anwhile, Ashley Shaw was just about to peel a second apple when Warren Prescott’s voice sounded again.
"One is enough for ."
Ashley instinctively looked towards Rosalind Lynch and Livia Sutton’s side and heard Warren speak again, "I’m the patient here."
"You should give it to Warren first," Claudia Jennings interjected.
"Alright." With Claudia’s words, Ashley naturally had no more reservations.
She was eager to peel one less apple anyway.
As Ashley was slicing the peeled apple into pieces, Livia Sutton finally gathered the courage to stand up.
"Auntie, I have sothing to do later, so I might need to leave first."
"Leaving already?"
"Yes. I’ll visit your ho next ti when I’m free." Claudia still wanted to persuade her to stay, but seeing Rosalind there, she wasn’t in a position to match her with her son, so she just nodded.
"Since you have sothing to do, go ahead and take care. Tell the driver to drive slowly on the way."
"Okay."
Livia smiled and waved to the people in the ward before quickly leaving.
Rosalind watched with curiosity.
Why did Livia seem so eager to avoid this place?
Did Ashley do sothing?
It must be!
After cutting the fruit for Warren, Ashley was debating what excuse to use to leave when she heard Warren say, "Don’t you have sothing to handle at school? You can go now."
Ashley’s expression froze.
He was the one who asked her to stay; now he’s telling her to leave.
Her peripheral vision swept over Rosalind, gaining so understanding.
With the real love interest here, she had no reason to stay.
Ashley quickly regained her blank expression.
"Then I’m leaving."
She nodded slightly to Claudia and turned to leave.
At this mont, Rosalind also stood up.
"Auntie, I’ll leave too. Seeing Warren is alright puts my mind at ease."
"Are you leaving too?" Claudia was a bit confused.
Why did everyone suddenly decide to leave?
"Yes, my father is also worried about Warren. I should go back and tell him."
"Alright, take care on your way ho."
Claudia said, and rarely also reminded Ashley, "You take care too."
"Okay."
Ashley grabbed her canvas bag and, without lingering, turned to leave.
But when she got to the elevator, Rosalind caught up with her.
"What did you say to Miss Sutton?"
Ashley couldn’t be bothered to respond and walked straight into the elevator.
Yet Rosalind insistently followed.
"I’m asking you; what did you say to Miss Sutton?"
Ashley pretended not to hear, pressed the button for the first floor, and then looked down to text Ariana Grant to ask her whereabouts.
Rosalind got annoyed and grabbed Ashley’s hand.
"Are you deaf?"
Ashley raised her gaze, pulled her hand back, and showed impatience in her eyes.
"Say what? Didn’t you hear what I said to her?"
"I wasn’t talking about just now, I ant before. If you hadn’t said sothing to her, why would she give up such a good opportunity to be alone with Warren and leave in such a hurry?"
Ashley smirked.
"Do you really think every girl in the world is like you, only having eyes for Warren? Warren isn’t a hundred dollar bill; just because you like him doesn’t an everyone else has to."
Rosalind looked her up and down disdainfully, "You’re not going to tell that you have no interest in Warren and you’ve said nothing to Miss Sutton, are you?"
Ashley was about to speak, but Rosalind once again looked her up and down.
"Dressed like that, do you think I’ll believe you?"
"What’s wrong with how I’m dressed?"
"The way you’re dressed is the kind n find most irresistible. If you really didn’t care about him, why dress up? You weren’t like this before."
Ashley chuckled coldly.
"Miss Lynch, your view of the world is truly enlightening. Who taught you that won can only dress for n? Can’t they simply dress for themselves? Is your world worth living only for n? If so, you’re really quite pitiable."
At that mont, the elevator made a "ding" sound, and the doors opened. Ashley stepped out.
Behind her, she could hear Rosalind’s furious voice.
"Ashley Shaw! What gives you the right to look down on ? You’re just a maid’s daughter, in ancient tis you’d be called a house-born child, ant to labor your whole life..."
Ashley quickened her pace.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t stand Rosalind’s verbal jabs; she just didn’t want to associate with her kind, even listening to one more word felt unlucky.
But she couldn’t deny that Rosalind’s appearance still impacted her mood.
The incident today where Warren shielded her from sulfuric acid made her feel a mont of softness.
For a second, she even thought she shouldn’t hold this life’s Warren accountable for the past life’s, maybe they could even be friends.
But Rosalind’s presence made her abandon the idea instantly.
The past life and this life were both irrelevant; Warren was just Warren.
He was who he was.
The best outco would be for them to remain as parallel lines that never intersect.
Ashley couldn’t help but feel fortunate that she had specially asked Mr. Coleman not to disclose her chosen academic path.
As Ashley walked out of the hospital’s main doors, Ariana’s ssage ca through.
Ariana: [Still at school, not sure why, everything’s sorted but the teachers won’t let us leave.]
Ashley could guess the reason.
The school likely wanted to keep the incident quiet to preserve its reputation.
But given that Rosalind and others ca to the hospital, the news must have already gotten out.
She replied with "I’m heading back now," put away her phone, and planned to catch a ride back to school.
She still had to go back to collect her scholarship.
Money earned by her own efforts shouldn’t go unclaid.
But before she could wave down a taxi, a black Bentley pulled up in front of her.
The car window rolled down halfway, revealing Assistant Lowell’s face.
"Miss Shaw, are you heading sowhere? I can give you a ride."
Ashley was about to speak when she saw Rosalind approaching in the remaining window reflection.
Without expression, she said, "You’ve asked the wrong person, maybe ask the one behind if she needs a ride."
Saying that, she ignored Assistant Lowell’s bewildered look and walked straight towards an approaching taxi, raising her hand to flag it down.
"Driver, to City High School, please."
The taxi driver turned and looked at her.
"Are you a student or a teacher at City High School?"
Ashley’s attire was very mature, yet her face was so fresh it seed one could pinch water out, making it hard for the driver to decide.
"I’m a graduate," Ashley said.
The driver responded with a couple of "ohs," pressed the accelerator, and the car rged into the traffic while asking, "Your school had an incident, do you know that?"
"Heard a little about it..."
With her response, the driver began chattering, "I knew the girl who threw the acid! Her family used to rent just below my apartnt..."
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