Ashlyn walked slowly to the door and opened it.She was surprised to see Devin, especially since she was thinking about him just seconds ago. “Devin, shouldn’t you be at work?””I should, but I decided to miss out today to see you,” Devin answered and returned Ashlyn’s smile.
Ashlyn couldn’t find any witty comeback to what he just said, soshe gave up and decided to go to sensitive ground. “You don’t really think I’m pregnant, do you?”
“No. I just found out something about Betsy.”
Ashlyn tilted her head curiously at what Devin said, opened thedoor wide and stepped aside. “Come in.”
When Devin walked in, Ashlyn looked down and noticed him holding two bags.
After staring at the bags for a while, she looked up at Devin with a confused expression. “What are those bags for?”
Devin smirked and went straight to Ashlyn’s kitchen. He was already familiar with the place. Ashlyn followed him in bewilderment just to see him taking things out of the bags. He looked up at her with that same smile and said, “You just got off the plane, right? You should be hungry.”
“Ican order takeout, Devin.”
Devin looked at her in horror as though she had said the worst thing ever. “You can’t eat takeout when you’re on your period.”
Ashlyn was so stunned that she didn’t even know what to say. “Can you do me a favor?” Devin asked, breaking the silence thathad settled between them.
Ashlyn blinked in confusion and raised an eyebrow in question.“Help me put on the apron. Thank you.”
Ashlyn looked at the apron, then at Devin’s black trousers and white shirt. Imagining how it would look on him, she laughedand said, “It’s going to look too weird on you.”
Although it amused her greatly, she still took the apron and helped him put it on.
Devin’s dressing was formal, indicating that he was just from work. The apron gave him an entirely different look.
Seeing that Ashlyn was still standing there after a while, Devin raised his eyebrows and said, “Go and get some rest. I’ll call you when I’m done cooking.”
Ashlyn couldn’t help but burst into laughter again. He looked so funny with the knife in his hand.
“You’re really going to cook? This is not some joke?”
“You make it sound like cooking is so difficult when it’s not.”Ashlyn stifled her laughter and said, “In that case, I won’t stand in your way anymore.”
Yes, cooking was not difficult, but this was the first time that someone had bought groceries to cook for her.
Ashlyn smiled as she looked at him. Devin was so good with people. He could easily win over anyone’s heart.
drank the concoction of brown sugar and ginger powder she had been making before he came in.
When she picked up her phone, she saw that Jessie had sent her dozens of messages, asking who had come and telling her todrive the person away if it was Gordon.
This was not the first time that Ashlyn realized her failed marriage had not only affected her, but the people around hertoo.
She emptied the cup, placed it down and then walked to the sofawhere she texted Jessie. “It’s not Gordon.”
Jessie’s reply came instantly, as though she had been waiting for Ashlyn’s reply in alert. “So, was it Devin? Did he come to askabout the father of the baby? Just kick him out if that’s the case!He’s scum if he asked such a question.”
Ashlyn smiled so hard her cheeks almost hurt. Always the dramatic Jessie! “That’s not why he came. He brought a bag ofgroceries and is now in the kitchen cooking for me.”
When Jessie read the message, she took longer than usual to send a reply.
When she finally replied, it read, “I don’t want to hear all those lovey-dovey. That’s enough for me.”
Done talking with Jessie, Ashlyn put her phone down and sighed.
She couldn’t go to her bedroom with Devin in her kitchen. So shetook her laptop and started working.
After a week’s trip, there were a lot of documents and reports that needed her attention. Ashlyn was so absorbed in them thatshe forgot about the pain in her belly. It was not until she hearda sound from the kitchen that she noticed her surroundings again.
She glanced at the time on her laptop only to see that more thanhalf an hour passed already.
With a soft sigh, Ashlyn kept the laptop aside and filled a cup with warm water to drink, She tumed her head slightly and peepedinto the kitchen.
Devin had told her that he was serious about it, but she was stillvery surprised to see that he was cooking
Ashlyn stood up and then went to stand at the kitchen door. As she watched Devin’s back, old memories resurfaced.
When she was little, her parents would give the servants the weekends off. Stevie was always in charge of the meals.
As far as she could remember, Stevie would always find a way to make it home before nine o’clock, no matter how busy he was.On weekends, he would spend at least one full day at home, andwhen he was at home, he made cooking his duty.
Vivien had been pampered a lot. Even after she got married, she never got involved in any housework. The few times she did getinto the kitchen were to make desserts.
Ashlyn could clearly remember what happened in third grade. Herschool organized some activities like spring outings and picnics.Every other student in the class came with food cooked by theirmothers, but not her. Her food was cooked by her father.
‘As expected, her classmates asked if her mother didn’t cook at home. Ashlyn was still very young at that time, but she could read the sarcasm in her classmates’ words, so she chose her wordscarefully. “Not exactly. My dad said that my mom would get tired after taking care of me all day. They are partners, so he doesn’t let her do everything alone. He shares the burden with herbecause he loves her very much.”
She wasn’t making it up at the time. Stevie had indeed said that.When he heard what she had told her classmates, he nodded with pride.
At that time, Vivien shook her head and said, “Ashlyn is still tooyoung, Don’t fill her mind with such things.”
Ashlyn didn’t really understand what her father was trying to say.Was there any difference in what he said?
If there was, she didn’t see it.
It was today that Ashlyn finally understood what Stevie was telling her when she was still young. ®
Both she and Devin were from rich families. People like them led comfortable lives and always had servants to wait on them.Considering this, Ashlyn couldn’t help but feel touched that Devinwas personally cooking for her.
Devin turned off the fire, dished some food onto a plate, and then turned to face Ashlyn, who was still staring at him. He smiled charmingly and asked, “What’s up? Falling for my charm already?”Ashlyn shook her head and chuckled, but she avoided his question.“It smells good. You’re really good at this, huh?”
Devin’s smile fell slightly as he realized what she was doing.
“And you are good at changing the topic.”
It was unnerving the way Devin stared at her. Ashlyn passed byhim and went inside. She washed her hands and put on oven mitts. She then took out the two prepared dishes Devin made.Devin glanced in her direction. He smiled as he went back to his cooking.
The dishes Devin prepared were more than Ashlyn had expected from him. He had even cooked three dishes that helped with her period.
It was later that Ashlyn learned how considerate Devin could be.Ashlyn did not have much of an appetite since she’d just comeback from her trip. She stopped eating and asked Devin, “Do youwant some wine or juice?”
Devin shook his head. “No, I’m good. You don’t want to eat any more?” He could see she didn’t eat much.
Ashlyn didn’t want Devin to get offended, so she explained, “I’mjust tired from my long trip.”
Devin finished his meal and then began collecting the dishes. “Isthere a dishwasher here?”
Ashlyn realized Devin wanted to clean everything up.
She was a little ashamed about it, Devin was her guest and hehad already done the cooking. She didn’t want him to do the dishes as well. “That’s nice of you, but you don’t need to clean up,” Ashlyn said.“I can ask the maid to do it later.”
“I don’t mind at all”
Devin didn’t mind if he cleaned up. He continued to take the dishes and food into the kitchen.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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