Argh! I guess I can’t out-talk him, huh?
“Thanks for the ride home!” I decided to keep my mouth shut and boarded the car as instructed.
He nodded and responded with a poker face.
When we were about to reach the villa, I couldn’t suppress the urge to ask him about the thing that had been bothering me. “Joseph, where’s your girlfriend?”
“I don’t have one, Mrs. Fuller!”
I nodded and remarked, “Well, I thought so. Otherwise, your girlfriend will have a hard time dealing with you.”
He took a peek at me for a few seconds before turning around to focus on the road. “Actually, I’m married.”
I was completely speechless and decided to wrap up our conversation because I was pretty sure I would get increasingly infuriated if I were to go on.
Once we were back in the villa, I got out of the car as soon as possible and strode my way into the living room.
I changed into a pair of indoor sandals in the foyer and noticed the light in the living room was switched on. There was a man in the living room, enjoying his cup of tea as he indulged himself in reading a book.
“A**hole!” I blurted out the things I had in my mind almost instantly.
He frowned and stared at me silently, but I ignored him and bounced my way up the stairs without any hesitation.
“Hold it right there, Scarlett!” Ashton broke the silence and raised his volume out of the blue, rendering me incapable of motion while I was on my way up the stairs.
I turned around and confronted, “What do you want?”
The infuriated man burst out chuckling and asked rhetorically, “What do I want? How dare you raise your volume against me when you’re the one at fault?”
“Well, I guess you have proven yourself to be right! Is there anything else you want from me?” I glared at him with my mouth shut tight.
Ashton took a deep breath and announced in a righteous manner, “I’ll turn a blind eye to the incident that has occurred today, but I want you to stay away from Marcus in the future!”
“You’re ridiculous! I have to work, for goodness’ sake! Marcus was merely drunk!” Halfway through my reply, I avoided his gaze due to the sense of guilt I felt.
He rushed over and grasped my wrist because he couldn’t hold back his anger anymore. “Scarlett, what does it take to get you to stay away from him?”
I raised my head and looked at him in the eyes because he was frustrated for real. “Fine! I’ll try to stay away from him in the future. I’m conscious of the things I’m doing, okay? You have been getting in touch with Rebecca while nothing’s going on between Marcus and me! Don’t you think you’re being unreasonable?”
It was a habit of mine to bring up Rebecca whenever we were involved in a conflict. I knew nothing was going on between the duo, but I couldn’t resist the urge to provoke him whenever I had the chance.
His expression turned gloomy all of a sudden. “Which part of me is being unreasonable? Besides, what makes you think something’s going on between Rebecca and me? Scarlett, who the hell do you think you are?”
Judging by his expression, I knew I had to bring the conversation to a halt. Otherwise, things would spiral out of control soon.
I assured Ashton, “I’m so sorry, okay? I’ll definitely stay away from Marcus in the future. I promise you I won’t get anywhere near him anymore!”
He narrowed his eyes because he was confused by my sudden change of attitude. “Scarlett, are you keeping something from me?”
Argh! Why would I apologize and give in to his request when I hadn’t done anything wrong? Actually, what does he want? I can’t seem to talk any sense into him at all! I have done everything he wants, yet he isn’t going to let me off the hook at all!
I took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Ashton, I have told you the things I have in mind! It’s up to you to believe it or not!”
As soon as I finished my sentence, I brought myself upstairs because I couldn’t take it anymore-if the conversation went on any longer, I might pass out due to frustration.
To my surprise, he grasped my wrist and stopped me once again.
“Ashton, what the heck do you want?” I turned around and confronted him because I couldn’t suppress my wrath anymore.
He finally returned to his calm and collected self as he requested, “Calm down, Scarlett. Let’s head upstairs after we get ourselves something to eat, okay? I’m hungry. Can you please make me something to eat?”
Perhaps he had just reached J City. Therefore, his housekeepers and maids weren’t around in the night. This time, it was my turn to express my discontent. I yelled, “Can’t you make yourself something to eat? Why does it have to be me!”
Ashton had his lips pursed in an aggrieved manner while he showed me his hands. “I’ve accidentally hurt my hands during the fight.”
What kind of excuse is that? I thought I was hearing things when I heard the absurd reply from him. If I hadn’t witnessed the fight he had with Marcus, I would have fallen for his words for real!
He was merely faintly bruised. I guessed he must have accidentally hurt himself when he got all worked up during the fight.
“Ashton, have you no shame at all?” He had the audacity to put on an innocent front when he was the aggressive one who had caused the uproar.
Ashton leaned over and peered into my eyes, asking rhetorically in return, “Don’t you know me better than others? Anyway, I’m really hungry because I haven’t had anything throughout the entire night.”
At that point in time, I was startled by his response because he seemed to be a needy man instead of his usual egoistic self.
I couldn’t be sure if it were a hallucination, but I walked into the kitchen to make him something to eat as requested nonetheless.
There were a lot of fresh ingredients that had been prepared by the maids in advance.
Truth be told, I wasn’t a great cook either. I diced a little garlic and started preparing a simple Spaghetti Aglio E Olio from scratch.
“Are you going to make me some spaghetti?” Leaning against the wall while crossing his arms, Ashton stared at me wide-eyed and asked when he saw the ingredients I had with me.
“Mm-hmm!” Since there wasn’t anything else I could prepare apart from spaghetti.
“Is this how you’re supposed to treat your husband?”
Halfway through my preparation, I turned off the stove and glared at Ashton. “If that’s the case, you can always get yourself something else to eat. Why don’t you get someone else to deliver you a fancy meal?”
Startled, he quickly blocked me and touched my nose. “Actually, I don’t mind at all. Spaghetti sounds great.”
The irritating man finally stopped getting in my way.
I was completely worn out after I finished making his food.
Immediately after I served him his meal, I returned to the bedroom and fell asleep after I carried out my bedtime routine.
I got irritated in the middle of the night because the buzzing phone roused me from my wonderful sleep. By the time I opened my eyes, Ashton had picked it up.
He leaned over and ran his fingers through my unkempt hair, asking gently, “Did I wake you up?”
