I could not find the box.
Meanwhile, Ashton had his hands folded as he watched me. After sparing him a glimpse, I said, “Go ahead and wash up first. I’m going to keep looking for it.”
He was quiet for a while. “Do you know what’s inside the box Grandpa gave to you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t. Mrs. Eriksen only told me that I could give the box to you if I really didn’t want to marry you. I don’t what Grandpa put in there. Maybe he was planning to deter you from marrying me by threatening you with Fuller Corporation.”
He sneered, “How shallow.”
I did not deny his words. After what seemed ages of searching, I still couldn’t seem to find it. By now, I was starting to feel irritated. “Grandpa gave it to you. Have you seen the box?”
He glanced at me. “Are you short of money now?”
Taken aback by his words, I replied, “No.”
“Then it’s meaningless for you to look for the box. In the box is Grandpa’s money for you. I’m sure he was afraid that you would starve to death if you left me.”
Knitting my brows, I felt a tinge of anger. “You opened it?”
He nodded truthfully.
“Ashton Fuller,” I snapped. “That was mine! What right did you have to open it without my permission?”
This was not the first time he had done such a thing. The last time, he brought me to Cameron without my consent and asked her to take my hair for a DNA test. This time, he opened the box without asking me first.
He was staring at me, but I could not decipher what he was feeling at that moment. “I have no plans to divorce you, so that box is useless.”
“So what?” I stepped closer to him. “Ashton, do you think I have to let you do anything you please because I’m married to you? Do I not deserve any respect from you?”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. Then, he straightened his back and said with a sigh, “I was wrong not to tell you about it. I won’t do it again.”
“Ha!” I barked out a short laugh. “Ashton, aren’t you funny? Are you trying to change the topic so easily? Do you think of me as the same as that useless box? Will you do the same to me if I were Rebecca? Will you disrespect her by taking her things without telling her?”
“Scarlett, this is between you and me.” He had a frown on his face, evidently displeased by my words. “We’re a couple. Why do you have to involve someone else in our private matter?”
Amused, I asked, “Are we a couple?”
At that remark, he fell silent.
Raising my head to look at his handsome face, I could not help but laugh. “Ashton, it seems to you that we’re not a married couple. We’re only a couple because of your parents. There’s someone in your heart – I know I don’t have a place in it. Naturally, I won’t be respected. That’s why you can do anything you want with my things, and that’s why you can decide whether I stay or leave.”
Too many things had piled up over the days, and the box had been the final straw. I knew I could no longer close an eye to his interaction with Rebecca.
Perhaps he did not wish to discuss it with me as he placidly said to me, “Scarlett, you’re my wife, and I respect you. I’ve apologized for the box, and I’m not the one deciding whether you stay or go. It’s getting late. Let’s go back to our room.”
“Ashton, let’s get a divorce.” I wasn’t sure how my tone sounded, but I knew I was calm when I spoke.
This was something I had kept in my heart for a long time. The opportunity to voice it out loud had come, and hence, I took it.
Ashton stood, transfixed, with his dark eyes on me. I could not decipher the emotions in them, but I was sure that he was not feeling particularly gleeful.
“Have you thought it through?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“What do you want?” He continued looking at me with an apathetic expression. In fact, I sensed that he was only going along with my outburst.
After pausing for a while, I continued, “I don’t want anything. I only hope my child will have nothing to do with you from now on.”
If I were to cut ties with him, I would have to make a clean cut.
Narrowing his eyes, he questioned, “You have nothing with you. How will you raise your kid? Are you going to rely on Nick? Or are you going to rely on John?”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Ashton, do you think I’m the same type of person as you? Stop using your way of thinking to define me!”
“What type of person am I?” He took a step closer to me as he lowered his voice. “I’ve explained to you countless times about things between Rebecca and I. As for you and John, were you not planning to tell me anything if I didn’t ask you about him?”
I pursed my lips, not knowing what he meant.
“What do you mean?”
Ashton lifted a brow. “During Cameron’s birthday banquet, you rejected me, but you were holding hands with John a moment later. Have you ever given me an explanation for that?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came to me.
The man had excellent control over his emotions. Glancing at me, he continued, “I didn’t ask you anything because I hoped that you’ll tell me about it yourself. Scarlett, not every kind of love has to be in the form of a verbal ‘I love you’.”
“John and I…” I trailed off, not knowing how to explain what had happened as my chest tightened.
I did not want to explain it to him; I did not want to mention it at all.
