The weekend ended fast and now it's Monday, Ashley's most dreadful day of the week since she joined the company.
"Good morning, Mr. Stanford."
Ashley greeted professionally as she entered the office, opening her tab to check her boss' schedules for the whole day.
Anton inquired while looking at her, "Did you enjoy yourself?"
Her fingers halted from scrolling on the tab screen as she spoke. "What do you mean, Mr. Stanford?"
"You know what I mean! Don't play dumb!" He snapped at her irritably.
Ashley took a deep breath and braced herself for his anger. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Could you please be more specific?"
"Huh!" Anton scoffed. "You could've told me about my sister to lessen my pain but you..."
"I can't reveal that information, it's not my place to do so," she replied professionally.
Upon hearing Athena's account of the events that transpired on the island, Anton reflected on his actions toward the woman. He experienced a mixture of shame and anger for being kept in the dark about the situation but as his sister said, she was the one to blame and no one else.
All this while, he thought that he lost his sister but he was wrong. She was alive and one of those people who knew the truth was working under him, yet he remained unaware! He felt like a fool.
At first, he considered thanking the person who had saved his sister and even thought about forgiving her.
With this in mind, he searched for her around the island. Unfortunately, he discovered that she had already left right after the wedding without letting him know.
He is frustrated with her actions and desires to confront her, but he is unable to contact her for some unknown reason that's why he waited until now.
Anton snorted. "Right! I forgot that you're just being professional. You never considered taking my emotions into consideration even once."
"I'm sorry." She mumbled in a low voice.
Hearing her brief apology somehow lightened his mood therefore he chose to let it pass.
"Proceed with my schedules." He urged as he lowered his head down to look at the document laid in his front.
She nodded and began to brief him. After a few minutes, he nodded.
"You may go." He calmly said and Ashley frowned at his sudden change of tune.
She couldn't help but stare at him, bewildered.
He noticed her still standing in front of him thus he looked up and stared back at her.
"What? Do you still have something to say? Spill it out before I lose my patience!" He finally barked at her.
Her eyes widened then she shook her head in silence before she sprinted out of his office.
'I thought he was acting strange!' she thought as she walked back to her office. 'Thank goodness! He was still the same!'
*****
Too focused on sending emails, Ashley didn't notice that it was already lunchtime until her stomach growls, asking for some food.
She stood up about to head to her pantry when someone knocked on her door.
"Come in," She said while turning around.
"Come with me!"
An intimidating voice caught her off guard making her eyes widen in astonishment as she didn't expect him to come in person in her office. This was actually the first time since she worked under him.
She tilted back in a hurry. "Mr. Stanford?"
"Hurry up!" He barked.
"Oh, okay!"
She hurried to take her belongings and followed him out even if she didn't know where they are heading but based on his reaction, he probably was running out of time.
Along the way, she heard them again whispering behind her back, and as usual, she displayed the same expression though she felt uncomfortable with it.
They entered the lift together and as soon as the metallic doors closed, Anton tilted his head, facing her.
"Where have you been last night?" He asked her as he thought of her excuse at the island.
That time, he saw her answering a call and he wondered whom she was talking to.
Ashley sighed asking. "Did something happen?"
"I went to the bar but you're not there. Have you been meeting someone behind my back?" He accused her.
Her brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to digest his words this time.
As far as she could remember, as long as she fulfilled her responsibilities outlined in the agreement, everything was fine but why was he asking her now about her privacy? What has gotten into him?
She didn't know how to answer him thus she remained silent for a long time until the elevator reached the lobby.
The dingy sound indicates that the lift has arrived but Anton remained in the same position without the slightest intention of going out as he stared at her.
He asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
It was then that Ashley realized, he was waiting for her answer so she opened her mouth and spoke.
"I went to visit my old neighborhood." She said.
'Old neighborhood huh!' He sneered in silence as he descended from the lift, walking ahead. 'Took you so long to say such words. Liar!'
He didn't believe her because he had investigated her profile last week and found out that she had not been living in the city. She had been living overseas for seven years, just two months after her adoption. So where did she really go during the weekends?
