Chapter 154 – Twisted Fate of a Billionaire’s Daughter Undercover

Upon hearing Ashlyn’s words, Gordon was shocked, his mouth agape. He peered into the pair of disdainful eyes staring back at him with no light or tenderness. The pain was too much; it was as if he was stabbed right into his heart. He uttered, “No.”

“Oh? What do you want to talk about, then?” Ashlyn snapped.

Gordon then shifted his gaze to Ashlyn’s left hand, her ring finger, to be specific. Right after they got divorced, there used to be a mark of the ring, which faded away with time. Almost a year had gone by, after all. A heavy feeling washed over Gordon.

“I just want to say sorry to you.” He then raised his head, studying the woman with him.

Ashlyn smiled, “No. I don’t deserve that.” She pulled out her phone after it vibrated several times in her bag. It was Jessie flooding her inbox. Without checking them, she excused herself impatiently. “If you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Don’t you want to know who drugged you that night?” Ashlyn shook her head. “Even you can’t find out. I don’t think I can.”

After the incident, Ashlyn had someone investigate but failed to find a trace of whoever did that to her. She had just graduated college back then. Her pretty face was no reason to subject her to such treatment on that occasion. She once thought maybe a rich man fell in love with her and resorted to using a dirty trick to get her. She crossed it out since the men who tried to talk to her that night were all decent guys. Besides, everyone at that party came for business. No one had a motive to drug her, given that she didn’t upset anyone there.

The most acceptable case for Ashlyn was that it was an unlucky night where she might have taken someone else’s drink by mistake. Four years had passed, and Ashlyn didn’t want to bring up anything about it to Gordon. Her sarcastic remark painted a grim expression on Gordon, taking in the chilling aura from Ashlyn. He decided not to push her further. Instead, he offered, “Let me drive you back.”

“No, thanks. I’ve called a designated driver. The driver will be here any minute now,” Ashlyn refused. “Gordon, we’re divorced. I believe that should have been clear to you by now. It was just an accident. I found the person who drugged me, and you too. As for how you’re going to deal with Betsy, it’s your business.” Ashlyn meant every word, still disgusted by the two nights that she was drugged.

“Ashlyn!” Gordon called out after her. Ashlyn stopped, but she didn’t turn around. What she said to Gordon was not a lie because she did have a designated driver on the way. “You don’t have any feelings for me now, do you?” Gordon asked. It was rare for Ashlyn to be stunned. She didn’t expect a man as cold and ruthless as Gordon would ask such a question. With that, Ashlyn veered herself and sneered, glaring at him. “We’re divorced. What don’t you get about that?” They were within arm’s reach, so near yet so far. Even under the dim light, Gordon could see the contempt in her eyes.

All of a sudden, Ashlyn’s phone began to ring. She quickly brought it out of her bag and checked who was calling. It was the designated driver. Ashlyn answered it immediately. “Hello?” she said into the phone as she walked. “Is this Miss Ramos? I’ve arrived at Riverside Park. Where are you now?”

“Okay, I’ll be there soon.” Ashlyn hung up and quickened her pace towards the entrance of the park. It was about one hundred meters between Ashlyn’s location and the entrance. Ashlyn didn’t want the driver to wait for her for too long, so she tried to move as fast as she could. But she had hardly taken more than a dozen steps before someone suddenly grabbed her arm from behind. Without thinking, she let go of her bag and tried to extricate her arm from the person’s grip. When she got her arm free, she quickly distanced herself from the person. It was then that she found that it was Gordon.

“What the hell were you trying to do, Gordon?” she asked with a frown. “Ashlyn, you loved me for so many years. Are you sure you no longer love me now?” Even as he asked this question, he grabbed her wrist again, and this time, he refused to let her go. Ashlyn’s frown got even harsher after he made this statement.

“You are right, Gordon. I have loved you for so long, and I can’t control my feelings for you because I’ve gotten so used to living with them. But at least I can control my own behavior. I can stop myself from being silly.”

“What if I tell you that I also fell in love with you, Ashlyn?” Ashlyn was taken aback. It had never occurred to her that one day she would hear Gordon tell her that he loved her. How ridiculous! They had been divorced for almost a year, but he was only now telling her that he also loved her. Was life a soap opera? When Ashlyn recovered from her astonishment, she broke free from Gordon’s grip, grabbed her bag, and ran away without looking back. Soon, she caught sight of the car.

Without thinking, she pulled open the car door and jumped inside. “Sir, please drive now! Thank you.” As the driver sped off, she looked out of the window to see if Gordon was still following her. Sure enough, he was actually chasing her car, but he couldn’t catch up with her. Ashlyn found it quite funny.

After they had divorced for almost a year, why would Gordon suddenly come and tell her that he loved her? How ridiculous he was! But then, she wondered why she was feeling a little sad about such a ridiculous thing. Perhaps it was because she had just seen that her love for Gordon, which lasted for more than ten years, had become even more ridiculous.

Fifteen minutes later, the car rolled to a stop at Ashlyn’s residence. After thanking and paying the driver, Ashlyn asked him to park her car. She had just gotten into the elevator when her phone started ringing. Ashlyn was startled at first, but she quickly recovered and answered the phone. It was her bestie calling.

