69. Failed to Escape

Ashley felt like she was being bludgeoned by a blatantly sharp sword at that moment. How dare that man twist Ashley's words in front of her, just to save his own skin. Throwing the blame on Ashley and setting her up to be a sacrifice for her own mother.

What a shameless, bad, evil man.

From the bottom of her heart, this time Ashley wanted to spill all kinds of curses in this world.

The man knew very well that Ashley's entire family lived in Seoul, but instead of being careful he was hanging around with his girlfriend in this city. As if there was no other safer place they could go. The two of them—or at least one of them—could have thought to find a place where it would be impossible to cross paths or meet anyone who knew them. Such a simple thing was impossible if they couldn't think of it.

But what happens now? Dating in the most crowded cafe in the most crowded city in the country? Ashley couldn't help but say that this couple was really stupid.

Even so, Ashley still couldn't do anything about it. She obviously couldn't just go ahead and expose that Josh was a big liar. Because if she did, things would get even more complicated.

Her mother would certainly be more urgent to get the most reasonable explanation, and the potential for her suspicion of Josh would soar.

Once more, this wasn't Ashley's fault. But if her mother ever found out about Josh's scandal, she would still blame her for all the reasons Ashley could guess—incapable of controlling her husband, failing to maintain her reputation, and usually ending with labeling her as a stupid child who didn't deserve to be part of the Song family.

She was not willing to bear Josh's mistakes and make her own life miserable. Josh should be the one rotting in hell, not her. But, then again, this was all too complicated for Ashley to just solve.

"I thought I told him the location. But... I guess I forgot. Sorry, Mom," Ashley lowered her gaze to the floor. She didn't want everyone there to see the look of annoyance and anger radiating from her eyes.

Ashley's mother snorted harshly. Then a hiss escaped her tightly clenched mouth, “What a slob.”

Josh could see how his mother-in-law glanced and looked at Ashley. There was an unusual look that he caught there. Clearly, there was one thing he could conclude at that moment—that woman was really mad at Ashley. And Ashley was probably going to get in trouble for lying and making the girl bear his lies.

Josh quickly said again, “But it's not entirely Ashley's fault.” His brain was spinning very fast while working very hard to come up with another excuse that could help save everyone there—not only himself, but also Ashley and Sharon. “When Ashley asked if I had time today because you invited me to visit the grandson of your business relation,” Josh was relieved that he remembered almost everything Ashley had written in her message earlier, thus showing that he knew exactly what his mother-in-law's agenda was. "I immediately said that I had other things to do. So Ashley didn't have time to tell me where the location was."

Ashley's mother looked at Josh while impressed with the words he was able to say, then nodded. Accepting his excuse without wanting to demand another explanation. But somehow she couldn't resist saying a bitter sentence like, “So you're defending Ashley?”

Which made Josh quite distraught because it was as if his motives were immediately revealed and he was caught off guard.

"Ma'am, of course Mr. Lim is defending Miss Ashley. Any husband would definitely defend his wife. Right, Mr. Lim?" This time Mrs. Go stepped forward to straighten out the heated situation. “And I think this is merely a misunderstanding, Ma'am.”

Josh nodded in agreement with Mrs. Go's statement.

Meanwhile, Ashley's mother’s eyebrows looked even more arched after listening to Mrs. Go's diplomatic sentence. She decided to nod for the second time, because what they said was not wrong. And there was no point in her continuing to act like that in a public place like this. Drawing attention was not good for her image.

Just then, a waitress approached Mrs. Go with two large boxes containing her order.

Mrs. Go accepted it and thanked her.

Ashley’s mother then went back to talking to Josh to confirm whether or not the man's words that she had heard moments ago were actually going to be carried out—that he would take the time to come along when he found out that their agenda was in this city. “Then you can come with us now?”

Josh instantly felt panicked. He didn't know what to do at the moment. If he said yes to his mother-in-law's question, he would have to leave Sharon alone. Meanwhile, his girlfriend's condition was clearly not okay because she had to be in the middle of this situation. Josh couldn't even imagine how angry Sharon would be after this.

But if Josh rejected her, while they had clearly met like this, his image would be instantly ruined in the eyes of his in-laws. And that wasn't a good thing. Because the single most important thing he had to do, which his parents had always emphasized besides having a harmonious marriage with Ashley, was to maintain a good relationship with his in-laws. Because Mr. and Mrs. Song were the main key to the success of their family's plan.

"Okay. Let's go," Ashley's mother took Josh's unilateral silence as consent. “You brought your car?”

Josh, who was still confused about his own decision, was even more confused when Ashley’s mother immediately decided unilaterally if he wanted to go with them.

“Did you bring your car, or not?” Ashley’s mother repeated her question.

Josh nodded hesitantly. “Yes.”

“You can go with Ashley then.”

“Mom, umm,” Josh tried to express his refusal as best he could, "My cousin... she's alone. There's no way I'm leaving her behind."

Ashley’s mother immediately glanced briefly at the girl her son-in-law was referring to, then immediately looked at Josh with a sharp look. "She's an adult. Shouldn't it be okay to go home alone? Where does she live?"

“Ma'am,” Mrs. Go tried to defuse the situation as best she could, "this Lady came from overseas. So perhaps she's not too familiar with the city here."

“She can't speak Korean?” Ashley’s mother was still staring at Josh while issuing a barrage of questions that seemed to clearly corner Josh, “She can't read the folder? Your business isn't done yet?”

As if she didn't want to hear any excuses, even if her trusted assistant was trying to intervene to help.

Josh swallowed his saliva with difficulty. He glanced at Sharon with a gaze that trembled with the utter confusion and urgency of having absolutely nothing to choose from. He was silent in thought for quite a while.

Ashley’s mother, to his surprise, was also silent as she waited for him to make a decision.

Eventually, Josh agreed to come with them.

"I just asked you to accompany me to meet a very important person in the business world. It should be easy enough for you to say yes. Because after all, you're the one who will benefit. It's strange to see you seem so forced."

Once again, Josh felt like he had been punched straight to the heart. He immediately corrected his mother-in-law's judgment with a panicked gesture. "No, Mom. I'm certainly very happy to have this opportunity. It's just that I'm worried enough about my cousin to not be able to think clearly."

“Where does she live?” Ashley’s mother cocked her head at Sharon. “I can help you by getting my driver to drive her, if you want.”

“In—” Josh's breath caught. His brain seemed to be drying up from having to keep up so many lies. "At my parents' house. Thanks for the offer, but there's no need. She can take a taxi."

He timidly glanced at Sharon whose face was already sour and disheveled. Josh knew his girlfriend must be enduring a huge storm inside her.

“Okay then.”

Ashley’s mother then walked away without another word to her car.

Mrs. Go and Ashley followed behind her.

Meanwhile, Josh, with a heart filled with regret and confusion, gave Sharon an expression of regret that was clearly printed on his panicked face.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I have to go. Please, don't do anything," Josh kept whispering even though the three people had gone far away from the two of them—as if afraid that even the slightest sound would be heard by his terrifying mother-in-law. "Please, I beg you, go home quietly and I—I'll see you as soon as this is over. Okay? Dear? Please, I have to leave soon. I love you."

Josh said the whole sentence in a hurry and then left after her out of the cafe.

Sharon, who was still standing where she was, grinned while snorting with extreme annoyance.