It had almost slipped my mind. I swiftly replied to him, already making plans to visit Jackson and Macy in J City as I hadn’t seen them for quite some time. Making a mental calculation, I realized that Macy’s child was probably already two months old.
Right then, my phone was abruptly snatched out of my hands. I whipped my head up and was met with Ashton’s obsidian eyes. With a frown, I questioned, “What’s wrong?”
He put the phone out of my reach and instructed, “Eat first.”
My frown deepened as I looked at the food in front of me, not having much of an appetite. “I already ate earlier. I’m not hungry.”
“It doesn’t matter. You should eat more.” He pushed a plate of stacked pancakes toward me.
I sighed aloud to express my displeasure but didn’t kick up a fuss.
After having breakfast, I could vaguely sense that he was in a foul mood, but I couldn’t figure out the root cause of it. Hence, I chose to be silent.
Silence hovered between us all the way back to the villa. The moment we stepped into the bedroom, Ashton abruptly hugged me from behind. “Did he touch you?” he asked in a deep and hoarse voice, evidently trying to suppress his rage.
Befuddled by his question, I didn’t get the chance to react when he started peppering me with fervent kisses, suckling the skin of my neck and shoulders.
My brows furrowed as his actions became rougher. Despite the anger surging in me, I managed to calmly say, “Did you bring me back here because Rebecca can’t satisfy you now that she’s pregnant? Am I replacing her?”
He paused just then and lifted his head, his breathing becoming heavy with anger. “Scarlett, am I really that despicable to you?”
“Aren’t you?” I refuted, turning my head to look at him and meeting his bloodshot eyes.
The temperature around us seemed to plummet drastically.
An inconspicuous smile appeared on Ashton’s handsome face, and his gaze on me was like a knife stabbing into my chest. “Very well. I won’t disappoint you then!”
He pushed me onto the bed without waiting for me to react. Then, he jerked off his necktie and threw it aside, the buttons of his collar coming undone from his rough movements.
I was dazed for a while before realizing what he was about to do. With my heart pounding wildly against my ribcage, I scrambled off the bed to make a run for the door.
However, before my feet touched the ground, I was pressed down by his body, and the scent that was solely his instantly filled my senses. “Based on Marcus’ personality, he probably wouldn’t have taken you by force, right?”
Then, he said through gritted teeth, “Let’s do something different, shall we?”
…
Mrs. Eriksen was originally delighted that I was back, so she made a scrumptious meal and came upstairs to deliver it. Upon reaching the door, she cheerfully called out, “Letty!”
However, she immediately froze when she saw Ashton and me in that posture.
“Get out!” Ashton’s features twisted with rage and viciousness.
As Mrs. Eriksen had never been at the receiving end of his wrath, she stood paralyzed for a split second before hastily backing away and closing the door.
“Hah!” A laugh escaped my lips as I stared into his impenetrable dark eyes, mocking him in a voice dripping with sarcasm. “Haha! I’m actually grateful that the child isn’t alive. I can’t imagine how miserable his life would be with a father like you.”
He pinned me with a dangerous gaze and clenched his jaw in an effort to control his temper.
During those few seconds, I thought that he was going to hit me.
But the impact didn’t come.
All he did was lean forward to place his lips to my ear before gritting out in a low and hoarse voice, “Let’s have another one and see if he’ll be miserable or blessed.”
I was stunned.
Then, Ashton smashed his lips against mine.
My mind only registered the stinging pain on my lips several moments later.
“Are you an animal?” I yelled angrily.
“Hah!” He sneered. “Good to know that you still feel pain!”
“Ashton…”
Before I could curse him to hell and back, I felt his whole body stiffen all of a sudden just as his breath hitched slightly.
Taking a closer look at him, I noticed that his gaze was fixated on the scar spanning my lower abdomen.
He raised his hand to touch it, but I slapped it away as an idea popped into my mind.
“Why? Does the scar disgust you?”
As he looked at me, I could see the heartache and pain swirling in his eyes. However, I merely found it hilarious and ironic.
“Does it still hurt?” He seemed to have regained control over his emotions as his gaze returned to being indecipherable.
My heart wrenched in pain at his absurd question, and I struggled to draw air into my lungs for a moment.
I pushed him away and got up, then put on my clothes mechanically before uttering, “You’re even more farcical than I thought, Ashton.”
With that, I swiveled around and went downstairs.
Mrs. Eriksen was in the kitchen. Seeing me come down, she stole a glance at me and turned slightly embarrassed. “You must be hungry, Letty. Molly and I cooked some food earlier. Would you like some?”
I shook my head and turned her down. “No, thank you. I’m going out for a walk.”
I was rather surprised to bump into Rebecca at the villa’s entrance, but then again, it wasn’t all that strange. With one hand supporting her protruding belly, Rebecca got out of the car with the help of her nanny.
The driver drove off after she gave him some instructions. Then, she walked toward the villa with the nanny’s support.
When she saw me leaning against the door frame with my arms folded across my chest while looking at her icily, she paused in her steps. The initial excitement on her face was replaced by surprise and hostility.
“Good morning, Ms. Larson. Aren’t you going to move in now that your belly has grown so big?” I didn’t mean for it to sound sarcastic but simply felt that it seemed inappropriate for a pregnant woman to go back and forth like that.