She didn't mind his behavior and just followed him toward his car.
Moments later, he flung his keys in her direction, and fortunately, she was quick enough to catch them.
Anton then went to the backseat without further ado as she also occupied the driver's seat.
She bit her lips and attempted to ask while starting the engine. "Where do you..."
"I'm hungry." He interrupted her out of the blue.
Hungry means only one thing so she didn't ask for more. She just drove out of the parking lot and went to the nearest restaurant.
However, Anton began protesting.
"I don't like it here."
Ashley glanced at her wristwatch, her eyes widening as she remembered something important.
She abruptly stopped the car at the next restaurant and said, "Mr. Stanford, I hope this restaurant suits your liking. I... I need to deal with something important at the moment."
"Deal with it later!" He uttered firmly as he descended from the car. "Follow me!"
"Mr. Stanford!" Ashley also jumped out of the car and ran after him. "I really can't go with you right now inside, please let me go for now." She pleaded sounding desperate.
However, Anton just ignored her and went to sit at the table nearby.
"Proceed to order!" He demanded haughtily.
Ashley began to feel uncomfortable thus she tries to distance herself from him.
Anton's eyes darkened at her reaction.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked as he noticed that she was acting strange.
Sweat began to trickle down her face as she answered in an urgent tone.
"I... I'm sorry. I really need to go right now."
With that, she swirled around and walked as fast as she could out of the restaurant.
She took a cab nearby and headed to the sole location in her mind.
Anton clenched his jaws and fist while fishing out his mobile phone from his pocket. Opening the screen, he began typing a text message then he sent it to her.
"Come back otherwise I will add another condition to the agreement!"
Her phone inside her pocket vibrated but she didn't have much time to pay attention to it.The pain was too immense for her to bear and she could hardly endure it.The cab stopped outside a small clinic after a few minutes and Ashley scrambled to get in after paying the driver."Klein!" She shouted, breathing heavily. "I need your help!"A man similar to her age ran out of his little office, startled."What the hell?! What's wrong with you?"She stared at him with a contorting face.Seconds later, Klein cursed under his breath."You're in trouble! You forgot to take your shot?!" He hissed as he quickly assisted her toward his office, letting her sit on the sofa. "You've become more and more careless, Ash! What's happening to you?!" He nagged at her while searching for the special syringe inside his drawers which he prepared for her at times like this."I was too swarmed with work these days." She mumbled in a low voice."Lay down!" He commanded and she followed.She felt the needle pe
"What happened?!" Ashley asked Wella as soon as she arrived. She first noticed her looking pale, standing outside a certain door, walking back and forth anxiously which made her think that perhaps the latter made a huge error that might affect the partnership of both companies. "Uh, uhm..." Wella stammered looking utterly nervous. "Mr. Hall said that he..." "Wella, calm down first," Ashley instructed as she noticed the latter was having trouble forming her words. "Breath in, breathe out." The latter did as she told and after a few seconds of regaining her composure, she finally uttered hesitantly. "Mr. Hall refused to sign the contract and insisted to meet you. I'm sorry..." Ashley frowned nearing that. "What?" "Mr. Hall wants to meet you and I don't know why he requested such a thing," Wella repeated albeit calculatingly. "What should we do? Mr. Stanford would definitely..." "I'll meet him," Ashley replied without hesitation which put Wella's heart at ease. "Where is he?" She
"Did you miss me that much?"Kyle joked as he occupied the empty barstool beside Ash upon his arrival at Monroe's Bar. His playful gaze roamed around and halted somewhere on the full-jammed dance floor."Cut the crap, Kyle." She warned in a playful tone after consuming the content of her glass. "We don't have much time earlier to discuss something about the orphanage...""You wanna go there and have a look?!" He asked loudly.She neither nodded nor shook her head and Kyle knows why. However, its been years had passed since she left and since then she never returned, not until now.He sighed as he dropped his arm on her shoulder."We're adults now, Ash. We both know that what happened back then was not their fault. It was the consequence of our choice." He pacified.Ashley downed another glass of liquor before she answered."I can't get over the fact that they trusted the wrong people to adopt Suzy so easily. They ignored our warnings. If only they listened then none of us would have b
