Ashley contemplated not going to the meeting, but she decided that she had to. After all, she had signed a contract with Liam stating that she was going to follow him to any necessary meetings.She also knows that this might be quite important for him, so she had to prepare if she wanted to be a good fake partner for him."I think I should call Ethan and ask him who the person Liam was meeting is," she thought to herself. She didn't want to look all clueless like arm candy at the meeting.She doesn't need much time to dress up anyway. She never liked make-up, so all she had to do was just look for proper attire suited to the type of people that she and Liam were going to meet and the location."Hello Ethan, sorry for bothering you, but who is Liam meeting today and where is the meeting? I want to do my research before the meeting so that I won't be totally clueless," she said immediately. He picked up her call."Oh, hello, Miss Valencia. The person Mr. Abbot is meeting is Alexander Ro
Liam knows that cutting Ashley off and springing this on her out of nowhere was an asshole move, but he couldn't seem to be able to stop.He could tell that his words and actions were hurting her, but he also felt like she deserved it. After all, they wouldn't be in this mess if she hadn't planned and created the damn scandal.He also couldn't stop thinking about the conversation he had with the strange lady who had been waiting for him outside the door when he got there. She had introduced herself as Mary, and he could tell that Mary genuinely cared about Ashley.He had gotten out of the car and was about to go knock on the door when she approached him.Liam's conflicted emotions were tearing him apart. On one hand, he recognized the pain he was causing Ashley, yet on the other hand, he couldn't shake off the feeling that she somehow deserved it due to her involvement in the scandal.As he replayed his encounter with Mary in his mind, her genuine concern for Ashley puzzled him even m
Ashley couldn't help but feel anxious as she walked towards the restaurant with Liam beside her. She didn't know what exactly the deal between Mr. Ross and Liam was, but she was worried that Mr. Ross would greet her as if he knew her.A waitress was waiting for them when they entered."Hello, Mr. Abbot and Miss Valencia, your table is ready. Mr. and Mrs. Ross will be with you shortly," the waitress said, smiling at Ashley, and she smiled back.Liam couldn't help but be appalled by the exchange because it was obvious the waitress was trying to flirt with Ashley with the looks she was giving her.Liam could tell that Ashley was too naive to notice that, and that made him even more annoyed."What is it about her that makes everyone want her? She's mine," he thought to himself. The fact that he said she was his startled him, but he decided to ignore it.Liam couldn't stop glaring at the waitress, who wouldn't stop talking and flirting with Ashley, who was oblivious to everything even afte
"The lines between real and fake are starting to blur, Liam," he thought to himself. The rest of the entire meal course was spent with Mr. and Mrs. Ross teasing Liam and Ashley and also telling them about their relationship when they were their age. The two of them had met when they were just 16. Their parents had arranged for them to get married, but the two of them fell in love before they found out that their marriage was arranged by their parents. Ashley knew bits of this story already, but she couldn't help but feel like she wanted that kind of love too. She loves the couple honestly, but being with them always makes her remember that she might never feel the type of love the two of them had. She knew that having love was almost impossible for her anymore, especially with the contract marriage thing with Liam. Not that she ever felt like it was possible. The only friend she has ever had even left her because she was so unloveable. They had both gotten into an accident, and sh
A lot of things had been going through Ashley's mind since they left Gwen's restaurant two weeks before. She was glad the whole meeting went well because she had been so stressed about the meeting not going well because she knew that Liam would blame everything on her.She was currently working on an app that she was creating when her phone rang. She had not gotten any calls from Jacob since her last job, so the only way to keep her mind from overthinking is by coding. She hadn't really faltered, like hacking into any server.She picked her phone up and saw that it was a call from Ethan, Liam's secretary. Her heart literally jumped to her chest, seeing that.She knew that it was not going to be Liam that would be at the end of the call, but that doesn't make her any less anxious. She knew that he was most likely calling to tell her about the trip tomorrow.Liam had told her on their way from Gwen's restaurant that she should get prepared and that they would be going to Carlifonia to m
Ashley was surprised to see that Liam was calling her."What does he have to tell me? Ethan has already told me about tomorrow's plans; is he planning on yelling and snapping at me again?" she thought to herself, her heart racing.She was so busy panicking that the phone had stopped ringing before she could even gather the courage to pick up his call."Oh my goodness, what do I do now? Do I call him?" she screamed dramatically as she looked frantically around her room as if she were talking to someone.Ashley took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She realized that overthinking wouldn't solve anything and decided to gather her thoughts before deciding whether to call Liam back or not.As she sat down on her bed, she reminded herself that she and Liam had a mutually beneficial contract and that she shouldn't be so scared of him, so she decided to call him back."Uhmm, here we go," she said to herself, and she was about to pick up her phone to call him when his phone started r
Ashley was quiet throughout the entire ride, and so was Liam. She contemplated talking to him since the silence was becoming deafening.Liam, on the other hand, was going crazy. He was hyper-aware of her beside him, and that was driving him crazy, especially with her sweet floral scent."So, why didn't Thomas drive you today?" Ashley asked, and Liam frowned immediately.He was annoyed that the first thing she decided to do was talk about his driver and not even ask him how his work was."You sure know how to drive me crazy," he mumbled to himself."What did you say?" Ashley asked."Uhmm nothing. I gave Thomas the day off so he could pick up his son and spend time with him after school." I said, and she nodded in response."So, have you thought about what our backstory would be?" She asked him."We will go along with some parts of the scandal, but I want us to make it mor
Ashley sighed at Emily’s childishness. The woman looked like she was old enough to give birth to Ashley, but she was acting like a petty child.She couldn’t bring herself to care though; she had to be careful of her from now on, but she also had other things to worry about.The two of them both headed to the kitchen. Ashley couldn’t deny that the food looked good. She just had to compliment Emily.“The food looks so good, Emily,” she said, but Emily just grunted in response. Liam noticed this but just passed the whole thing off as her being overly protective.Emily has been working with him for the past 7 years since he started the company. He had inherited the house from his grandmother when he was just 21 before he started the company.He moved there after graduation and needed someone to take care of the big house and cook for him since he was always busy. Emily has been a godsend and honestly a nice person, so he d