Tears rolled down my cheeks, and my muffled sobs gradually turned into piercing wails of anguish. I couldn’t care less about how Ashton felt at that moment.
He stopped in the end, softening his tone to soothe me. However, the more he comforted me, the louder I cried.
In the end, he stopped talking and just held me in his arms since neither gentle coaxing nor harsh threats worked on me.
Once the waterworks started, it was close to impossible to stop it. He was left with no choice but to embrace me and let me cry it all out.
After a long while, I had finally cried myself hoarse. With my tears all dried up now, I started to quiet down.
“Are you done crying?” he asked in a low and hoarse voice.
I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him now. My eyes were so swollen that I could barely open them.
“Four years ago, I brought Grandpa to the southwest border to meet his old comrade-in-arms. On the road, we ran into a group of outlaws.” As he hugged me and spoke, I could hear the melancholy and sorrow in his voice, surprising me quite a bit.
I didn’t know where he was going with this, so I remained silent and allowed him to hug me while I listened to him. “The border was poor and supplies were scarce there. At that time, several border countries were at war with each other. Those outlaws sought asylum and broke into the home of Grandpa’s comrade, trying to threaten us into taking them in. The situation was urgent then. Undocumented individuals were not allowed to sneak into the country. Grandpa was a veteran who guarded the country for decades and would never violate the laws, so he immediately declared that he wouldn’t comply. They were outlaws, so when Grandpa disagreed, they were going to kill him. Grandpa’s comrade died to protect us.”
When he suddenly stopped speaking, I looked up at him and asked curiously, “Then what happened?” My voice was severely hoarse from all the crying just now.
Seeing me take the initiative to ask him, the corners of his mouth rose slightly and he dropped a kiss on my forehead.
With that, he continued, “Then, Grandpa and I fled all the way back into the country. We were running for our lives, so we looked the worse for wear. Halfway, we met a pair of siblings, a boy and a girl. They traveled from D City to abroad for business. Grandpa and I had basically lost all our money and identification documents while we were on the run, so we could only borrow money from the brother and sister for our return back home, but we never expected the outlaws to follow us all the way there, so we ended up dragging the pair of siblings into our mess…”
By then, I had already made a few guesses of my own.
I looked at him and asked, “The pair of siblings were Rebecca and her brother?”
He nodded. “Parker sustained a heart injury, so I took him back here to recuperate. He could be cured, but something happened later on. Before he died, he entrusted me to take care of Rebecca.”
“They rescued you, so why didn’t Grandpa approve of you and Rebecca?” If Grandpa approved of my marriage to Ashton, why not Rebecca? After all, she showed up earlier than me, and she and her brother had even saved their lives.
When he saw me staring at him with big round eyes, his lips stretched into a broad smile. “Feeling better now?”
This was the first time he was smiling at me. His smile was gentle, angelic even. There was no coldness or ferocity in sight, only joy.
My breath hitched and I felt shy all of a sudden, trying to squirm out of his arms. “You haven’t answered my question!”
“Those aren’t important anymore. It’s getting late. We should sleep now!” He pulled me against his chest and pressed my hand to his crotch, rasping out in a deep voice, “Scarlett, you have to finish what you started.”
My eyes widened as I stared at him with incredulity, and my cheeks flushed crimson red. This man…
“I’m not fully recovered yet!” I protested in a tiny voice.
His breathing grew heavy.
I…
This night was going to be a long one.
It finally ended in the middle of the night. He carried me into the bathroom and helped me wash up before cuddling me to sleep.
In the morning, sunlight seeped through the gaps in the floor-to-ceiling windows. The dappled beams of light on the ground looked like candle lights.
Ashton left for work early, while I lazed in bed for a long time, feeling tired from sleeping so late. When I finally got up, I swept my gaze around the messy bedroom. The air still had a sensual quality to it, hinting of the events that unfurled in here.
Scenes from last night flooded my mind, making me blush furiously.
I never knew that Ashton had such a side!
I was supposed to go to the company today. By the time I got ready, it was already almost ten. Skipping breakfast, I drove directly to the company.
After I parked my car in the parking lot, I was unfortunate to run into Joe at the elevator. Both he and his secretary were holding a stack of papers. Upon seeing me, he released a cold sneer and mocked, “Ms. Stovall, you’re not even the CEO yet, but here you are, acting like you’re the president. Is Fuller Corporation going to be changed to Stovall Corporation?”
Fuller Corporation started as a real estate company, but in the past few years, it had also began to venture into other markets. Joe had previously started his own company, but after Fuller Corporation was listed and needed capital flow support, Quinn Corporation merged with Fuller Corporation.
Joe was a shareholder and managed the company as well. Even though I was also a shareholder, I didn’t own many shares, and these shares were left by Grandpa George for me. Hence, even though the shares were under my name, my right to use them was in Ashton’s hands.