“Jessie, I’m home now.”

“Are you alright, Ashlyn?” Jessie asked, her voice filled with concern. She was still in that noisy bar, so she couldn’t hear what Ashlyn said clearly. She had called her because she had been worried since Gordon took her away. She knew how much Ashlyn had suffered from Gordon in the past and even recently.

“Of course, I’m alright,” Ashlyn assured her. Just then, the elevator doors slid open. Jessie sighed in relief. She was glad to hear her friend was fine. “I was worried Gordon would hit you.”

Ashlyn laughed. “No, he didn’t. Though Gordon is a scum, he would never hit a woman.”

“Great! As for the drinks, um… two glasses of Heaven are no small things, so you had better go to bed early. Don’t take a shower tonight, but you can do it tomorrow morning. If you have an accident in the shower, it’ll be the most trending topic on social media tomorrow.”

“Oh. You will be tagged the murderer then.” Jessie could clearly see that Ashlyn was in a good enough mood to tease and be teased. This made her feel very relieved.

Ashlyn ended the call and came out of where she had been standing. As she approached her door, she was surprised to see a man standing there. It was Devin! Ashlyn was stunned, but she recovered quickly. She put her phone back in her handbag and walked up to Devin, smiling, “Devin.”

Devin knew from the smile that didn’t reach her eyes and her stiff, formal voice that something was wrong. His smile faded. He smelled alcohol on Ashlyn and asked, “Have you been drinking?” It wasn’t the smell of red wine, so he knew she hadn’t been indulging in social drinking.

Ashlyn nodded, not denying it. But she didn’t want to talk about her drinking right now. She just wanted to know something. “Devin, you’ve loved me for eleven years. Why?” Her expression was different than before as she looked at him.

Devin blinked. “Do I need a reason to love you?”

“Maybe not, but why?” Ashlyn had loved Gordon for eleven long years and now decided that enough was enough. But Gordon was playing a despicable game. Just when Ashlyn decided to give up, he came and told her that he fell in love with her. What a shameless man!

“I don’t want to give up on you.” Devin lowered his head to look at her. As she met his gaze, Ashlyn recalled what he had said yesterday. “What is in my eyes?”

“Can’t you tell who is in my eyes?” Ashlyn went blank for a moment before she asked, “Am I that good?” She didn’t think so.

“Yes,” Devin said simply. He noticed that Ashlyn was wobbly on her feet and reached out to steady her.

She was drunk. Gordon’s words from tonight and Devin’s wordstrom that night were mixing up in her head. She remembered seeing a young man in a white T-shirt when she was in a coma eleven years ago. It suddenly occurred to Ashlyn that if the person who had saved her that day wasn’t Gordon, would she still fall in love with him?

But there was no “if” in the world. She had wanted to give up several times over the past three years, but the thought of that day had always held her back. She had believed that Gordon was a gentle person. Ashlyn had, however, chosen to divorce him before he fell in love with her. But he suddenly came to her and told her that he loved her too. What a joke!

Ashlyn rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. “Drunk?” She looked at Devin and nodded. “Jessie made a mistake about the wine. I drank two glasses of Heaven.”

“Give me your hand.” Ashlyn hesitated as she looked at his outstretched hand. But before she could make up her mind, Devin took her hand and led her to the door before opening it with her fingerprint. He helped her inside. “Sit here for a while.”

Devin guided her to the sofa before making his way to the kitchen. Ashlyn watched him, suddenly remembering that Devin had been the one to make some concoction to ease her severe menstrual pain some time ago. While she was lost in thought, Devin came back, a cup of honeyed water in his hands. “Drink this. Your stomach will feel much better tomorrow.”

Ashlyn reached out to take it, but Devin didn’t loosen his grip on the cup. Her hand covered his, and she found that Devin’s hand was hotter than hers. Ashlyn quickly retracted her hand and said, “I’m sorry.” Devin merely smiled as he said, “Don’t be. The wine you’ve had is quite strong. You will have a headache.” He handed her the cup, trying to coax her softly. “Be good and drink some honey water.”

It was only now that Ashlyn realized Devin had so much authority to make her do something. She couldn’t stop herself from drinking the honeyed water even if she didn’t want to. He was right. She was having a headache right now. Thankfully, she wasn’t an out-of-control drunk. She even still had all her senses in place. She just felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to move.

After having emptied half the cup of honeyed water, Ashlyn asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I could pass by and see you.” Devin took the cup from her hand and placed it on the table. “I want to go to bed, Devin!” Ashlyn said. The impact of the wine was so strong that Ashlyn didn’t have the energy to keep talking with Devin.

“There’s no problem. Can I stay here for a while?” Devin looked up at her and smiled. “I haven’t been able to sleep well for the past two days. But I feel more at peace with you around. I think a few hours of sleep in your place will help me a lot.”

Ashlyn would have blushed and might refuse if she didn’t have this terrible headache. But she nodded and said, “All right. I’m not feeling well, so I won’t be playing host. That’s fine. Call me if you need anything. I’m not going anywhere. Good night!”

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