Chapter 1813 A Fleeting Moment Together
He buried his head into my neck, and his unshaved beard grazed my cheek a little. At the very next second, a drop of warm tear dripped onto me, igniting all the emotions I worked hard to suppress.
“Ashton!”
I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t care if it was all a dream. I didn’t care that I might wake up and lose him again, either. As soon as I turned around, I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. His familiar scent came to me, and I greedily took it all in.
The room was dark, so there was no way to see anything clearly. I had to tap on him a few times and pinch myself a little. The pain confirmed what I already know. I wasn’t hallucinating!
“You’re really here!” I couldn’t be bothered to behave anymore, so I draped my arm around him.
My hand caressed his face in the dark, and my mind conjured an image of his face.
“You must’ve really let yourself go.” I was grinning sadly when I uttered those words to joke about his uneven beard. The mere thought of Ashton looking strangely mature had me giggling a little, though.
Ashton put his hand on the back of my head and led me closer to his chest. Only then was he able to sigh in relief. “I honestly thought that you were trying to commit suicide, so I haven’t been sleeping the past couple of days.”
My heart ached for him when I heard that. Hence, I gestured for him to release me from his embrace and said, “Now that you’ve seen me, you know that I’m fine. Go home and rest up, or exhaustion will kill you before Nathaniel could make his move.”
“Ten minutes. Give me another ten minutes. I’m too tired and need a quick recharge. Can I just stay for a while?”
He was obviously stalling, but his tone was so sweet and helpless that I couldn’t bear to push him away. In a way, I had no choice but to let him do as he pleased.
He described it as a quick recharge, but he didn’t rest for long before he shared, “When I heard about how you got hurt, I went and stayed guard at the exit closest to the ER. I had everything planned, and if you had died, I would’ve marched right in to kill that a*shole. After that, I would take my own life so that our souls could reunite.
“I worried, even after they told me that you had survived. That was why I messed things up for Nathaniel every day and made it so that he had to leave to handle the issue. It took me some time, but I eventually created a small window of opportunity to come to visit. I’m sorry. This is my fault for not making you feel secure enough.
“I think the antidepressants you have been taking are messing with your memories. Letty, I want to tell you this in person. I trust you, and I will always trust you. What I did that day, and how I behaved… It was all to trick Nathaniel, so please… please don’t ever think about hurting yourself again.”
He looked as though he had been wanting to say all that for a while, and he seemed more relaxed after he got them all out. That prompted him to switch to a more comfortable position and held me tightly in his arms.
“Also, the last time…”
At that point, I was already crying, so I couldn’t continue listening to what he had to say. Hence, I interrupted him with a tease. I even had both my hands on his lips before I said, “Oh my, Mr. Fuller, you are so naggy. The thing is, Ashton, you have to know that your wife’s acting still is just as good as yours. I timed both the shooting incident and the car accident perfectly and knew that I would survive both. Don’t worry. I’m not suicidal. I have too much to live for. Just promise me this one thing, okay? Don’t be distracted by what I do and focus only on destroying our enemy.”
Ashton didn’t reply to anything. Instead, he made some incoherent noise.
“Will you promise me?” I sensed that something was off as soon as I was done speaking. That was when I realized that my hands were still on his lips, so I put them down to let him talk.
Ashton sighed and replied, “I think it’s more probable that I die from being too worried about you.”
I refuted, “It’s like the old wives’ tale said — dying for a beautiful woman is the most worthy cause there is, so you’re not allowed to complain about it, even if you die.”
Ashton chuckled and replied, “I wouldn’t even dream of complaining.” His hug tightened a little, and his tone was filled with reluctance when he said, “I have to go now.”
The joy in my heart dissipated instantly. I hugged him back and nodded. “Okay…”
I said those words, but I couldn’t get myself to put my arms down.
We held each other in silence for another minute before Ashton finally took the initiative to let go of me. He got out of bed after that and left without saying another word.
I placed my hand on his side of the bed. The warmth he left behind was slowly fading away, and I felt as though the mattress had suddenly become too empty.
I was lost in my thoughts for a while and kept replaying everything in my mind. A thought flashed past my mind, and it made me tremble. Before I knew it, I had already turned around and had hastily turned on the lamps.
The bright lights illuminated the room, and I turned around to see that the sheets on the other side of the bed had crumpled up. That was the proof that Ashton was there earlier.
