What Ashton said next confirmed my guesswork.
“I’ve long considered John’s opinion, but it’ll only be my last resort.” He looked a little tired with his downcast eyes. “What happened today reminds me that Armond is a viper that’s waiting for the perfect timing to strike, but I don’t know when that will be. Besides, there’s still some uncertainty in the identity of the people who killed my parents back then. Since I can’t stop now, I can only get bolder to catch them off guard so that they’ll give themselves away. After the divorce agreement is announced, we should stop seeing each other for some time. This is the best protection for you and our kids.”
Ashton paused and placed his palm over my belly. “After they’re born, let them bear your last name.”
I understood what he was planning. He wanted us to divorce and to let the kids bear my last name because he wanted everyone to think that our relationship was over.
The look in his downcast eyes was unfathomable while he exuded an air of melancholy. At this moment, he looked like the aloof man I knew when we first met.
I knew that Ashton would be trapped in living hell for the rest of his life if he were to watch the enemy who killed his parents live a happy life.
“Go ahead and do it.” I gritted my teeth. I was not sure if I would regret it, but I knew that only in this way could Ashton have the chance to break free from a life of misery.
As though not expecting me to agree to it so soon, Ashton looked up at me in surprise.
Smiling at him, I reached out to touch his chiseled face. “You’ll protect yourself, right? I can trust you to do that, right?”
He held my hand and assured me in a gentle voice, “Of course. I haven’t repaid you for all the things I’ve owed you. I don’t dare to die without your permission.”
Not knowing what to say, I looked down at the agreement and tore it in half.
“Why?” Ashton was taken aback.
I pursed my lips and gave him a sidelong warning look. “I don’t want these things now. I want you to give them to me slowly over the remaining decades of your life!”
I don’t want a two-year guarantee. What I want is a lifetime one.
While on the way to visit Jackson at the hospital, Emery called me on the phone. “Check your Facebook. John has gone crazy!”
Launching my Facebook, I found out that John meant what he said the day before and got people to gather the dirt on Mitchell after he left.
Those scandals, which were initially suppressed by the Ziegler family, were exposed by a magazine called 24-7 Entertainment. Of the top ten trending topics, six were related to the Ziegler family, putting them in the center of public attention.
Ashton turned off my phone as he did not want me to keep looking at it. “Zachary is right. John’s still too thoughtless.”
“Why?” I did not understand. “The fact that the topics about the Ziegler family become trending shows that they can’t do whatever they want anymore, isn’t it?”
It had been more than twenty years since Ashton’s parents passed away. Many things had changed, and statements made online could often easily make waves. So one needed to win the hearts of netizens to thrive. Admittedly, some people used public opinion for profit, but it was a very small number of people.
It was precisely because of this that Ashton could be so active under the noses of Ezra and the others.
“Putting aside the fact that Mitchell has been sent abroad, witnesses will be needed if those cases are taken to trial. As a future lawyer, do you think there’s a possibility of conviction in cases without witness and evidence?”
“Are you saying that the Ziegler family will buy off witnesses?” Although I had not passed the exam, my sense of justice as a lawyer-to-be screamed inside of me. “There would be victims who would rather ask for justice than the money.”
