"See? That's chemistry right there. We're really compatible with each other," Ashton joshed at her and smiled ravishingly. Ashley just chuckled.
He stood beside her and pointed his hand at the mirror in front of them, asking her to take a look at their reflection in the mirror. They both looked like a match made from heaven.
"This is what we would look like tomorrow," he remarked.
"You seriously going to hold the wedding tomorrow? Don't you need like some kind of time to prepare all that?" Ashley felt unsettled by his words.
'Could this man really pull a wedding in just less than twenty-four hours? Don't he have family members or friends that he needs to invite in advance before he holds a wedding?' She wondered internally.
"Yes. Why? You're not ready yet? Your ex's wedding day is less than a week. We should hurry up if you want a husband during his big day. Besides, we need to adjust things at home as well since we're going to live together from now on. That takes time," he replied calmly as if the wedding was not such a big deal for him. He rather cared more about getting her a husband for her ex-boyfriend's wedding day.
Ashley gaped in disbelief. She looked at their reflection once again in the mirror. They both really looked good together. 'So this is it? This is the man that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with?' Her head still couldn't fathom the situation.
She didn't even know this guy and she didn't even know if she loves him or not. The only thing that she was sure about him was the fact that they both were really casual with each other as if they had been friends for a long time.
'Yes. That's it. It didn't feel like love. It felt more like a friendship,' she murmured internally. 'But could I marry a friend and be happy with it? Could I actually feel enough spending my life with a friend? Could I be happy with such a relationship?' Her inner voice couldn't stop attacking her with questions.
"Let's change our clothes," he ordered her kindly and made his way to the male fitting room, leaving her alone in her thought.
Fifteen minutes later, Miss Lily brought the couple to the jewellery showroom. They stopped in front of a glass counter that displayed a variety of diamonds ring with different designs.
There was one diamond ring displayed a bit higher and put in the middle of the other rings. The ring had a big diamond sparkling in the middle with its sides, the left and the right had butterfly-shaped diamonds. It looked as if the butterflies were holding the diamond in the middle. Ashley couldn't get her eyes off the ring, meanwhile, Ashton was just looking around the other rings to view them all. Miss Lily approached Ashley as she noticed the lady was only looking at one particular ring.
"That's Astrid. Our most precious collection. There is only one made in this world and Mr Grey wanted it to be in this boutique branch. Thirty-five-carat diamond and cost over ten million dollars," the manager explained the detail of the ring that caught Ashley's eyes.
"Astrid? Ten million dollars?" Ashley gasped in amazement.
"That ring was called Astrid, which means divinely beautiful," Miss Lily explained.
Seeing the two women only focused their eyes on Astrid, Ashton went to join them.
"Mr Grey, looks like Miss White is interested with Astrid. Should I take it out so she could try it on? What do you think?" Miss Lily spoke immediately right after Ashton reached them.
"Oh, no no no... That's just too expensive. I'll just get a regular one," Ashley refused instantly, didn't want to trouble Ashton to buy her an over-priced wedding ring.
"Okay, go on. Take it out and let her try," Ashton ignored her and just spoke to Miss Lily.
Miss Lily gave a wide approving smile to the couple and slowly took out the Astrid ring for Ashley to try. The manager helped Ashley put the ring around the fourth finger of her left hand carefully.
"Isn't that amazing? The ring fits her finger perfectly," Miss Lily exclaimed excitedly. She showed Ashley's hand to Ashton.
A smile appeared on his face and Ashton went forward to take her hand, staring at the ring on her finger with a satisfied gaze.
"We'll take it," he said without hesitation. He ignored the shocked expression in Ashley's gaze and then went along to choose his wedding ring.
Ashton picked a plain platinum ring and instructed Miss Lily to tell the craftsman to engrave the word 'Ash & Ash' on it, in short for their names Ashton and Ashley.
"Isn't that romantic? He even engraved our name on his wedding ring,' Ashley murmured internally as she stared at the man who was waiting for his wedding ring to be done. A while later, Miss Lily came out again and showed Ashton his ring. The engraving was done beautifully and his heart was satisfied. He then helped Ashley choose a pair of earrings and a necklace to match her wedding dress tomorrow.
The time on his watch showed ten minutes before one and Ashton escorted Ashley out of Lovella Bridals. He only took the rings with him while their wedding attires and Ashley's set of jewellery for the wedding were sent straight to his villa.
"Hello, Archy. Is everything done at the villa?" He made a phone call right after they entered the car again. Cory drove the car immediately, heading back to the villa.
"Almost done," Archer Reeves, Ashton's best friend answered shortly.
