Chapter 158 – Twisted Fate of a Billionaire’s Daughter Undercover

Gordon had never been humble to anyone before. He had humblehimself to Ashlyn that night and she had just slapped him in theface Gordon even doubted that the messages on Ashlyn’s phon:documenting her love for him were all fake. He didn’t care anymore if they were real or fake.

He’d been repeating the mantra that he didn’t care anymore, and his actions had followed suit. Gordon had walked right past Ashlyn a few days before when he’d seen her. He had pretended she did not exist. That had been his plan for tonight as well. He had wanted to ignore her.

After he’d entered the private room, he had ignored her. Ashlyn was the only woman at the table, and all the men were coming up with reasons to make her drink. Ashlyn had drunk a lot in the twenty minutes following dinner. The wine was very potent. Gordon looked at her when another man poured her a glass of wine. Ashlyn’s head was lowered, and it prevented Gordon from seeing her face. But he didn’t need to; he knew she felt awful. He knew he should just ignore her. They should remain strangers. But when he saw Ashlyn raise her head with a frown, he still helped her. He only had to drink a few glasses of wine.

Gordon drank much more than that. As long as his wine glass was filled, he would drink like it was nothing. Ashlyn’s messages came to his mind. One said, “He seems to have drunk a lot today. He cast a glance at me. It made me feel happy, whether he meant it or not.” Ashlyn had truly loved him. It used to take only a look from him to make her happy. He wondered if his help in the private room would make her happy.

Gordon thought about this as he went to wash his face and hands in the basin. He then walked out of the bathroom. But Ashlyn was no longer there. Lowell was right behind Gordon as the latter left the bathroom. Seeing his angry look, Lowell didn’t dare to say anything to Gordon. He knew better than to piss Gordon off at a time like this.

Gordon stood still for a few moments before he began to walk toward the hotel entrance. His pace was so quick that it was hard for Lowell to keep up with him. Gordon went straight to the stairs.

This shocked Lowell as the elevator was right there, but Gordon had already gone around the corner. Lowell couldn’t understand why Gordon would want to take the stairs and knew he couldn’t leave him alone if he was that intoxicated. Lowell took the stairs quickly to catch up. As he reached the first floor, he could see Gordon’s figure.

Gordon watched Ashlyn’s car go by slowly as he reached the hotel entrance. Ashlyn’s car window was half open. Gordon’s and Ashlyn’s eyes met for a moment. He looked at her with some deep emotion etched on his face.

His expression conveyed he was waiting for something. Ashlyn looked at him briefly and then averted her eyes. Her eyes closed, and she leaned back into her car seat. What was Gordon waiting for? Did he think she would thank him or apologize? Ashlyn smiled slightly. It was the first time she thought of Gordon as narcissistic.

Gordon watched Ashlyn’s car drive out of sight. He hadn’t really thought she would leave without saying anything to him. Even though he had helped her and drunk too much for her, Ashlyn hadn’t even displayed any concern for him. He had taken the stairs to catch up with her and hear her response. It didn’t matter what she would have said, Gordon would’ve been happy just to hear her. Instead, she hadn’t said a word and just left. Gordon felt just like a joke. He should not have helped her.

At first, he’d asked Lowell to refuse the invitation to the dinner, but he’d come anyway. He didn’t know why he’d accepted. Now he felt he’d only done it to let Ashlyn make a fool out of him. Lowell could see Gordon was embarrassed. He waited a moment and then said, “Our car will come soon, Mr. Jones.” Gordon looked at Lowell. “Turn down any dinner invitation that Ashlyn will attend in the future.”

Listening to Gordon’s stern words, Lowell now understood why he behaved so irrationally tonight. He was not Aiken, so he dared not do what Aiken would do.

Lowell only nodded. “Yes, Mr. Jones.” Gordon had nothing else to say. He just stood there with a face like thunder. Some of the guests were alarmed when they saw the look on Gordon’s face.

Thankfully, Gordon’s car arrived soon after that, and Lowell quickly opened the door so Gordon could get in. Lowell was happy the driver would be in the car with them. He would not have to face Gordon’s anger alone. Twenty minutes later, they were at a red light around the corner from Gordon’s apartment.

Lowell suddenly remembered something he had forgotten to tell Gordon. He looked at Gordon in the back seat through the rearview mirror. Gordon seemed to be trying to take a nap; his eyes were closed, although he still looked hostile. Lowell paused and swallowed before opening his mouth to speak.

“I have something to tell you, Mr. Jones,” Lowell said. Gordon did not answer. Lowell looked in the rearview mirror and tried once more. “Miss Ramos’ secretary is investigating Betsy again.”

Lowell’s words had just finished when Gordon opened his eyes suddenly and stared at him intently. “When did that happen?”

