I was momentarily dumbstruck. Who was he referring to?
“What?”
Without saying anymore, he lowered his head and kissed me deeply. It was as though he wanted to swallow me alive.
He was being moody.
I noticed it when we were at the hotel. But, why?
I thought he was tired from work. But now, he didn’t seem to be tired at all.
In the bathroom’s permeating heat, his raging desire was full-on.
“Ashton!” I said, but he had already lifted me up in his arms.
He stopped his movements altogether. He stared at me with his dark eyes, and he was breathing heavily.
I was obviously bewildered.
“Are you angry?” I asked cautiously.
He looked at me with narrow eyes, but his gaze was soft and gentle as always.
“You don’t want to do it?” he asked hoarsely. His voice sounded restrained.
I shook my head. “I want it. But let’s not do it here, okay?”
He wrapped his arms around me. With a low voice, he said, “Okay.”
With me in his arms, he headed straight to the bedroom and gently put me on the bed.
It was not the first time for me to sleep with him, but this time it felt different.
That night, I couldn’t fall asleep. My heart ached as I lay next to him.
It was past midnight when I was woken up to the sound of Ashton groaning in pain. I sat up in bed and turned on the bedside lamp.
Ashton was sweating profusely. With a frown on his face, he kept crying out in pain.
He was having a nightmare.
I woke him up. “Ashton…”
When he woke up and saw that it was me, he wrapped his arms tightly around me and said in a low and hoarse voice, “Scarlett, please don’t go.”
I was momentarily startled, then I reached out my hand to comfort him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Lying back in bed, he hugged me as I wiped the sweat from his forehead. I asked, “Did you have a nightmare?”
He nodded. Then, he hugged me and drew in a deep, shaky breath. “There’s nothing but darkness. You’re all I have, Scarlett.”
I later learned that I was not the only one who was drowning in pain. For the past four years, I had Summer, who helped mend my broken heart. But he was suffering in the dark all by himself.
Moving closer to him, I huddled into his arms. “I won’t go anywhere as long as you need me. I’ll forever be with you.”
He was not the only one who was lonely. Ashton and I were like two puppets that had sunk to the bottom of the sea. We needed each other to endure the darkness that engulfed us.
He said, “Look at this empty room. Every time I woke up in the middle of the night, I was always surrounded by bleakness. It was as though you never existed in my life. Sometimes I wondered if I made you up and you were just an imaginary character because I was too lonely. The villa in J City always felt empty whenever I went there. I would then go to the cemetery to visit Grandma and Grandpa’s graves. Their tombstones were so real and clear that it made me wonder again if I was in a dream. On the way back, I thought of driving off the cliff to wake myself up from the dream…”
My heart ached as I took his hand in mine, interlocking our fingers together. “I’m sorry.”
He continued, “Scarlett, Grandpa taught me how to thrive in the world of business and taught me how to face my enemies. But he never taught me how to love someone. I’m sorry that I have hurt you.”
I shook my head as tears fell from my eyes. “I was too stubborn.”
Nobody was perfect. For the past seven years, I had accepted my life the way it was. But I never really considered things from his point of view.
I loved him. But I didn’t love him the way I should have.
If I had told him what I was in my mind and didn’t fake a miscarriage to deceive him and left him, he wouldn’t be in his current state of mind.
Then, he wouldn’t have to worry that I would leave him after getting the backup of the Moore family. My child would not have to die and Macy would not have been dead because of me. My biological parents would not turn out the way they were then and live in regret now.
That night, we embraced each other and we were open to each other.
Love is a strength, not an emotion. Love is about giving not just taking. Tolerance and support for one another are a few of the most important qualities of love.
Ashton said, “I don’t want to live another four long years of loneliness.”
Hot tears brimmed in my eyes. “There won’t be another such four years. Let’s go on like this for the rest of our lives.”
He held me in a tight embrace and said in a deep voice, “Tell me that you love me, Scarlett.”
I lifted my head and looked at his chiseled face. In an earnest and steadfast voice, I said, “I love you, Ashton.”
He smiled brightly and said, “I love you too.”
This was the first time we poured our hearts out to each other.
He said, “Thank you.”
I froze. “What for?”
Thank you for loving me. And thank you for coming back to me.
It was a long and cold winter in K City. Winter had started last November and persisted till March.
Summer caught a cold. After getting out of bed in the morning, I tried to shake her up, but she continued to sleep on.
Ashton was nowhere in sight, but there was a note on the bedside table. “It’s cold. Remember to put on an extra layer of clothing. Drink more warm water.”
