I wasn’t really hungry to begin with, and seeing him here made me lose my appetite completely.
The weather was already chilly during the winter, and the heavy rain outside just made it even colder.
Damn it… I just had to forget my umbrella, huh? Well, my car isn’t too far away, so maybe I could just run through the rain…
But the moment I stood outside the entrance of the restaurant, the biting cold discouraged me.
Suddenly, a man held an umbrella over my head, and I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Marcus.
“Did you drive here or take a cab?” His voice sounded as cold as the weather.
I looked up at the heavy downpour and said, “I drove here.”
Marcus nodded. “I’ll give you a lift.”
“No, thank you,” I declined his offer immediately.
“Haha… I know you hate me and all, but you don’t have to avoid me like that! I’m not going to kidnap you or anything!” he said with a wry, self-mocking laugh.
I pursed my lips as I looked at my shoes that were completely drenched by the rain. “I didn’t mean to give you that money, you know? You and Ashton are both amazing men! You shouldn’t be hurting each other over a nobody like me!”
A mutually beneficial outcome is always the best one when it comes to business, after all.
“Who are you worried about? Me or Ashton?” he asked with a sneer.
Marcus sure is a stubborn one…
“I just think it isn’t worth it, that’s all.”
“That’s not for you to decide. We all have to fight for what we believe in. I chose to go all in, and I accepted my defeat.” His tone sounded really harsh when he said that.
I let out a helpless sigh and decided to keep quiet because there was nothing I could do about his stubbornness.
Seeing as the rain had let up a little, I tried making a run for it. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift!” he called out to me again.
“No, thanks!” I declined his offer in a much firmer tone, but he refused to take the hint.
“Even so, you could at least take the umbrella with you, right?” He reached out and offered me the umbrella.
When I refused to take it, he grabbed me by the arm and shoved it into my hand.
I paused and shot him a cold glare. “If the pictures get uploaded online, Ashton will only come down harder on you. You might even end up in prison after the fall of White Corporation.”
He sneered. “So what? That’s just how it is when it comes to business. I’ll admit that I can’t beat him, but I won’t give up on you, Scarlett!”
I tensed up and got a little angry when I heard that. “I know you have things that you want in life, but so do I. I too will fight hard for what I want. Although I’m not sure what it is that you want, I know exactly what I want.”
“And what is it that you want?” he asked while staring right into my eyes.
“A family with Ashton!” I replied without any hesitation.
At that moment, we were hit by a strong gust of wind, and the umbrella was blown away.
He let out a wry chuckle, seemingly in pain from the biting cold of the wind. “Scarlett… Do you know what heartache feels like?”
I kept quiet and began walking toward my car.
Our fates have all been decided from the moment of our birth. I’m not a greedy person. All I want is to be with Ashton for the rest of my life.
When I saw Ashton’s black Maybach at the intersection in the city center, I pulled over by the side of the road. It felt like he had intentionally come looking for me.
Ashton got slightly wet from the rain as he came out of his car and got into mine.
I handed him a tissue and asked, “You came all the way here just to pick me up?”
The bodyguards that Ashton had assigned to me did what they could to avoid making it too obvious, but I knew they were following me around the whole time. Although bumping into Marcus was purely coincidental, I figured the bodyguards had already reported it to Ashton. Well, not that it made any difference since I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret from him to begin with. Besides, knowing how nosy the media can be, pictures of our encounter were bound to reach Ashton anyway.
“Would you believe me if I told you I just happened to be passing by?” he asked while wiping himself dry.
I shook my head. “Nope!”
He chuckled. “Where are you headed next?”
“Hannah’s child had a fever, and since I wouldn’t be of much help even if I visited her, I was planning on heading back to the villa at first. But then I remembered that it’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow, so I figured I’d do a little grocery shopping on my way home. What about you? Are you done with work?”
He reached out and pulled me into his arms. “We can do the grocery shopping later in the evening. It’s freezing cold and raining right now, so how about you go to the office with me instead?”
I figured it was pointless to refuse, so I nodded and drove straight to the basement parking lot at Fuller Corporation.
Had Ashton not been with me, I would never have parked my car here, especially after what happened before.
Fuller Corporation was a really huge company with lots of employees, but we were able to avoid the crowd by taking Ashton’s private elevator to his office.
As he had a meeting to attend, I could only wait for him inside his office.
