Ashton clenched his fists with all his might, and I could hear the sound of his fingers cracking. It was clear to me that he could barely suppress his emotions, judging by bulging veins that could be seen on his forehead.
I caressed his hands in an attempt to console the pitiable man. It must be tough to deal with so many things over the past decade on his own.
A voice cut in out of the blue. “Can you guys get to the point already?” It turned out John had been eavesdropping on our conversation at the stairs. Suddenly, he craned over and walked down the stairs, glaring at me in the eyes with his face full of despise. “Is that the reason you insisted on coming here?”
Ever since Hannah had gotten married, John had grown increasingly aggressive.
“Did you swap the DNA report because you thought Rebecca would be a better pawn or were you afraid of Letty leaving you? Have you long figured out the relationship between her grandmother and the Murphys! Have you kept Letty by your side to get your revenge?”
“John…” I tried to stop him from carrying on. I was afraid of the future that might be in store for me, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence. I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed.
Ashton looked at me with his abysmal pair of eyes. After staring at me for a few seconds, he looked elsewhere and answered curtly, “Yes.”
That one-word reply was all it took to shatter my heart into pieces.
John, who was overly worked-up, suppressed his wrath and asked, “Kudos for being a man and bearing the consequences of your actions. Now tell me. Have you made use of Letty’s identity as a member of the Moore family to get Zachary and Cameron’s aid to go against Ezra?”
I secretly hoped Ashton would prove John’s hypothesis wrong, yet the man replied with a determined look, “Yes.”
“Wonderful!” Gritting his teeth, my brother looked at me and growled, “Did you hear him, Letty? He has been making use of you since the beginning! As long as you bring up the request to file for divorce with him, I’ll get everything done on your behalf! I won’t allow him to bring any of your children away from you!”
I had no idea if that was the thing I wanted; my mind was all over the place. I started panting heavily in an attempt to catch my breath.
“I won’t deny the things I’ve done, but it doesn’t mean you’re in a position to determine our next best course of action on our behalf.” Ashton deadpanned his reply, emanating an intimidating presence as he did so.
John was equally irked. He rushed over and grasped Ashton’s collar, yelling hysterically, “Stop getting full of yourself! Do you think you’re better than a hooker when you deceived a woman to acquire your current achievements in life?”
“I have never deceived Scarlett.” Ashton kept his words short and simple, making himself clear.
Seeing as to how things were about to spiral out of control, I quickly interjected, “John, could you please leave us alone for a moment?” Things were tough on our end because we had countless people coming after us. I couldn’t afford to have either of them pick on one another anymore.
“No way! I need to teach this jerk a lesson for putting you and the children’s lives at stake to achieve his goal!” John’s hand balled into a fist, about to throw a punch at Ashton.
“John!”
My desperate plea must have reached my brother’s ears because John turned around and looked at me, moving his fist away from Ashton reluctantly after a moment. He then walked away and took a seat on the nearby couch. The frustrated man proceeded to remove his tie and unbuttoned a few buttons, slouching against the couch.
Silence fell in the living room, and I knew it was the peace before another storm. Perhaps I wasn’t particularly surprised after going through the swap of life with Rebecca.
Ashton and my relationship had started due to all sorts of misunderstandings and coincidences. As the person he held dear, I could feel the emotions associated with his words.
When I felt my dear children moving around in my belly, I caressed my baby bump gently. They seemed to be reminding me to live a life with no regrets and let bygones be bygones.
It wasn’t easy to forgive and forget the first time, but it wasn’t much of a challenge for many to do it a second time. I foresaw a future with the man in front of me, so the thing that mattered the most was the affection he had for me and my children.
“Ashton, I want to know this… Do you still love me? Does the affection you have for me have anything to do with the Stovall family and the Moore family?”
