted on doing so. He was sitting on the sofa while she sat in the armchair to his right — it was just the right amount of distance between them.

There was silence as they started sipping their tea. Thinking that he should open the conversation, he started, "Why are you here?" He kept his gaze on the teacup that he placed on the coffee table.

Amelia let out a small sigh and set her own teacup down before facing him. "How much did Katherine tell you?"

"Pretty much everything about her."

Nodding, she held her hands together and decided that it really was about time for her son to know the truth. "In order to understand everything, I think we need to talk about how it all began."

Damien darted his eyes and met hers, holding her gaze as though it was his assurance that he was willing to listen to her.

"I used to work for your father… Lawrence." There was a hint of a smile on her face when she mentioned her former lover's name. "I was part of his personal security detail and I was just twenty years old. Your father was a few years older than me. I was usually assigned on the late afternoon to evening shifts when he spent most of his time at work. He was still a vice-president then. Lawrence was a very hardworking man."

It was bizarre for Damien to listen to someone—his biological mother whom he just met—talk about his late father like it was just yesterday. He was going to learn about how their love story began and he didn't know how to feel about it.

"A few days after that, he told the head of security to put me back in my previous shift schedule. I started making him the usual coffee that I made him before and that night he asked me how I made them—"

"A pinch of salt," Damien muttered.

"How did you know?"

"I saw him doing it once when I was a child. I asked him why and he said it tasted better." He recalled that certain memory in his head and he felt nostalgic and melancholic. How could he have known… that what he learned from his father and even applied it to himself actually came from her?

When he got older and started drinking coffee, he remembered what his father did. He found the idea weird. Adding salt to coffee? Wouldn't that make it salty? But that was also when he started to learn how to cook and even tried to learn how to bake basic recipes — adding salt to his food only enhanced the flavor. So he tried adding a small pinch of salt to his black coffee and to his surprise, it was actually good; it was smoother.

After that, he pretty much formed the habit. He looked down and the corner of his mouth very slightly and briefly curled up at the realization. He picked up a habit and a preference from his father, not knowing that it was all because of her.

Amelia studied Damien's expression. She didn't know what he was thinking about but she saw the small reaction on his face and it warmed her heart.

"Eventually, we ended up spending more time together. He stayed in the office late a lot as he was working so hard to earn his father's trust and approval so he could be the next president of Park Group. I ended up falling for him… he was such a smart man. There were lots of women who tried to get his attention but I haven't seen him with one. He was always working. Anyway… time passed and we got closer. We had a relationship but we had to keep it a secret."

Even if she didn't tell him why, he already understood why they had to.

"We knew that our circumstances would never allow us to be together. He tried though… he promised he would make it work. But then your grandfather learned about us and… well, you probably know it already. Your grandfather was against us. I couldn't blame him. I had no parents and I only grew up with my grandmother. I finished community college but that's really all I had. A diploma. My background didn't appeal to your grandfather."

Damien knew that. His grandfather shared the same view with Frederick. The two would judge a person based on their background and family ties — connections and prestige were very important to them.

"Even then, Lawrence tried to convince him that he didn't care about anything else. He wanted to marry me…" Amelia picked up the teacup and sipped her tea. Her throat started to feel dry and her eyes were welling up because of the memory that she had to tell her son. It was hard for her to recall all these things but it was better to tell him everything. So if he wanted nothing to do with her after listening to her side of the story, then she would understand. This was her chance to tell him her truth.

Damien saw that she was getting emotional from their talk. It must be hard for her to retell the love story that didn't end up with a happy ending. He was hurt because of his and Katherine's situation but at least she was still there — they talked, they hugged, he could see her and hold her even if it's not all the time. 

Whereas Amelia—his mother... she looked like she was still in love with his father. But what could she do? His father was no longer there.

His hand slightly shook before he tentatively reached out and placed his hand over her clenched ones. 

For the first time, he touched her hand. 

For the first time, he touched his mother's hands. 

And it felt warm.