I’d almost forgotten about the mark on my cheek. ‘Oh... that. I just scraped it by accident.’
He took my hand. ‘Tell who did this to you.’
‘Just leave it, please.’
I didn’t want to put Ashton in a difficult position, and I didn’t want to upset myself all over again. If I told him it was Genevieve’s mother, what would he do? Would he actually confront her for my sake?
‘Tell .’
I looked up and t his frustrated gaze.
‘Fine, since you want to know, I’ll tell you. It was Genevieve’s mother. She said I stole her daughter’s boyfriend. She decided to teach a lesson, slapped , and her nail caught my cheek. That’s how I got this scratch.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘Co on.’ He took my hand and led firmly towards the car park.
‘Where are you taking ?’
He made a quick call. ‘Ryan, sothing’s co up. I have to go. Put everything on my tab.’
Ryan must have asked why, because Ashton replied, ‘I’m settling a score for my wife.’
‘You’re really going to confront Genevieve’s mother?’ I asked after he hung up. ‘She hit , yes, but I hit her back. What are you actually going to do?’
‘Get justice for you,’ he said simply.
‘How, exactly?’
‘You’ll see. But I won’t let you be treated this way.’
When we arrived at Genevieve’s house, she looked far from pleased to see Ashton showing up with in tow.
‘Well, well,’ she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. ‘What are you doing here? Our house isn’t open to won who can’t keep their hands to themselves.’
Ashton’s face was like stone. ‘Take back what you just said, or I’ll make you regret it.’
‘Oh, really? Can’t face the truth? Weren’t you having dinner with another man tonight? Letting him hold your hand all cosy and close? Can you deny it?’ She took several steps toward , crowding my space. ‘Go on, Mirabelle. Why don’t you tell him who you were with tonight? Your ex-boyfriend, Rhys.’ She gave a cold laugh, then turned her mocking gaze back to Ashton. ‘Your wife is making a fool of you, and you don’t even know it. How pathetic.’
Ashton’s expression had grown even darker, his brows locked tightly together.
‘Well? Nothing to say?’ Genevieve looked at him with smug satisfaction. ‘The woman you cherish so much doesn’t seem to care much about you. She’s making a fool of you behind your back. How does it feel? Does it hurt?’
I watched Ashton’s stony expression. I knew he was furious.
But he refused to look at .
Didn’t he trust ? Why wasn’t he asking for my side of the story?
Just then, Genevieve’s mother made her entrance.
‘Well, look who it is. What are you doing here, you shaless little—’
‘You will apologise to my wife,’ Ashton cut in.
‘Ashton! You... you mustn’t be fooled by this woman! Don’t be taken in by that innocent act. She’s vicious underneath. She told you I hit her, did she? But did she tell you she hit back? She has no respect for her vows, and even less for her elders! Soone had to teach her a lesson. I was doing you a favour.’
‘Elder? Sorry, but are we acquainted? I don’t even know you,’ I snorted.
‘Ash, don’t be deceived by her!’ Genevieve cried out in anger. ‘She’s not what she seems, she’s not innocent at all. She runs to you to tattle the mont my mother disciplines her, but she doesn’t tell you what she did to provoke it!’
Ashton’s voice was icy. ‘I know exactly the kind of person she is. I don’t need you to tell . Apologise, or the restaurant chain your company owns shuts down tomorrow.’
Rosie Crawford spluttered, ‘What? Why? You can’t—’
‘Breach of fire safety regulations, substandard hygiene, passing off inferior ingredients as premium... take your pick. Any one reason is enough to shut you down for weeks, if not months.’
‘You can’t do that!’
‘You know perfectly well I can make it happen with one phone call. And I will, unless you apologise.’
‘You... how dare you!’ Rosie Crawford was trembling with rage. ‘You ungrateful boy, Ashton! I never thought you’d turn out like this. How can you speak to this way? Have you forgotten... have you forgotten what we did for you? You forget the debt you owe our family!’
‘You said it yourself. I owe your family, not my wife. She owes you nothing. How you treat is one thing. But targeting my wife is unacceptable.’
Genevieve stamped her foot.
Ashton took out his phone.
‘Don’t make the call!’ Rosie Crawford’s face flushed with anger, then paled. Finally, she bit out the words, reluctant and sour, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you.’
I shrugged. ‘Apology accepted.’ For now.
Walking out of their house, I couldn’t stop turning over Rosie Crawford’s words. What was this debt Ashton owed them? Was this the reason he kept protecting Genevieve, over and over again?
Ashton was silent too.
I was waiting for him to ask about eting Rhys, but he didn’t say a word.
Was he silent because he trusted ? Or was it because... he simply didn’t care?
We barely spoke for the rest of the evening.
Early the next morning, the sound of Ashton’s phone ringing jerked awake from a deep sleep.
Ashton answered. ‘What is it?’
‘What on earth have you done to Genevieve? How could you be so cruel? How could you do sothing like this?’
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