Ashton leaned back against the backrest. His smile widened. “My wife’s the best!”
While attending to his wound, it dawned on me to ask, “Ashton, tell me the truth. You must have said or done something for the secretary to pour hot water on your chest. What did you do?”
His eyes dimmed. “Do I seem like such a person to you?”
I shrugged. “That’s hard to tell.” Unknowingly, I increased my pressure on his wound. As an act of petty revenge, he bit my lips lightly.
“Heartless creature.”
After attending to his wound, I helped him with his shirt. “Summer’s down with flu. Ever since she arrived in K City, her immune system has deteriorated. After discussing with Mom, we are thinking of bringing her back to R Province to recuperate.”
For a few moments, Ashton lowered his head, deep in thought. “All right. I’ll tie up all the loose ends. When Joseph comes back from Moranta, we’ll bring Summer to R Province.”
That went so smoothly, it was almost unbelievable. “If you leave, can Joseph manage?”
“There’s still Joe. Nothing to worry about.” Still seated, he hugged my waist playfully. I noticed the cute lunchbox on his desk. “Did you eat out? Or did someone send you food?”
“I ordered takeaway. There wasn’t time to eat out.”
I nodded, not intending to ask any further.
Over the next couple of days, Ashton and I stuck to each other like glue; we ate, lived, and went to work together. One fine day, while we were lazing around in his office, I received a call from Hannah.
“Scarlett, are you at K City?” Her voice sounded hoarse.
“I am. How’s Quilo?”
“He’s fine. Actually, I have a favor to ask.”
This was out of the norm. “Did something happen?”
“It concerns your family. Actually, John didn’t want to trouble you about this, but Scarlett, you’re the only one I know who can help us! Can you get Uncle Zachery to use his connections and find out how Uncle Louis is doing?”
“What happened? Tell me everything.”
“Someone reported Uncle Louis for jobbery. They accused him of using his power to open a company for John, which is a violation of the law. It has been two days since he was taken in for investigation! John’s frantically searching, but no one has any news concerning him. Uncle Zachery’s been here for many years. I’m sure he’ll know who to look.”
“Hannah, calm down. I’ll definitely ask Dad for help. Are you alone at home? Can you contact John?”
“Quilo’s with me, and John’s phone keeps going to voicemail.” I could tell she was about to cry.
I got up from Ashton. “Don’t worry. I’ll call Dad now.” Then I hung up the phone.
Just as I was about to dial for Zachary, Ashton took away my phone. “Based on Uncle Louis’ standing, I’m sure they won’t do anything to him. He’s probably at someplace nice, answering a few questions. Give it a few more days. If your dad gets involved, how would the top brass think? A high-ranking official being friends with a dubious businessman. It would just make things worse for him.”
After considering his words, I realized how rash I was acting. If they found concrete evidence against Louis, he would have already been convicted. This silence could only mean that they had nothing against him. In this case, no news was good news. It wouldn’t help the situation one bit if I meddled blindly.
“Then what should we do now? John and Hannah must be panicking. We can’t just sit still and do nothing.”
Ashton frowned. “How would you know about John’s condition? If he’s able to lead Stovall Corporation well, I’m sure he must have thought about this, too. Don’t worry about Hannah. I’ll get someone to watch over her.”
His words were implying something. I asked, “If John knows he can’t get involved with Uncle Louis’ matter, why didn’t he tell Hannah about it? Why’s he making her worry?”