Archer was the Managing Director of Ashton's company. They were friends since college and he was the only close friend Ashton had and trusted. Archer was also the only one who knew about his past and his family background.
"How about the invitation?" Ashton asked more.
"Done too. I had made sure all the directors inside the company will attend it. Do I need to invite your aunties and your uncles as well?"
"No, unless you want to ruin my wedding," Ashton joshed.
"Well, you almost gave me a heart attack this morning when you said you're going to get married tomorrow. Who the hell would do that?" Archer jested at him too. Ashton chuckled in response.
"How about the priest? Can he make time tomorrow morning?"
"Of course, Ash. Whatever for you, even the world could probably stop spinning if you tell the Earth." Archer knew how much capable this guy was to do things his way. Ashton was a complete perfectionist who would do whatever it takes to get what he wanted.
"Great. I'm on my way home right now. Have lunch with us."
"Really? So, I'm going to meet the woman who managed to steal your heart after being single for years?" Archer was excited to accept the lunch invitation.
"Don't seduce her..." Ashton said domineeringly in a teasing way. The other person just laughed.
***
In less than an hour, the black Rolls-Royce Ghost car arrived in front of the villa.
"It's late. We'll have lunch right away, okay?" Ashton said to Ashley as they got off the car. The woman just nodded in response.
As they stepped into the villa, a man wearing a bright blue t-shirt and black pants greeted Ashton immediately. It was Archer and they both had a quick friendly hug.
"Congratulation. So this is her?" Archer turned to look at Ashley right after the hug. Ashley felt awkward instantly and she just smiled. She got a feeling that Archer was the kind of man that was easygoing and a bit over-friendly.
"Yup. Her name is Ashley White. Honey, this is my friend, Archy," Ashton introduced the two.
Archer stretched out his hand to give Ashley a handshake and that woman just accepted it.
"Archer Reeves. You can call me Archy. Ashton and I had been friends since college, probably over ten years now. Speaking of that, isn't she looks a bit young for you? Have you ever asked her age before?" Archy spoke his curiosity.
Now that they were on the topic, Ashton just realized that he never really ask her that. He did tell her that he was twenty-seven last night, but he was not even sure if she remembered it because she was drunk at that time.
"Well..." Ashton was hesitant to ask Ashley. It was just too awkward to mention their age at that moment. However, he did agree that she looked a lot younger than him.
"Ashton and I were twenty-seven. How about you?" Archer brazenly just asked her.
"I'm... twenty-three," Ashley replied softly.
The men gasped a little but didn't make it too obvious to her. Then, Archer leaned his head closer to Ashton and whispered something to his ear.
"She's way younger than your ex..."
"Don't mention about that woman now," Ashton cut him off immediately and his expression turned stern. Archer just chuckled to brush off the things he said before.
"How about we have lunch now? I'm starving," Archer suggested, changing the topic and the couple agreed right away.
After lunch, Ashley went upstairs to the bedroom on the third floor to rest while Ashton and Archer went to the back garden to check the wedding arrangement for tomorrow. They both sat on the chairs while staring at the small low stage decorated with white roses flower arch behind it. Ashton's villa was located on a hill and behind the house was the view of the sea. The sound of the sea wave rushing to the shore gave a calming atmosphere to the wedding venue. "Have you really thought it through this time?" Archer asked seriously. "Yeah... there's no point in waiting. It's been five years. I should move on," Ashton replied. "What if Layla suddenly returns? What would you do then?" "Don't jinx my wedding, Archy." "No, seriously. What would you do if she suddenly returns?" Ashton went silent, collecting his thought over that matter. Layla Jones, that name had been haunting his heart for years. That woman was two years younger than him, hi
Hana was lost for words. They both went silent for a solid one minute. "I... Where's the wedding? I don't think I can come tomorrow. Samuel needs to go for outstation tomorrow for a week in another city and he asked me to come with him. He literally didn't have the heart to let me take care of Max alone for a week," Hana said, feeling guilty that she might not be able to attend the wedding. "He wanted to hold the wedding in the back garden of his house. It's just going to be a close private wedding. It's fine if you can't go. I just wanted you to know. I don't have any other family members to tell. You're the only sister I have even though we aren't blood-related," Ashley replied slowly. "I'm sorry, honey. I really wanted to go but Samuel would be sad if I and Max don't follow him." "It's okay. I understand. I'll send you some photos after the wedding." "By the way, who's that guy again? What's his name?" Hana just remembered that she hadn't asked that guy's name yet. "Ashton Gre
