Chapter 27: In Which He Leaves

Nine days had passed by in a jiffy. Sora had stuck by Ashton like glue, not that he minded, he knew she needed it and him too especially after they had a long talk about Ashton serving prison time which involved a to of crying on her side and a lot of convincing and soothing on his. He had come through to her eventually explaining to her that a year is a very short time as compared to twelve that he might have faced and it was worth the lifetime of happiness they would get without worrying about their safety all the time, he explained to her that this plan that they had come up with was the only alternative and she had to be strong for him. She didn't want him to take the other way out and become a murderer and a slave to that wretched Richard Takahashi so she begrudgingly agreed.
It was the tenth day, the day of the deadline that Takahashi had given him was today and Ashton had come through on his side considering that the news channel now played the news of the 'shocking' death of the business tycoon Dominic Massimino. His dead body found in his condo, police suspect it to be a homicide but haven't made a statement yet.
Shortly after when the news had started running, he received a call from Richard Takahashi who called him to the Takahashi mansion.
Ashton just hoped after all that effort, hopefully, this plan would pull through.
FLASHBACK:
Once they had hatched the insane plan it was time for them to put it into action. Detective Seo jin had involved an FBI team of a few people since they needed to be discreet on the case and could not risk an information leak.
Part of their plan was to involve Dominic Massimino into their scheme which they were able to accomplish after a bit of a struggle considering he was an arrogant, entitled prick who just wanted the FBI to arrest Ashton and get the matter over with because in his logic if there was no killer then his life won't be in danger but they explained to him that Takahashi would just send someone else after him to see him dead, only then had he begrudgingly agreed.
They needed Dominic to stay low for a while so he was taken to a safe house without anyone's knowledge. The next part of their plan was that they had found and prepared a body of a dead person that was fresh enough and looked close to Dominic, they had then taken the help of a make-up artist and doctor to regulate the temperature of the body and made it look fresh before they staged the whole crime scene.
After that, at the night of the ninth day, Ashton had made a good show of packing a gun and heading over to Dominic Massimino's condo just like he did for the past days to surveil or look like he was surveilling since there was always an SUV following him. The only difference this time was that he had gone inside and there was the loud sound of a gunshot.
Now he was with detective Seo Jin and one other agent in his study room where he had snuck them in from the secret door, he couldn't risk more agents but they were in constant contact with them over the phone. The other agent was setting up a wire on him. The wire was unlike any, there was a special button playing the role of a microphone and camera at the same time.
"This is the equipment worth half a million okay, I had to pull strings to get it, you better take good care of it" the detective said and Ashton rolled his eyes but nodded nonetheless.
"Okay good, you're all set"
Ashton turned around to face Sora who was standing in the doorway drowning in his hoodie and biting her nails out of nervousness with glassy eyes as she tried her best not to cry.
He walked over to her and closed the distance between them.
"I am so proud of how brave you've been doll"
"What are you talking about, I feel like crying my eyes out and clinging onto your feet to stop you from leaving" her voice broke at the end.
"Well, you're not doing that, and that's progress right" he chuckled, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissing the top of her head as she broke down.
"Shh... I have to do this, look at me"
He pulled her into a deep kiss as she looked up at him with those innocent blue eyes, she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down and deeper, giving him more access.
They were interrupted when Detective Seo Jin clearing his throat, they were guilty of forgetting the presence of the two detectives in the room as well.
Sora sniffled and lightly pulled away, wiping the tears using the back of her hand.
"You have to go now" the detective said and Ashton nodded.
"You won't cling to my feet to stop me from going now will you?" he joked making her giggle a little.
"There's my girl" he said offering her a small smile of his own.
He took his girlfriend's hand and led her downstairs, leaving the two detectives behind since they couldn't risk the detectives being seen through the windows. So far they had stuck to the study which had no videos or view access, so they had been safe and they would prefer to keep it like that.
Once they reached the door, he gave her one last hug and was out the door. He was nervous but he wasn't scared because he knew after this whole drama there was the promise of a happy life with his girl.