Breaking out in cold sweat, I almost dropped my phone. How did he find out? I hid it in my coat!
Forcing out a calm front, I took out my phone and switched off the power right in his face. “Can we talk now?”
He sat up straight and replied, “Of course!”
“So, Mr. Tuffin, why did you kidnap me for no good reason?” Though that incident was kept hidden for a few months now, it was something difficult for me to get over without an explanation.
Mr. Tuffin lit a cigarette and took a few puffs. “About that… I was just acting on someone’s orders for the sake of money.”
I remained silent as I listened.
“AC Credit used to be in charge of Fuller Corporation’s audit. However, Mr. Fuller suddenly chose Harrison Credit to do it instead. AC Credit needed to take action, you know? And another thing, someone did want you to leave Mr. Fuller. Those are the reasons why I did what I did. I apologize if I caused you any trauma, Mrs. Fuller,” he continued.
I laughed bitterly, “You’re making all of it sound so normal and justified, aren’t you? What a joke. From what I know, you’re not related to AC Credit in any way. Are you seriously telling me that you risked your life and went through all the trouble of setting me up just for the sake of AC Credit?”
Mr. Tuffin snubbed out his cigarette and smirked, “How are you so sure that AC Credit’s survival is in no way related to me? About your kidnapping, why don’t you go and ask Mr. Quinn instead? I bet he has a lot more to say.”
“Joe Quinn?”
He chuckled, “To be honest, threatening you to host the public tender was not a difficult matter, and I had thought about all the different ways I could achieve that. However, due to some external factors, I had to go for the more unpleasant method. Sorry about that!”
External factors?
Joe must have been involved because of Rebecca.
So, all in all, Rebecca is the mastermind behind the kidnap?
After all, the incident did create a crack in my relationship with Ashton, and I…
After leaving the Gold Scale Estate, I was overwhelmed by nausea. I felt as if I was still trapped in that dark space, drowning in the sounds of Ashton and Rebecca intertwining with each other.
Since the incident, I had been trying to remove myself from all that agony, but I simply could not recover from the trauma no matter what I did.
Staring blankly into space, I called Jackson.
“Scarlett, what’s wrong?”
“Jackson, I need to talk to you.” I was scared about falling back into the trauma of the past.
I had kept everything to myself for too long, and it felt like my heart was about to burst.
“What going on? How are you lately? Are you getting enough sleep?” Jackson sounded tired. He had probably just gotten off work.
I inhaled deeply and placed a hand over my chest. I was struggling to breathe. “A lot is going on for me right now. Can you come to visit me in J City sometime? I’m pregnant, and I can’t go all the way to find you.”
“What the hell? You’re pregnant? Are you married? With whom? Who did you marry?” His voice went up by an octave.
I blinked. Gosh, he’s asking too many questions at once. ”It’s a long story. When can you come?” I replied.
“I’ll definitely go. As for the exact time, I’ll follow you up on it, but can I just say. Scarlett, how can you hide all of that from me? Seriously? A pregnancy?” He rambled on.
My head was starting to hurt even more. “I’m sorry. A lot has happened over the past two years. I…” I trailed off weakly.
From the other end, he sighed and said, “It’s fine. Let’s talk when I go visit in a few days’ time.”
“Alright.”
After ending the call, I still did not feel like going back to the villa. In the end, I called for a taxi and headed to Glenwood Apartments.
Once I arrived, I locked the door, switched my phone off, and curled up in bed. Too much had happened that day, and it was taking a toll on me.
My head was hurting so much that I was falling in and out of sleep the entire time. Bam! All of a sudden, loud thumps reverberated in the entire house. It was coming from the door.
By the time I got out of my bedroom, Ashton had already broken into the apartment and was standing at the entrance with a frown on his face.
“Why did you come here? Why didn’t you answer my calls?” He growled.
I sighed deeply and said, “I turned my phone off. Go fix that door.” With that, I turned and trudged back to the bedroom.
Once I was back in the bedroom, I lay on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. I was emotionally drained, but I could not fall asleep at all.
Upon seeing me wide awake in bed, Ashton tugged on my arm and said, “Get up and have some food.”
“I’m not hungry.” I really had no appetite at all.
He furrowed his brows and questioned me, “Why did you come here all of a sudden?”
“I came here because I wanted to.”
“Scarlett! I can forgive you and understand you for acting this way, but please tell me why! Don’t make me guess, will you?” He was starting to get emotional.
I could tell from his raspy voice that he was extremely tired that day.
I could not help but feel a little guilty for taking my emotions out on him.
As I look at him, I felt rather absent-minded. I asked, “Ashton, have you ever felt sorry for Rebecca’s child?”