"How did you know him? I mean... he was very low profile to be exact. I have never seen his face before. And I searched his name on the internet just now, they rarely had his picture in the articles. Just a few pictures of his side face but never showed his full face," Hana was weird that it was so hard to find Ashton's full face or full body pictures on the internet. That was kind of rare for someone who was rich and famous. "He was only famous with his name. And he strictly banned the media from publishing any of his full-face pictures to the public, or else he'll sue them. You're right. He's a very low profile person. I met him a few times actually. He always hired Infinite Designs Architecture to do the designs for his boutiques and branch buildings. I guess he just loved our design ideas." Infinite Designs Architecture was the company Samuel worked for. He was one of the senior architects in the company. "Anyway... I can't believe that your non-blood sis
Ashley did as told and about twenty minutes later, she came out feeling fresh and smelt so good. Then, Flora checked her armpits and her legs brazenly."She didn't need waxing. Proceed to do her hair and her makeup," she said to her assistants.Someone escorted Ashley towards the vanity mirror and made her sit on the chair in front of it. Her hair was blown dry and styled beautifully. At the same time, someone was giving her face a makeover as well. Since her skin was fair, they decided to give her a simple and fresh looking face for her makeup.Lastly, she wore her wedding dress and someone helped her to put on the jewellery set for her neck and her ears."Stunning! She's done!" Flora exclaimed in satisfaction while looking at the beautiful bride of Ashton Grey in front of her. The whole stylish team was staring at Ashley in adoration too."We still have time. Miss White, if you don't mind... can we check something?" Sandra said while glancing at
"Nothing..." Ashley replied bashfully.She avoided his gaze and she could sense him staring at her nonstop. She levelled her sight only towards his chest and focused her body to move for the dance. Her mind was in chaos right now. She felt like she needed some time to process the whole thing. Her chest was pounding hard and she felt like having a panic attack. But Ashley remained calm as much as she could because she didn't want to do something that would embarrass Ashton.Only when it was almost four in the evening did the occasion end officially. Ashton was sending the last guest out before he entered the villa again and ordered all the servants to clean up and rearranged everything on the first floor to normal again."Where's my wife?" Ashton asked Martha when he couldn't find her anywhere on the first floor."I saw Madam went upstairs just now, sir," Martha replied and Ashton only took seconds to make his way to the lift, intending to go to the third
Ashley showed a meek expression and shook her head lightly, suddenly feeling scared to answer him confidently. His manhood was still in her hole, still hard, so she knew he was not done doing her yet. She felt timid to tell him to stop at that moment because she feared he might be mad at her.Although he had been acting very gentle to her all this time, she could sense that Ashton was not someone who should be taken lightly. She could feel his dominance whenever he was around her."Then, why are you crying? Is it hurting down there?" He asked gently again with his hand stroking her hair tenderly.Ashley didn't know how to answer him. It was different when she did it with Ashton compared to when she was with Karl. She could act easy and natural when she was in bed with Karl. But when it was Ashton, she felt so vulnerable as if this man could suck out her soul any moment now."I'll make it fast and more gentle, okay?" He whispered those to her as if he was concerned about her sexual pai
"My dad was a known playboy during his young age. He had a lot of mistresses. My mother was one of them, so you see... there was no possibility of getting married in their situation. She was a clever one though, she got pregnant with me, kept the pregnancy and then after she gave birth to me, she raised me for six months, making sure I'm big enough for my father to take care of me alone and then she simply went to meet my father again and demanded money in return for me. They did the DNA test and it was proven that I'm really my dad's biological child, so he paid ten million dollars to my mother and she left." "Why didn't they just get married?" Ashley asked in the middle of his explanation. "Oh, they both didn't want it. My dad wasn't really the type of man that feel enough having one woman. While my mother didn't want to be tied into a meaningless marriage. She rather be single and had her freedom and she rather chose the ten million dollars than stick around to take care of me,"
Soon after he spoke, her heart filled with guilt instantly. She realized that they both were married due to unclear reasons and what he said was true. There was no love inside their marriage."It's just some kind of reflex from my brain, I guess..." he suddenly said."What? Reflex for what?" She was confused."That obsession of finding a woman with a perfect body proportion... I knew it sounded ridiculous for me to standardize women based on that. But I worked in the fashion industry, so I was prone to have that kind of thinking. I didn't have that kind of obsession before. But then five years ago, I broke up with someone because she wanted to move abroad to pursue her modelling career. She was someone that's obsessed with this kind of thing. So when she left, choosing her career over me, I think that those Golden Ratio scale number was the only thing that make me remember her. And so now, I had this habit of checking the measurement of the female models in the modelling agency, becau