Suddenly, the tension was palpable. After a few moments of silence, Millie stopped the car by the roadside.
She wound down her window, lit a cigarette and took a long drag before turning to me and said, “It was indeed someone who works for Ashton that knocked you off yesterday. My contract with you is to keep you safe, and investigative work is not part of our deal. If you have doubts that I’m taking double salaries, feel free to cross check with Ashton. If you don’t wish to see my face, I will do it out of your sight. But I won’t leave until I fulfil my contractual obligation.”
The woman was all calm and collected, as though she had already anticipated that her secret would be exposed any time. That, or this was all within Ashton’s planning and expectation.
Nonetheless, I didn’t wish for him to learn that I was now aware of his arrangement.
After some considerations, I decided to give Millie one more chance. “I believe you didn’t do that for money. However, this will be the first and last time you tried to pull something like that with me. If you choose to pledge your allegiance to me, we can still work things out between ourselves. Alternatively, if you wish to continue your work for Ashton, then I’ll terminate our contract right now. I’ll make sure you’re fully compensated based on the contract, but I’ll ask that you stay away from me as I don’t want someone I can’t trust around me.”
Millie tilted her head a little and was quick to come to her decision. “One last time.”
It was her way of apologizing and promising.
Since I decided to forgive her, I chose to re-establish mutual trust between us.
“Fine. Let’s just put this behind us and move on. Since investigative work is not your strong suit, will you look for someone with such talent in your circle? I want to know what Ashton is up to.”
“Certainly.”
“It’s late. Let’s just head home.”
Millie nodded and tossed the cigarette butt out the window before starting the car and heading for Stovall residence.
Staring out at the blurry neon lights flashing by, I felt a sudden weight on my shoulder.
Ashton, what do I do with you?
The man went to great length with John to come up with such an elaborate lie so that I could wait for the research of my antidote without worrying, and to stop me from ending my own life.
Although his plan was full of plot holes, it was not without any success.
Since I couldn’t determine the imminent threats he was facing, I kept a tight lid about “my death” for the time being.
After that night, Ashton kept himself busy and didn’t contact me for one whole week.
I was in no rush to confront him. Instead, I instructed Millie to speed up the investigation covertly. However, before any useful information could come to light, a piece of news materialized out of nowhere.
Legendary investor Elliot Jacobson injected ten billion into Moore Corporation, making him the second largest shareholder after the Moores.
Instantly, all the media outlets in K City had their cameras zoomed in on the sudden appearance of a new big wheel in the corporate world.
Incidentally, Elliot had indirectly expressed his interest in me when asked about his love life by the press, resulting in some tabloid’s exploitation of our stories to boost their magazine popularity.
Some even went one step further with an in-depth report about the possibility of our union based on common business interests.
“Elliot Jacobson. Seems like a nice bloke, I must say. Not only is he good looking and loaded, he also sounds like a gentleman with no scandal. His only two previous relationships during university time ended on amicable terms. If these were true, he does appear to be a husband material. Aren’t you the slightest bit interested?” Emery asked suggestively while reading the tabloid filled with our photoshopped images.
I rolled my eyes, looked at her with distaste, but kept my comments to myself on this matter.
On another level, this piece of news might actually serve as a nice addition to the rumors already circulating around Ashton and Thora, which showed that he and I were drifting further apart. If Ezra dropped his guard because of this, it might provide Ashton with the perfect cover.
