70. Rocky Road

“Go with your husband, and follow us,” Ashley's mother prevented Ashley from getting in when the girl opened the car door next to her mother.

Ashley automatically and unconsciously took a deep breath and let out her sigh softly, then replied, “Okay, Mom.”

Even so, the woman could hear her heavy sigh and caught the expression of her daughter who seemed to strongly object to what she had just ordered.

"Wait. Why did you sigh like that just now? Are you tired of me? Don't you like listening to these words of your mother?" The woman looked at her with a serious, flat, expressionless look—which made the atmosphere between them suddenly become instantly suffocating.

Ashley, who was still leaning against the car door, felt as if she was being strangled by her mother's words.

"That's not it, Mom. I'm going to Josh's car. I'm sorry," she ended with a bow and quickly closed the door without any further ado.

There was nothing better for Ashley, really, whether it was being in the car with Josh or her mother. But when her mother was angry and in a bad mood like she had just witnessed, going with Josh was a much better option.

Ashley turned around and looked for Josh. The man came out of the cafe a few moments later and looked away as his gaze met Ashley who was standing not far from the door. Josh walked away to his car without engaging Ashley or saying anything. Seeing the man's demeanor that was clearly shrouded in resentment, Ashley knew today was not going to be an easy day for her.

Without thinking about the nagging in her own heart that was fed up with both her mother and Josh, Ashley followed the man and got into the car and sat next to him. She had no other choice at the moment but to hold back and obey her mother. It was obvious that she couldn't make her mother even more upset and ruin the woman's mood even more. Because if she dared to do so, who knows what she would get after this as a painful punishment.

Josh also seemed to understand the tension that was happening. Apart from Ashley's mother who apparently did not ask questions or even suspect the existence of the girl who was with Josh earlier, but being caught at the cafe after refusing to accompany his mother-in-law and his wife on important business was clearly something very fatal.

Seeing that the man decided to leave and left Sharon alone at the cafe, certainly had a very bad impact on him right now. His anger was reflected since he closed the car door very hard, drove and braked violently, and silenced Ashley during the trip.

But it wasn't Ashley's fault after all. And she felt the need to emphasize that, because she didn't want to be constantly cast as the one who ruined Josh and his girlfriend's relationship. Because she never did anything about it.

“Are you angry?” Ashley turned her head to the side because she couldn't stand Josh's attitude. But the man still remained silent, ignoring her. He kept driving with a very stiff expression on his face and his eyes glued straight to the road ahead.

Ashley snorted in annoyance. "I guess I should emphasize that what just happened wasn't my fault. Who knew you were there? And besides, how could you be dating in a crowded place like that. So, it's childish of you to get angry like this."

"I shouldn't get angry? Even if it's not your fault, I shouldn't get angry?" Josh snapped.

"Of course. You're mad at me when I don't do anything. That's crazy," Ashley raised her voice.

"I'm not mad at you! Okay?! I'm mad at myself. I’m mad with the circumstances that happened to me!" Josh's voice was getting higher and his anger was uncontrollable. “You, you should have warned me too—” Josh cut himself off. He really wanted to say that Ashley should have informed him clearly that they had business in Seoul, not just through a text message that could potentially be overlooked by him.

However, it was all his own fault.

Josh himself was not careful and read Ashley's message in passing. Josh himself agreed to Sharon's request to go to a famous cafe in Seoul. And it was Josh himself who didn't relax his disguise by keeping his mask on for too long and was recognized by Ashley and his in-law’s assistant. It all made him even angrier because he had no one to blame but himself.

The thought of the terrible things Sharon might do later was also haunting him, and made him even more frustrated.

“What?” Ashley demanded Josh to finish his sentence.

But the man just snorted and returned to silence.

After a long pause, and his fiery anger subsided a little, Josh muttered. “I didn't expect you visit such a place.”

“It's Seoul,” Ashley tried to open the man's mind wide so she could get back to using her head properly, "My whole family lives here. And that cafe is famous enough for anyone to visit. If it wasn't one of my family, someone would recognize you. All the big media companies are here also. What did you expect by thinking that no one would recognize you? I warned you many times to be careful. But you didn't listen to me. Because you only listen to what your girlfriend wants."

Ashley let out all the lumps in her heart without filtering. And as for the last statement, she knew it must be close to a hundred percent true. Because there was no other reason that made more sense than that.

“Shut up.” Josh emphasized his words.

“And you still won't admit that you're the guilty one.” while Ashley still wanted to let out her unrest that had been torturing herself too much.

“Shut up!” Josh snapped at Ashley again.

"I don't think I can do this with you anymore. I've tried to stay quiet and let you play with your own fire, but you keep getting reckless. I really can't let you pull me down with you."

“I said shut up!” This time Josh shouted like a maniac and slammed the steering wheel until the car braked suddenly. Luckily, there were no other vehicles near them so it didn't cause any commotion.

Josh turned to Ashley with a very angry expression and with a very sharp gaze. "I know I was wrong. And you don't have to lay it all out as if I'm inferior to you. What are you saying? You can't let me? Then what? Are you going to ask for divorce again? If you can, go ahead and file for divorce. But I swear I'll never let you go so easily. After all, we're both the same. We both want something in return from this marriage. But you keep acting like I'm the one begging you." Josh shook his head as he gripped the steering wheel and dug his fingernails into it. "I don't have much to lose by separating from you. But you," Josh returned his gaze to Ashley, like a sharp knife plunging into her and tearing her apart savagely. "You're going to lose everything. Don't think that I don't know what you're risking."

Ashley felt as if she was looking at an indescribable horror. She couldn't say anything else. Josh's anger had completely trapped and torn apart her courage.

Even when Ashley realized the absurdity of Josh's last words, she still didn't dare to open her mouth at all. Swallowing her saliva was very difficult at that time. She was really scared.

After inhaling and exhaling a few times and regaining his self-control, Josh drove the car again.