“It was about a week ago,” Lowell replied. Gordon’s face froze, and he seemed to get a little flustered for the first time. “Did Talia find something?”

“No. I have someone keep an eye on her.” Lowell knew what to do without Gordon’s instruction. It was a byproduct of working so closely with him for so many years.

Denise seemed to be the one behind what happened that night, but Gordon was intelligent enough to know it was Nathaniel using her as a scapegoat.

Denise had done many evil things in the past, so it didn’t matter that she would be incriminated once more. It had already happened, and Gordon was one of the Jones family. If Ashlyn found out, she wouldn’t believe him innocent.

As soon as the matter was found out, Gordon covered up any loose ends between Betsy and Denise’s friend and straightened things out for Denise. Gordon also knew there was no such thing as a true secret.

There would always be small traces of what happened. There was no way for Lowell to assure Ashlyn’s secretary, Talia, wouldn’t find out anything. Lowell hadn’t told Gordon because he thought Talia would’ve given up after a while if she couldn’t find anything. After ten days with no sign of Talia giving up, Lowell was forced to tell Gordon.

Gordon was silent. He recalled the glance Ashlyn gave him just now. Did she know something? Thinking of Ashlyn, Gordon suddenly panicked.

“If Talia finds anything out, you can quit.” Lowell looked at his boss, frozen. “I won’t let her find out anything.” Gordon took a deep breath and looked at Lowell icily. “That’s for the best.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mr. Jones,” Lowell tried to reassure him. Cold sweat ran down Lowell’s back as he looked at Gordon. Talia was relaying the results of Betsy’s investigation to Ashlyn at the same time.

“I have checked into the entire matter again. I’ve checked Betsy’s contacts and the source of the drug, but I didn’t find anything suspicious,” Talia reported. Ashlyn frowned upon hearing Talia’s words. “Forget the whole thing. Maybe I’ve been too suspicious.”

Ashlyn thought about it for a moment more. “Make sure someone follows Betsy for a while. If they don’t find anything, then stop looking into it.”

“Yes, Miss Ramos,” Talia nodded. “It’s late now. I’m going home.”

“Go get some rest,” Ashlyn smiled. “Good night.”

“Good night, Talia.” Ashlyn went up to her apartment after getting out of the car. She looked at the clock when she opened her door. It was nearly ten o’clock. She drank a cup of honeyed water before she went to take a shower.

She thought maybe the liquor she had tonight made her overthink the situation. Ashlyn could not sleep much during the night.

When she did sleep, she dreamt of when she fainted and the comforting arms of the young man with a steady heartbeat. When she turned to look at him, she found Gordon with a cold look. “Kneel, Ashlyn!” he said sternly.

Ashlyn woke up after that, realizing it was a dream.

She panted and looked at the sunshine coming in through thecurtains. She lay there a while and then got up to open up thecurtains The sun danced merrily through the room.. It was a beautiful and new day.

October was soon half over. Raina and Arabella were surprised that Carl would come to them in person. They both looked at Carl and then at each other. Raina was the first to smile at Carl.

“Mr. Bryant! Long time no see,” she said, leading Carl into the apartment. “Please take a seat.”

Carl took out a check for fifty million dollars. He wanted to get right to the point. “Mr. Jones asked me to pay you a visit. You’re a smart girl, so let’s get down to business,” he said, handing the check to Raina as he spoke. “Gordon will soon remarry Ashlyn. Mr. Jones thinks that your presence in Courtbush will be problematic for their relationship. He hopes that you can find yourself another city to live in. The check is the Jones family’s compensation to you.”

As she looked at the check, Raina became elated. It was fleeting, however. Her face turned pale as she tried to comprehend the rest of what Carl had just said. “What do you mean?”

Carl was no spring chicken. He knew all about Raina’s trick of acting ignorant and piteous. He was too smart to fall for that. “I think I made myself quite clear on behalf of the Jones family,” Carl replied. “If you insist on staying here in Courtbush, then you do so at your own risk.”

Arabella had stood by and been silent so far but couldn’t any longer. “You cannot tell us where we can live. The Jones family doesn’t own Courtbush. Don’t you think you’ve gone too far?”

“I think you have misunderstood the intentions of Mr. Jones. You and your sister are at odds with Ashlyn. When Gordon remarries her, do you think the Jones family will side with you or Ashlyn?” The bluntness of Carl’s words was hard to absorb. The simple words poked like needles into both Raina’s and Arabella’s hearts.

Raina was suddenly so angry she turned pale. “You don’t have to worry about that. As long as Gordon stays away from me, I won’t contact him. Please take this check back. I want to marry into the Jones family because I love Gordon, not because of how wealthy they are.”

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