Chapter 36: Wounded Heart

Megan's POV

I couldn't believe I was holding a photo album in my hands. I didn’t understand why Ashton was giving me something like this, and my curiosity heightened. I became more excited to look at everything inside the old album. I slowly sat at the edge of the bed, leaned my back against the headboard, placed the memory book on my lap, and started scanning the old photo album.

My eyes widened when I realized it was an album of his grandfather, as I could see Henry Pritzgold and his wife, Sarah, on the first two pages. The following photographs I saw made my entire body shiver. I saw Axel in the picture with Ashton's grandfather, but it would be impossible since I could tell by the date of each image that the photos were taken many years ago.

No wonder Ashton felt so confident telling me that Axel was his son—he looked exactly like him at that age. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked at Ashton's pictures and realized most of them were with his grandparents. There were also pictures with his siblings, and I smiled when I saw Isabelle's beautiful face. She hadn’t changed much because I could tell right away it was her.

On the following pages, I saw pictures of Ashton and his siblings together with their parents when they went to Japan. He was young back then. I could tell Ashton was older than Axel by one year when the photos were taken, according to the dates. He still looked like Axel from every angle. As I continued to scan the pages, I saw him grow into a teenager and eventually into an adult.

When I reached the last two pages of the album, my heart melted. I couldn’t stop myself from reminiscing when I saw the pictures of Ashton and me at the lake on his grandfather's estate. We looked so happy back then. I don’t know how long I stared at our pictures when I felt my tears drip down my face. I suddenly felt so empty, and I couldn’t believe I was feeling this way.

"Are you okay, Meg?" I heard my best friend’s voice and shook my head. I hadn’t even noticed her come into my room.

"What’s wrong?" she softly asked. When her eyes found the photo album, I saw her eyes widen as she looked at the pictures of Ashton and me. Then I flipped back to the page where Ashton was a little boy, and she was speechless for a long time.

"Wow! I don't think you need a paternity test to prove Ashton is the father. He has all the evidence he needs, after all," she said, and I nodded.

"What do you think I should do, Al?" I asked in more than a whisper as she handed me the facial tissue from my vanity table.

"Well, if you’re going to ask for my opinion on this matter, you know what my answer would be. You've always known your happiness matters most to me, and I don't want you to live your life filled with regrets, Meg," Alice responded.

"We both know that even if you say you don’t want to see Ashton anymore, and you hate him with all your heart, you can’t deny that you still love him, Meg. I want you to stop being miserable. Give him a second chance," she added.

"You know it will never be easy for me, Alice. You witnessed how much my ex hurt me, and I don’t think we can be in a relationship again when my heart is full of resentment," I softly said as I looked at our picture again, wishing I could go back to when we were still in love and so happy.

"And I know the best thing I can do is stay away from him. I already begged him to disappear and never disturb my peaceful life ever again, because every time he’s near, I can’t think straight, and I don’t even know what to do. Because you were right, Alice—I’m still in love with him. And I can’t think when he’s around because my stupid heart keeps telling me how much I want to be in his arms again," I added.

"So, why not give yourself a chance to be happy again? We've been talking like this for so many years, Meg, and now that he’s finally here, you drove him away," my best friend said.

"At least he knew why I asked him never to communicate with me again, and I was better than him, Alice," I said.

"How can you say that, Meg? Did you ask him why he did it? Did you give Ashton a chance to explain his side after eight years? You’ve been holding that grudge for so long now, but you didn’t know anything that happened to him during that time. Megan, maybe Ashton didn’t tell you the reason because he knew your personality," Alice said, and her words made me fall silent.

"I’m sure he was afraid that once you knew the truth behind his silence and why he suddenly stopped communicating with you, you’d push him away. Like what your brother did—he hurt you so you would stay away from him, without knowing he was suffering too," Alice added. I didn’t want to admit she could be right, so I changed the topic.

"I thought you were already sleeping. Why did you come into my room without knocking, Alice?" I asked.

"I’m sorry, Meg. I came in because your door was ajar. I just wanted to give you this invitation card. Someone left it in our office, and I wondered why it had our names on it. I forgot to give it to you the day your secretary handed it to me," Alice replied as she gave me the card. I suddenly felt worried that it might be a wedding invitation from Ashton, and if that was the case, I’d make sure to give him a lesson.

"Why didn’t you open it, Alice?" I asked as I tried to calm my nerves and the trembling of my limbs.

"No, I didn’t want to ruin the thrill. I wanted to open it with you since the invitation was addressed to both of us," she replied, and I thought maybe one of our suppliers knew Alice was my best friend.

"Can you open this card, Alice? I don’t think my heart can handle another surprise today," I said, and my best friend chuckled.

"Sure," she responded as she took the invitation back from my hand. I couldn’t wait for the details as she carefully opened the envelope. When she pulled out the off-white card, I could feel the rapid beating of my heart and the sweat on my palm as I waited impatiently. When I saw a beautiful smile on her face, I realized it might be good news.

"You know I don’t have the kind of patience you do. What is it, Alice?" I asked, and she was still smiling as she looked at me.

"It’s an invitation for a class reunion for our batch, Megan," she said excitedly. My face fell as I realized why I didn’t want to attend an event where I was sure to see Ashton Pritzgold.

"It’s next month, and the venue is at the Astikoz International Hotel. I heard the well-known five-star hotel in Astikoz will be under new management. Do you want to know the new owner?" she asked, but I shook my head. It still hurt to remember our city.

"I’m not interested, Alice," I replied.

"I expected you’d say that, Megan, because I know you're still allergic to hearing the word ‘Astikoz.’ But even if you're not interested, I’ll still tell you. It’s Ashton’s family. Maybe Ashton offered the venue for free," she said.

"And do you think I’ll go knowing he’ll be there?" I asked, and my best friend's face fell.

"If you don’t, Ashton will only think you're still crazy about him," she said. I stood up and dragged her toward my bedroom door. She continued teasing me until she was out of my room, and I couldn’t stop feeling so frustrated with my feelings.

Monday came, and I was busy reading reports and product updates, but when my best friend entered my office, she found me staring into space.

"Are you sad because you haven’t received any flowers from Ashton?" she asked, and I glared at her.

"Why should I be? I was the one who told him to stop messing with my life, and I’m glad there are no more flowers in my office today. Besides, it’s better because all the bouquets he sends will only meet the same fate. I’m going to throw them in the trash bin, Alice," I said, and she only shook her head.

The days passed in a blur, and I couldn’t deny Alice was right. I missed the flowers and the messages Ashton put on each card. Alice knew I threw out the flowers, but she didn’t know I kept the cards. I felt like a fool as I pulled out the bouquet tags and started rereading them. And I couldn’t deny I missed receiving flowers from Ashton. I realized, for the second time, that he had given up on me, and I could feel my heart ache again as my wounded heart reopened.