Anton didn't know what had gotten into him when he followed her into the ladies' room earlier. He was thankful that he was able to avoid another embarrassment when the woman insisted on going home rather than doing her business in front of him as he didn't how would he face her when the morning came. After sending Ashley to her apartment, he went straight home, took a shower, and occupied his bed. However, no matter how he tried to close his eyes, he couldn't sleep. The conversation between them at the hotel earlier still bugs him and it makes him feel upset for some strange reason. This was also the reason why he went to the bar to unwind but he caught her with a stranger. He tried to ignore her at first thinking that she was enjoying it but as soon as he saw her struggling, he finally decided to intervene. That was when he also noticed a familiar figure approaching them, looking furious. Their eyes met for a brief moment then the next second he found him throwing his fist at the
The words "PERFECT SUBJECTS" brought a wave of immense anger inside her. Once again, the memories of the past that she tried to forget flashed in her mind making her furious. However, she didn't have much time to care about her emotions as Anton's agonizing grunts were getting louder and she was afraid that somebody else might hear him so she went back to his room. "Mr. Stanford," She gasped as she saw him sweating profusely. "Ashley Mills..." He mumbled breathlessly. "I recall hearing you say that we have something in common..." "I did." She admitted that these were the exact words she said to him during their encounter at the hotel a few months ago."Were you... Talking about... Feeling this kind of hell?" Instead of answering, she pursed her lips and went silent as she wasn't ready to admit such a shameful fact. He went on, "I can't recall anything from the past but there were vivid images in my dreams..." Her eyes widened as she asked. "What... What did you see?" He shut
As soon as they entered the restaurant, Ashley politely excused herself and Anton went to their reserved table. The waitress approached him enthusiastically, as usual, issuing the menu in her hand."Mr. Stanford," The lady greeted. "Here you are,""Hi, Cass." Anton greeted back, waving his hand. "No need for that. I want the usual. Two orders, please."He ordered right away while glancing in the direction where Ashley had gone earlier."Oh, you came with somebody else?" Cass asked curiously while jotting down her notes.Anton frowned at the lady's audacity."Can't I?" He blurted seemingly annoyed.The lady lowered her head and apologized."I'm sorry. I just thought that were the same. I honestly can't get over Pamela's death though it's been a couple of months already..."He sighed as he realized that he might've hurt the lady's feelings for acting a bit harsh towards her earlier when she was just thinking about her old friend."I'm sorry." He also apologized. "I didn't mean to say t
Threatening her won't really work but under Anton's willfulness, she has to give in to avoid a lot more complications of their agreement in the next couple of months before it ends. Moreover, he has full control of it in any way so she didn't bother to argue with him about it as long as he didn't demand something harder than those conditions, she was fine by it. As soon as Ashley saw the rays of sunrise from the window, she jumped out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom for her morning routine. However, she recalled that she didn't have any spare clothes to change and toiletries to use thus she went out of the room with her car key in hand. She tiptoed when she passed outside his door towards downstairs, thinking that her boss was still sleeping. However, when her hand reached to twist the knob, a cold voice coming from behind froze her on the spot. "Were you trying to escape?!" Startled, her eyes widened as she swirled around. "G-good morning, Mr. Stanford." She greeted while
A pin-drop silence lingered in Anton's office as both stared at each other's faces. At that moment, Ashley seemed to pick up the pieces through his words and his actions lately. However, recalling her past, she managed to scoff."If this is part of your goal to get back on your footing then I don't have anything to say.""What's that supposed to mean?" Anton questioned, sounding confused."I'll deal with the gossip if that's what you want but you must think twice about this "seduce thing" as it might affect your reputation." She warned him."How about you? Won't it affect your reputation as well?" He asked her.'As if you care if you destroyed my name!' She thought. 'You love it when others looked lowly at me!'"Why bother about reputation? I won't work here forever," she said with a shrug but in fact, she was really itching to discourage him from using such a trick.She was afraid that his business partners would use it against him in the future and she didn't want that to happen. N