I gulped down a large mouthful of water before taking several deep breaths to calm myself down. After my heartbeat had slowed down somewhat, I turned stiffly to look at Ashton and asked in a small voice, “Is she dead?”
His arms tightened around me as he nodded. “Yes. You’re fine. I’m here with you, you’re okay now.”
I couldn’t stop my hands and body from shaking, and it took me a long while before I felt normal again.
I stared blankly at my surroundings, my body slowly releasing its tension when I realized that I was in a familiar place with familiar people. Ashton was still holding me in his embrace, repeating words of reassurance over and over again in a gentle tone.
I cleared my throat and licked at my dry lips before glancing up at him. “I saw her at the elevator when I was heading out earlier. How did she…”
He shook his head. Just then, Joseph walked into the room again, his expression solemn as he told Ashton, “Mr. Fuller, the body has just been taken away. The police have also asked to look at the scene to figure out the cause of her death, and the exit downstairs has already been sealed off.”
It made sense that the police would want to carry out an investigation of someone falling to their death from such a tall building. Ashton nodded before he turned to me and said, “Be a good girl and stay here. I’ll be back soon.”
As the chairperson of the company, he was obliged to handle the situation personally.
I nodded, and he and Joseph left the office. Finding myself unable to sit still in there alone, I got up and headed toward the employee section of the office. Everyone was understandably shaken up by Sasha’s suicide and was unable to go about their daily tasks like usual.
Some police officers were looking for where Sasha might have jumped off the building from, and others were busy interviewing employees in the office. As a result, everyone’s hearts were in their throats.
It was a long time before Ashton finally sent the police away. Spotting me in the area, he waved me over, and we retreated to his office together.
Joseph furrowed his eyebrows. “Mr. Fuller, this couldn’t have been a coincidence.”
Ashton’s expression was blank. He was deep in thought for a moment before replying, “Contact the victim’s family and try to placate them as soon as possible.”
Joseph nodded and immediately left.
“Is everything going to be okay?” I couldn’t help but fret.
Ashton gave me a faint smile, but the darkening circles under his eyes were dead giveaways of exhaustion. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
I knew that he usually wouldn’t share too much information with me because he didn’t want me to get worked up over nothing. He had a habit of wanting to shoulder everything by himself, and refused to let me share any of his burdens.
The realization dawned upon me abruptly, that he and I were very similar. We both cared for each other deeply, and we both needed each other. Perhaps it was exactly because we cared for each other too much that we wanted to protect the other in our own ways so that the worry we had for each other would be alleviated.
That would explain why we were always unwilling to verbalize our true feelings when facing a dilemma, even if we were frantically panicking on the inside. We didn’t want to add on to the other person’s stress.
Unfortunately, this would only serve to make the other person feel even more worried and helpless.
I stared at him in silence for a minute, then got up and poured him a glass of water. Taking a deep breath, I fixed him with a stern look. “Ashton. You might think that I won’t be of any help in solving your problems, so you keep your worries to yourself in an attempt to protect me from your suffering. But have you ever considered what the largest difference is between your spouse and a normal friend?
“People get married because they need each other. Spouses need to share the burden of their pain and concerns. Even just giving each other a hug is an act of helping to shoulder the burden. So, I’m asking you to please stop keeping everything to yourself and covering up all your negative emotions. I want to be able to share your stress and feelings, and I want to be the person in this world most needed by you. Understand?”
I could see him visibly start to relax, and I knew that my words had gotten to him.
He seemed completely caught off guard by me suddenly bringing this topic up. The moody aura that had been emanating off of him dissipated, and the corners of his lips quirked up into a smile as he pulled me into his arms once more. “You silly woman. You’ve always been the person I need most in this world, and you always will be.”
I let him hold me as he continued murmuring in his low, gravelly voice. “I just never tell you the truth about my feelings because I know that you will always be my source of strength as long as you’re with me. As long as you’re by my side, I know that I can overcome anything.”
I stared at him fondly. “Digging out the past, plagiarism, and now, death… Just who is this enemy of yours, Ashton? Is it Abe? I heard that he’s back in the country and staying in A City.”
“I’ll be the one to find out who this person is,” he promised. “All you have to do is take care of your own health.”
