Ever since she was born, Stevie was worried that she’d be kidnapped or harmed. So the family of three lived a modest life in an ordinary house, and in the eyes of her classmates, her family was just an ordinary one.
Her parents had given her a generous allowance when she was a child, which was somewhat strange for Ashlyn because an ordinary kid shouldn’t have had so much pocket money.
When she was in the third grade, Ashlyn spent the winter and summer vacations selling roses to make her own money.
She was a natural saleswoman. She was as beautiful as she was talkative, assets which helped her sell out within an hour.
When Ashlyn was in junior high, she asked her uncle to send her a lot of beautiful clothes from Haigeny, the city he was staying in. After school on Fridays, she’d set up a small stall on the street near the school to sell clothes.
Jessie helped her out, and the two girls earned tens of thousands of dollars that same year.
Later, in high school, the Ramos family slightly revealed its wealth. High school was time-consuming, and Ashlyn had to coach Jessie and Vernon every day, so she couldn’t balance school with her small business.
She majored in financial management in college. If it weren’t for marrying Gordon, she would have started a business by now or gone home to help Stevie.
The roads were clear today. It didn’t take long before Ashlyn made it to the restaurant Jessie had made a reservation at.
Jessie was already there. As soon as they entered the box, Jessie greeted in a sweet voice, “Uncle Stevie, you look great!”
“It’s only been two months, but you look radiant!”
Stevie shot back with a compliment as he took his seat.
Ashlyn chuckled and sat down next to Jessie. As soon as she took her seat, Jessie tapped her on the shoulder urgently.
Ashlyn titled her head to glance at her questioningly, and Jessie whispered in a low voice, “Bad luck. I saw Arabella and Denise on the way here.”
Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “Does she own this restaurant?”
“No…”
“Then what are you afraid of?” Ashlyn smiled.
Jessie agreed. Denise couldn’t ask the security to drive them out, could she?
Everyone was here to dine and be merry.
They were on equal terms.
Stevie had come to Bluepond mainly to see his daughter. The inspection wasn’t that important to him.
The talkative Jessie was good at breaking the ice. She chattered away during the meal, keeping the atmosphere at the table light and happy.
At about eight o’clock, Ashlyn, along with Stevie and Jessie, walked out of the private room arm in arm.
At the same time, the door to the private room next to theirs swung open; Denise and Arabella walked out.
When Arabella saw Ashlyn, her expression fell, but she soon collected herself. She smiled at Ashlyn and said leisurely, “It’s been a while, Ashlyn.”
Ashlyn glanced at her indifferently. “Truly. I honestly thought I’d never have to see you again in my life.”
At the time, gossip about the Jones family had spread like wildfire all over Courtbush. The day after Nathaniel’s birthday party, Arabella was sent abroad. Ashlyn had thought that Gordon would make Arabella stay abroad for a few years to lay low before taking her back.
But it had only been half a year and she was back. Gordon must’ve loved Arabella and couldn’t bear to be away from her.
Denise wrinkled her nose in disdain and spat, “What bullshit are you talking about, Ashlyn?”
Ashlyn glanced at Denise and said nonchalantly, “What? I was just being honest.”
“You—!”
Arabella didn’t want to quarrel with Ashlyn in public, so she quickly pulled Denise back. “Enough.”
Denise always liked Arabella, so she held back her anger and hissed, “For my sister-in-law’s sake, I’ll let you go this time.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Who’re you referring to? Your oldest brother’s wife or your other brother’s?”
Arabella’s fake smile stiffened at Jessie’s words. Denise, on the other hand, demanded angrily, “Does it matter? Anyway, you will never be my sister-in-law, Ashlyn!”
“Who cares?” Jessie retorted.
Stevie frowned. Seeing that he was about to lose his temper, Ashlyn hurriedly said to Jessie, “They’re not smart enough to understand you, Jessie. Just let them be.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Jessie said with a giggle.
Then, without waiting for a response from the two girls, Ashlyn took Stevie’s arm and walked away with him and Jessie.
Behind them, Denise’s face turned purple with anger. “What the hell are you trying to say? Come back here!”
Jessie looked back over her shoulder and said loudly, “Of course, the stupid one doesn’t get it.”
For a moment, Denise was lost for words.
Arabella, who was standing next to her, didn’t look too happy either. Only then did she notice that Ashlyn was with an older man. “Who’s that guy?”
Denise frowned. “What guy?”
“The guy next to Ashlyn.”
The old man looked to be in his fifties, although it was clear that he took care of himself. The watch he was wearing was a limited edition. There were only ten of it in this world, and it was worth around seven million dollars.
Denise snorted. “I don’t know who he is. Maybe he’s Ashlyn’s sugar daddy. That’ll explain how she has money all of a sudden. She spent four hundred thousand dollars without batting an eyelash recently.”
“Does your brother know about this?”
Arabella’s question gave Denise an idea. She quickly took out her phone and snapped a few photos. “No, he doesn’t. I’ll tell him now!”
Arabella looked at what Denise was doing and frowned slightly. “Gordon divorced her. I doubt he’ll want to know about this.”
After thinking for a while, she added, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to spread the word. If people find out that Ashlyn has a sugar daddy, the Jones family will also be humiliated.”
Denise’s heart skipped a beat, but she had other plans.
She said in a perfunctory way, “I know, Arabella
Stevie had never agreed to Ashlyn and Gordon’s marriage in the first place. Now, his impression of the Jones family only worsened because of Denise’s attitude.
As soon as they walked out of the restaurant, Stevie couldn’t help but ask irritably, “Are they Gordon’s sister and sister-in-law?”
Ashlyn didn’t want to talk about the Jones family, but Jessie answered for her. “Yes!”
Stevie sneered in disdain. “That damned family really has no class!”
“Exactly!” Jessie echoed enthusiastically.
Thinking of how his daughter had lived with that family for three whole years, Stevie felt more distressed. “Ashlyn…”
“Dad, I’m divorced now. They have nothing to do with me.”
Not allowing Stevie a chance to feel sad, Ashlyn shot Jessie a warning glance and quickly changed the topic. “How long do you plan on staying?”
Stevie snorted. “I’ll go to the office tomorrow to see what’s going on. After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
Ashlyn nodded. “Then let me send you back to your hotel for the night. You should get some rest.”
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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