"SEAN!!"
It could be Sean! It must be Sean! Who else can call her through this number? If not Sean, who else? Bella couldn’t think of anyone else to call her through this number.
Bella could feel her heart tighten, but she immediately brushed aside the heavy feeling. After exhaling several times to calm herself, she answers the call.
"Hello…"
"Hello, good afternoon, Miss Arabella Donovan. I’m sorry if my call disturbed you in any way." A woman’s voice greeted her quickly but politely, startling Bella.
’A woman’s voice. But not her friends. Sounds like a dignified, well-educated woman. Who is this woman? I don’t recognize her voice at all! How did she get my personal phone number?’
Bella was confused. She glanced at the number on her cell phone screen. After carefully checking, she found that it was a local cell phone number.
’This caller must be a stranger to me. Why could this woman call me?’
Her cell phone number was private; even her parents didn’t know it. She had also asked Stefan to block anyone not on her phone’s contact list from calling, messaging, or tracking her GPS location through the phone. Stefan has made the application exclusively for her. No one could break through unless they had a hacker with abilities similar to Stefan’s.
’This...’
Bella immediately turned on the recording before answering the call.
"I’m sorry. But I have to interrupt you. Who are you? How did you get my number? I don’t have your number in my contact list." she calmly asked, successfully hiding her confusion.
"Oh, my. Where’s my manners... My sincere apology, Miss Arabella... I should have introduced myself first."
Bella could hear the woman sounding a little embarrassed without losing her politeness. Still, she said nothing, patiently waiting for this woman to answer her question.
"Once again, I apologize to you, Miss. My name is Amanda Spencer. Maybe you’ve heard my name before from Sean? I’m Sean Spencer’s aunt. You are Miss Arabella Donovan, right?" Amanda’s voice sounded so gentle anyone who heard the tone would think she was trying not to upset Bella.
But Bella failed to notice Amanda Spencer’s gentleness; she was utterly shocked to hear her name.
’What!? Amanda Spencer? Sean’s aunt?’ Bella repeated the woman’s words inwardly.
Instantly, she felt her knees go weak, knowing she was talking to Amanda Spencer, someone she usually saw on television or the internet. Most importantly, she was Sean’s aunt.
Bella silently gulped before greeting her back, "Hi—Hi..." She felt like a lump was in her throat. She cleared her throat before continuing, "Yes, I am. Is there something you want to talk to me about?"
Amanda didn’t answer right away. Instead, she laughed lightly, delighted. Bella’s private number was extremely challenging to obtain and to break. She could obtain and call the number only because of her resourcefulness and some luck.
Her curiosity about Arabella Donovan increased when she couldn’t trace her public registered ID. No information about her family details and home address could be found; she only knew her office address.
She guessed this was all because of her nephew, Sean, who protected Bella’s identity. She felt lucky to finally have Bella’s number yesterday.
Amanda really needed to contact Bella because, after she told her sister-in-law about Bella, her sister wanted to meet Bella, too.
"Oh yeah, lots of things. May I call you Bella, or would you prefer me to call you Miss Arabella—"
"Bella would be fine."
"Sounds perfect. Bella, you can also call me Amanda."
"Sure…Amanda," Bella answered as she sat down in the chair. She couldn’t stand while chatting with Amanda for too long because her knees were starting to give out. She was terribly nervous right now.
"Bella, would you mind sparing a fraction of your precious time to meet me in person?"
More and more questions whirled around her mind upon hearing that Amanda wanted to meet her.
"Why do you want to meet me? To prevent me from seeing Sean?" Bella wanted to ask like that, but she held back.
She saw no good reason why they should meet Amanda Spencer. It was better not to meet anyone related to Sean now. In this situation, she needed to meet Sean first, not his aunt and anybody else in Spencer’s family.
However, Bella’s mouth betrayed her. Subconsciously, she answered, "Okay, Amanda. But not today. Today, I’m still in another city..."
’Damn! Why did I answer so awkwardly like that?’ Bella could only vent her frustration in her heart while secretly gritting her teeth, feeling frustrated.
"Thank you very much, Bella. Oh, of course... You can decide when and where we should meet. But the sooner we meet, the better, Bella. We have a lot of things to discuss, agree?"
Bella was silent.
"By the way, I called you using my private phone number," Amanda said excitedly. "I hope you will save this number in your contact list. And, please, call me anytime you have the chance."
Bella couldn’t turn back time to reject Amanda Spencer. Even though her heart felt heavy, she still answered awkwardly, "You can count on me, Amanda. I will contact you at the first opportunity I have..."
…
Five minutes had passed since Bella ended the awkward phone call with Amanda Spencer.
The conversation was so shocking Bella couldn’t do anything else. She was just sitting in her chair, her eyes still fixed on the dark screen of her cell phone. Her mind was filled with countless questions about why Amanda Spencer wanted to meet her.
Bella immediately ruled out the possibility that Amanda wanted to meet her for business reasons. That was highly unlikely.
The only reason for this meeting was definitely related to Sean because Amanda issued the Spencer Black Card for her — she might have misunderstood her relationship with Sean.
"Black Card—" A smile slowly appeared on her lips. "There’s a good reason to meet Amanda Spencer. I have to return Spencer’s Black Card to her…" She couldn’t keep Sean’s family’s precious card.
Bella placed her cell phone on the table. She briefly closed her eyes to force her mind to brush away what had just happened.