"Did you miss me that much?"Kyle joked as he occupied the empty barstool beside Ash upon his arrival at Monroe's Bar. His playful gaze roamed around and halted somewhere on the full-jammed dance floor."Cut the crap, Kyle." She warned in a playful tone after consuming the content of her glass. "We don't have much time earlier to discuss something about the orphanage...""You wanna go there and have a look?!" He asked loudly.She neither nodded nor shook her head and Kyle knows why. However, its been years had passed since she left and since then she never returned, not until now.He sighed as he dropped his arm on her shoulder."We're adults now, Ash. We both know that what happened back then was not their fault. It was the consequence of our choice." He pacified.Ashley downed another glass of liquor before she answered."I can't get over the fact that they trusted the wrong people to adopt Suzy so easily. They ignored our warnings. If only they listened then none of us would have b
Anton didn't know what had gotten into him when he followed her into the ladies' room earlier. He was thankful that he was able to avoid another embarrassment when the woman insisted on going home rather than doing her business in front of him as he didn't how would he face her when the morning came. After sending Ashley to her apartment, he went straight home, took a shower, and occupied his bed. However, no matter how he tried to close his eyes, he couldn't sleep. The conversation between them at the hotel earlier still bugs him and it makes him feel upset for some strange reason. This was also the reason why he went to the bar to unwind but he caught her with a stranger. He tried to ignore her at first thinking that she was enjoying it but as soon as he saw her struggling, he finally decided to intervene. That was when he also noticed a familiar figure approaching them, looking furious. Their eyes met for a brief moment then the next second he found him throwing his fist at the
The words "PERFECT SUBJECTS" brought a wave of immense anger inside her. Once again, the memories of the past that she tried to forget flashed in her mind making her furious. However, she didn't have much time to care about her emotions as Anton's agonizing grunts were getting louder and she was afraid that somebody else might hear him so she went back to his room. "Mr. Stanford," She gasped as she saw him sweating profusely. "Ashley Mills..." He mumbled breathlessly. "I recall hearing you say that we have something in common..." "I did." She admitted that these were the exact words she said to him during their encounter at the hotel a few months ago."Were you... Talking about... Feeling this kind of hell?" Instead of answering, she pursed her lips and went silent as she wasn't ready to admit such a shameful fact. He went on, "I can't recall anything from the past but there were vivid images in my dreams..." Her eyes widened as she asked. "What... What did you see?" He shut
As soon as they entered the restaurant, Ashley politely excused herself and Anton went to their reserved table. The waitress approached him enthusiastically, as usual, issuing the menu in her hand."Mr. Stanford," The lady greeted. "Here you are,""Hi, Cass." Anton greeted back, waving his hand. "No need for that. I want the usual. Two orders, please."He ordered right away while glancing in the direction where Ashley had gone earlier."Oh, you came with somebody else?" Cass asked curiously while jotting down her notes.Anton frowned at the lady's audacity."Can't I?" He blurted seemingly annoyed.The lady lowered her head and apologized."I'm sorry. I just thought that were the same. I honestly can't get over Pamela's death though it's been a couple of months already..."He sighed as he realized that he might've hurt the lady's feelings for acting a bit harsh towards her earlier when she was just thinking about her old friend."I'm sorry." He also apologized. "I didn't mean to say t
Threatening her won't really work but under Anton's willfulness, she has to give in to avoid a lot more complications of their agreement in the next couple of months before it ends. Moreover, he has full control of it in any way so she didn't bother to argue with him about it as long as he didn't demand something harder than those conditions, she was fine by it. As soon as Ashley saw the rays of sunrise from the window, she jumped out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom for her morning routine. However, she recalled that she didn't have any spare clothes to change and toiletries to use thus she went out of the room with her car key in hand. She tiptoed when she passed outside his door towards downstairs, thinking that her boss was still sleeping. However, when her hand reached to twist the knob, a cold voice coming from behind froze her on the spot. "Were you trying to escape?!" Startled, her eyes widened as she swirled around. "G-good morning, Mr. Stanford." She greeted while
A pin-drop silence lingered in Anton's office as both stared at each other's faces. At that moment, Ashley seemed to pick up the pieces through his words and his actions lately. However, recalling her past, she managed to scoff."If this is part of your goal to get back on your footing then I don't have anything to say.""What's that supposed to mean?" Anton questioned, sounding confused."I'll deal with the gossip if that's what you want but you must think twice about this "seduce thing" as it might affect your reputation." She warned him."How about you? Won't it affect your reputation as well?" He asked her.'As if you care if you destroyed my name!' She thought. 'You love it when others looked lowly at me!'"Why bother about reputation? I won't work here forever," she said with a shrug but in fact, she was really itching to discourage him from using such a trick.She was afraid that his business partners would use it against him in the future and she didn't want that to happen. N
Ashley maintained an indifferent look until she returned to her office. Though Clara made an effort to approach her earlier, she didn't take it seriously since that was her first time seeing her. Furthermore, given that she had a terrible past, it was hard for her to trust anyone she just encountered not to mention that her boss stood beside her like they were old friends. She might have sworn to spend a year for her redemption but that doesn't mean that she has to welcome everyone she encounters along the way, especially to people around him. That was too risky! However, the look on Clara's face amused her to the point that she couldn't refrain from smirking as she readied herself to go out as Anton instructed her to socialize with them after office hours. She wasn't likely to come to such gatherings but he left her with no other choice. In short, he pulled the strings of her weakness to make her give in!As she entered the restaurant, she was welcomed by a strong aroma of grilled
She knows her body very well. There was something wrong with her behavior, and she guessed that it must be one of the possible side effects of what she'd been through 7 years ago thus she concentrated on fighting it no matter what.Trying hard to control the possibility of them getting into a big mess, Ashley thought of something that could divert both their attention."Anton Stanford, do you want to know where I've been and who I was with the entire night?" She tries to provoke him as she senses that he is about to get carried away with that euphoric feeling."As long as it's not a man, I don't give a damn!" Ashley laughed maniacally. "I was with her! Do you still not care?!"Anton's eyes turned starkly dark and the next thing he knew, he had her neck clasped tightly between his fingers."I dare you to say that again!" He demanded whilst gritting his teeth in so much anger. "Say that again!"Though she was already choking, she still continued to provoke him."I went... I went to se