I saw it with my own eyes. I didn’t just think he did it. I knew the man did it! I looked at Joseph, but he was standing behind Ashton calmly, as if he didn’t do anything.
Well, maybe he didn’t, but how would I know that? Joseph worked for Ashton long enough, so he was an expert in hiding his emotions. I wasn’t sure if he was actually innocent or putting up an act.
I racked my brains and calmed down. “Where’s the volunteer?” I asked Ashton. I wouldn’t believe he didn’t have anything to do with it until I saw the volunteer.
Ashton knew that was coming, so he looked to the mechanical door on his right. “Open the door,” he instructed coldly.
The door opened. I gave Ashton another glance before going into the room. I had to go through another couple of rooms before finally seeing the volunteers who were taking the risk for me.
It was a room that measured a hundred meters square, and it was divided into four equal parts. The volunteers were kept inside the glass walls. There was nothing but beds and desks inside. The volunteers were wearing patient attire and living their lives inside as if they were merchandises on a shelf. It made it easy for the researchers to observe the medicine’s effect.
“They’ll go back safe and sound after the experiment. And they’ll be paid a million as thanks. Also, the Fullers will take care of them for the rest of their lives,” Ashton said coolly as if he was just listing his grocery list.
I knew he was doing it for me, but I couldn’t accept that someone else had to be sacrificed for it. It didn’t even take one minute before I wanted to leave.
Ashton sent his men away and came up to me. “Just pretend you’ve never seen this. I did this, so it has nothing to do with you. If someone’s gonna get bitten in the *ss, it’s me.”
It was the law of equivalent exchange. Ashton made it sound so easy, but what he did was controlling someone else’s life with money so nobody else needed to take the risk. It was insane. People should be equal, but I couldn’t tell him that when I saw the resolve on his face.
That was what we’d do for love. I did the same thing for Summer back then. Ashton was making the same choice for the same reason. Telling them to stop at that point would mean death for those volunteers. They had no choice but to wait for the antidote.
“I want to leave.” I didn’t know what else to say, though I was relieved Ashton didn’t risk himself for me.
I was immersed in my own thoughts on the way out. My questions were answered, but I still had that feeling of unease. Did I miss something?
I glanced at Ashton as I went into the car, but he didn’t seem different. I wondered if I was being paranoid.
Ashton buckled himself calmly. He didn’t even look at me, but he said, “I know what you’re thinking.”
A pause later, he stared at me coldly, but his anger was directed at something else. “I’ll risk my life for you, but we have to live until we get our vengeance. I won’t do anything that’ll hurt us. Do you think that’s selfish of me?”
He was a heroic man, but at the same time, he looked so melancholic. I was seized by an urge to hug him, to tell him everything was okay.
Then I felt more at ease. As long as he was safe, nothing else mattered. I smiled and held his hand. “I’m glad that you know what you’re doing. Professor Sanchez said that the toxin has mutated, so we don’t really know how long I can hold out. We’re just delaying the inevitable. If you had risked yourself for me and died, who’d fend for baby and me?”
Ashton thought about what I said, though he never did reply to me.
There was no traffic in the dead of the night, but Ashton was still driving carefully. Something about him made me feel uneasy. I could still remember how he looked that night no matter how many years had passed. He was as calm as a pond on a windless day, but I could feel his love for me underneath that façade, still going strong as ever.
