Picking me up, he glanced at Mrs. Eriksen, who had rushed out after hearing the commotion. “Get a cab for Ms. Larson!”
Mrs. Eriksen nodded profusely.
Rebecca had just recovered from the shock. She stared at us, her expression pale. “Ash,” she implored.
“Go back home!” Ashton told her before heading into the villa with me.
Behind us, I could hear Mrs. Eriksen saying, “Ms. Larson, here’s your cab.”
Back in the bedroom, Ashton placed me on the bed gently. He gazed at me and gave me a light peck. “Don’t act recklessly anymore. Otherwise…”
He didn’t finish his sentence. When his cool lips landed on my shoulder, leaving his mark there with a bite, I frowned slightly but said nothing.
After pulling up the covers for me, his phone started ringing on the bedside table. I glanced at it and realized it was Rebecca.
Ashton took a glance at it, but he didn’t answer her call.
After a few missed calls from Rebecca, she texted him.
The message read: Ash, please don’t leave me alone. After losing my brother, you’re the only one I have.
I wanted to smile, but there was a lump in my throat stopping me from doing so.
Ashton saw the text, too. He didn’t reply to it. Instead, he lit up a cigarette and went to the balcony to smoke quietly.
Perhaps I was tired after the earlier incident as I fell asleep soon.
The thunder was booming loudly when I finally woke up. I thought the sky had cleared, but it was still pouring at midnight.
Previously, I wasn’t afraid as I was with Macy. But that night, the bedroom was empty. The lightning flashed across the night, and it was terrifying in the dark bedroom.
I switched on the light and looked around. Ashton was nowhere to be seen. There were a lot of cigarette stubs on the balcony.
As he wasn’t in the bedroom, I walked out barefoot, hoping to see him in his study.
Alas, I was too naïve.
In the living room downstairs, Rebecca stood there stubbornly, utterly drenched. Her gaze was fixated on Ashton.
“Go back home!” said Ashton in exasperation.
“No!” Rebecca’s lips curved up in an innocent smile. “You know I’m afraid of thunder.”
She seemed frail and delicate, especially since she was drenched, with her hair in a messy state.
After a long silence, Ashton gave in. “Go take a shower.”
Rebecca nodded. “But I don’t have clean clothes to change into,” she said.
“Your clothes, which you brought here earlier, are still in the guest room.”
I stood at the top of the stairs silently and overheard their conversation.
Rebecca sauntered into the guest room.
Back then, George bought this villa because he thought it was spacious. It could accommodate if Ashton and I had more kids.
Later on, I realized that day might never come. I didn’t even know when Rebecca moved her clothes to the guest room.
How ridiculous!
“Ah!” A shriek sounded from the guest room. It seemed like Rebecca had slipped.
Ashton’s brows knitted up as he strode toward the guest room. Suddenly, he stopped midway and looked up, meeting my gaze. “You’re awake?”
I nodded, feeling a pang in my heart. “She is hurt. You should go check up on her.”
“Scarlett!”
I parted my lips and insisted. “Go!”
I couldn’t get him to love me, but I couldn’t stop him from loving someone else, could I?
At once, I returned to the bedroom. The rain was splattering noisily on the balcony. I strode out and stood there, allowing the rain to soak my body entirely. Slowly, my heart grew numb.
Falling to my knees, I hugged myself tightly. Burying my head between my knees, my tears streamed down uncontrollably.
Fairytales didn’t exist in the real world.
No one had the ability to help me, nor was it anyone’s duty. I had to grit my teeth and get over it myself.
I wasn’t sure if it was because I stood in the rain for too long, but my head felt heavy. The pain in my heart had gone numb. My whole body was shivering from the cold.
Footsteps sounded from the bedroom. Looking up, I saw Ashton coming to a stop beside me.
He was obviously livid.
“Is it fun to torture me?”
Stunned, I replied, “Are you happy?”
He scooped me up unhappily. “Scarlett, there are responsibilities which I cannot push away from. Don’t torture me using you and our child, alright?”
I lowered my head as tears spilled out. “I wasn’t trying to torture you. The heartache was too much for me to bear.”
I was dripping wet as he brought me into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, he undressed me without a word.
