Chapter 1688 Riled Up
Rebecca was looking at me strangely. It was a mixture of condescension and glee and something else I could not pinpoint. What I did know, however, was that it was making me uncomfortable.
A loud bang suddenly echoed in the room. Ashton had stood up so abruptly that the chair had tipped over and crashed to the floor.
He went to Roger in large strides. Before I could react, he was already pulling the other man up by the collars. In one swift motion, he slammed the latter against the wall.
“Ashton!” I exclaimed, hurriedly pulling the children to my side while covering Audrey’s eyes. “The children are watching!”
He might have mellowed over time, but ever since the incident at the club, where he had smashed all of the alcohol on purpose, I knew that no amount of mellowing would change who he was at the core—brisk and authoritative. He would always be a man of action and, regrettably, impatience.
It was why I knew that he would most definitely punch Roger if I did not say anything to stop him.
Ashton paused briefly. When he moved next, it was to fling Roger by his collars in the direction of the doorway.
The latter stumbled and fell, wincing at the pain but not daring to say a word.
“Get lost,” Ashton said with a tone of finality.
Roger scrambled.
“Wow, I’ve never seen you so riled up before, Ashton,” Rebecca said airily. “I wonder why is that? Oh, could it be that you’re afraid of us knowing that your precious wife turns out to be damaged goods, just like me?”
As soon as those words fell, a pair of large hands wrapped themselves around her neck and squeezed.
Rebecca choked and struggled, clawing at Ashton’s arm in a feeble attempt to make him let go, only to have those fingers tighten around her throat even further.
From the way her face was slowly turning purple, I guessed that she would last another ten seconds before she ran out of air.
Instead of begging for release, however, Rebecca remained staunchly defiant. There was even a hint of a smirk on her face as she gasped for breath like a dying fish. “Sore, aren’t we?” she croaked out each word with difficulty. “You didn’t want me but still ended up marrying damaged goo—ah!”
There was a murderous glint in Ashton’s eyes as he squeezed just a little harder.
I could not care less about Rebecca’s life, but I was not about to have my husband commit murder. While what Roger had said did seem to imply that I had been assaulted, I knew for a fact that it did not happen.
“You’re wrong,” I told Rebecca tonelessly. “Ashton was and still is the only man I’ve ever been with.”
She widened her eyes incredulously at my words and tried to swivel her head to look at me. The action only caused her greater pain and discomfort, however, and she started struggling anew.
Ashton did not let go. His grip was firm all the way until Rebecca’s eyes began rolling up the back of her head.
He’s really going to end her. I immediately grabbed his arm. “Ashton! Let go! You’re going to jail if you do this! Do you want to leave me behind to raise the children on my own?”
The effect was instantaneous. It was as if I had slapped him awake. Ashton’s grip loosened, and Rebecca collapsed to the floor, gasping and coughing.
“No… You’re l-lying!” Her voice was completely hoarse. “You can’t be… that lucky!”
I was abruptly reminded of what John had told me. He said Rebecca had a baby as a result of sexual assault. She must have felt that this marked the beginning of her downhill relationship with Ashton and her fall from grace.
