I walked in closer to the couch and saw a picture frame placed upside down on the ground beside the balcony. There were shards of broken glass everywhere. Ashton cherished all his parents’ belongings. There was no reason for such a thing to happen. Didn’t he call for the maids to clean this up?
Driven by my curiosity, I crouched down and put the broken shards away carefully. The photo frame held a wedding picture of Ashton’s parents.
Only Ashton and I were here recently. He was the culprit who broke the frame because I wasn’t here to do it.
Why?
To avenge them, Ashton never let his guard down. Not even a second. Hatred followed him wherever he went. It was a constant and painful reminder that he had to seek revenge for his parents. This was one of their few photographs left protected by the frame, but he broke it into pieces.
Right when I was lost in a daze with the picture frame in my hands, a series of footsteps came from behind. They were light, but audible for me to notice someone was approaching me slowly.
I had many enemies in this world, but none would follow me here to the family home.
After calming down my wild thoughts, I turned around slowly.
Ashton’s tall figure blocked my sight. His eyes were cold as though he didn’t recognize me. A suffocating hostility filled the room.
A shiver ran down my spine. He was looking at me like his nemesis.
In midst of panicking, I blurted out, “Why are you here?”
I regretted saying those words the moment they left my mouth. Ashton came to the family home the most, so it wasn’t odd for him to be here.
I, however, shouldn’t be here. Instead of staying in my room at the Stovall residence, I was standing in front of him.
He lowered his gaze. His aloofness intensified by his silence. I finally realized he was looking at the picture frame in my hands.
I handed him the frame. Time froze for a few seconds. He took it and placed it aside without sparing a glance.
“You’re mounting an investigation on me.” He sounded indifferent, yet terrifying.
Deceiving to a genius like him was equivalent to self-deception, so I told the truth.
“Yes.” I didn’t think I was wrong. “Since you refused to tell me the truth, I can only look into it on my own. Was I wrong to do that?”
Ashton furrowed his brows as anger filled his eyes. “I’ve told you before. You only need to take care of yourself; I’ll handle the rest.”
“Yeah. I know you’re omnipotent. But I can’t sit by and watch you risk your life. Ashton, this is not your problem. It’s ours. Why do you always have to shoulder everything yourself?” I released all the pent-up frustration that I had been suppressing at him.
“We promised to be honest with each other. Why won’t you believe me? You teamed up with everyone to deceive me. You thought you had a flawless plan, but I’m no fool. I know you’re hurt. Am I a selfish woman in your heart? Do you think I would accept all your arrangements, knowing how painful it has been for you?”
I really couldn’t comprehend why was he behaving like this. Everything was finally getting better. Even the walls he had built around himself had crumbled.
A deafening silence enveloped the night. I could hear my voice echoing in the room.
Ashton was an unmovable mountain to me. The darkness from the endless abyss residing in his eyes was pushing me away. I couldn’t pick up his emotions at all. The man I loved was hiding himself from me behind an indestructible barrier.
This time, he did it. He locked me outside his formidable fortress successfully.
A few feet separated us, but it felt as if we were living in two different dimensions. And it was as if we were living in different worlds. For a long time, I thought my efforts had paid off, and I was beginning to understand him. In the end, he still pushed me away. We stared at each other in silence for a long time. Suddenly, Ashton had snapped out of his daze. He walked to the cabinet and took the picture frame.
“What will you do if you lose your faith one day?” His voice was laced with a tinge of sorrow.
