Chapter 160 A Walking Joke
<Chapter> Chapter 160 A Walking Joke</Chapter>
Last night, Damian touched her ear, and she felt a tingling sensation. It was his kiss.
In the morning, when she was washing up, she didn't see anything unusual. She assumed that the hickey was behind her ear, which happened to be her blind spot.
"You must have seen it wrong. You might be allergic."
Juliana's desk was also in the lobby. Juliana had heard Riley and others gossiping, but Harold Brin have told everyone not to gossip in the law firm. Juliana, as the senior of the law firm and Harold's most capable assistant, always stuck to the rules. It was only today, when she saw the evidence of guilt on Ashley, that she dared to ask.
"Ashley, don't be embarrassed. Your boyfriend sends you a bouquet every few days, it’s easy to see you two are living together."
Ashley coughed. "Juliana, Mr. Brin is looking for you."
Indeed, a tall black figure appeared outside the lobby, but it wasn't Harold. A deep reprimand came from Hendrix, who had overheard their conversation, "Focus on your work during work time. Money doesn't grow on trees."
Juliana sidestepped, greeting him with a nod, "Good morning, Mr. Stone."
"It's not morning anymore, it's late."
Hendrix scolded Juliana away but blocked Ashley's path. "You two are living together? Ashley, to shattered my illusions, you're quite ruthless to yourself!"
Ashley cursed Damian in her mind, but she smiled with ease. "Mr. Stone, you've misunderstood. My boyfriend and I just get along with normal contact; there's no other reason."
Suddenly, Hendrix grabbed her wrist, disregarding the people in the lobby. He rudely brought Ashley to the forefront office, slamming the door with irritable temper.
Being dragged like that by him, Ashley didn't have time to hide the love marks.
Hendrix was furious. "Ashley, you're a woman. Even if this is consensual, women always end up at a disadvantage. If you accidentally get pregnant and end up with the wrong person, your life will be ruined. You have no idea!"
Ashley couldn't retort harshly to Hendrix's criticism under the guise of concern. She said, "Hendrix, you and Lynn have definitely done these things too. It’s normal to do that for a couple in love."
It’s just because Hendrix did that before, he felt irritated.
Hendrix angrily turned on the spot, vigorously running his hand through his hair in reverse, turning all his hair backward. He said, "OK, I'll give you some advice now. I'm a man, and I know men the best. Before he gets you, he'll be very nice to you, say a lot of touching words, and agree anything with you. But once Damian gets what he wants, he won't care about you anymore. You don't understand. You just know each other not long ago. You don't know him well, and your minds don't match. If you don't love each other mentally; and you have sex with him, you'll expect him to love you more. What he said in bed is all lies that he'll listen to everything you say, and promise to love you forever! Men, without exception, are controlled by their lust!"
Ashley had never seen Hendrix so angry before, and she was touched. "Mr. Stone, calm down. I'm not a little girl already, I'm a woman in my late twenties."
"It's not about age. You're smart in handling cases, but you're naive in love. This love mark proves he doesn't respect you, and he doesn't cherish you! He knows your profession. He should be worried about the gossip about you, but he intentionally kiss you there. If you were a man, it'd be a joke. But for a woman, it's like telling everyone you've been fucked. Compared to him, I feel like I'm a good man!"
If Hendrix found out who this man was, he wouldn't let him off the hook!
It seemed that he needed to end Ashley's relationship in advance.
Hendrix had got so annoyed that Ashley felt a bit embarrassed. But once she lied, she had to stick to it. "Next time I'll remind him. Anything else? If not, I'll go about my own business."
Hendrix still wanted to scold her when he heard "next time," but then another thought struck him. "Did you go to find Lucien?"
Ashley replied, "Yes, regarding Mark Smith's case, I talked to Lucien, but he hasn't responded positively yet."
Hendrix's expression twisted with a mix of anger and amusement. "Lucien. Well, I have to admit that you have some competence. He took it on."
Ashley wasn't surprised, but she still felt grateful, "Is Lucien coming to the law firm today? I want to thank him in person."
Hendrix felt annoyed as she mentioned Lucien. "He can't make it. He's gone to the detention center to see Mark. As for the lawsuit, Lucien has his own arrangements."
Once Lucien took action, he would try to win. As for what methods he would use, Ashley couldn't inquire about or copy them.
"OK, got it. Should I head out now?"
"Just a moment!" Hendrix hesitated before saying, "Don't do anything to harm yourself out of anger towards me, and take care of yourself, don't fall for cheap guys."
Ashley felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this. She smiled slightly, curved her eyes with a glint. "Thanks, Hendrix. You're a good person."
Hendrix was feeling all mixed up inside. He wanted to scold her again, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to. "Just go. Don't smile at me like that."
In just half a day, news spread around the law firm that Ashley moving in with her boyfriend.
During the break, Riley and Lynn whispered to each other as they walked away. Harold following behind. He grabbed Ashley's wrist, asked, "What's going on? You don't have a boyfriend."
Ashley couldn't tell him her boyfriend was Damian, nor even Sean. "It's a misunderstanding, I can't explain."
"You lied to me." Harold said.
Ashley replied, "I had Amelia help me with it."
Harold was surprised. "Why? To stop other men from harassing you?"
"Yes, I have a meeting at KM Road this afternoon. Several older men there always bother me, so this can put an end to their bad behavior."
Harold scratched his head. "I heard Hendrix took you to his office and scolded you. You should argue back!"
Hendrix had expressed interest in her, a fact Harold was unaware of. Ashley decided to keep it quiet for now. "He's the boss, and he thinks I'm too arrogant. It's my fault. I deserved the scolding, I can't argue back."
After saying this, Ashley walked away.
Harold was left pondering. This wasn't the Ashley he knew well. What was she feeling guilty about?
But being as beautiful as Ashley, sometimes, wasn't a good thing.
Lynn heard that Hendrix had scolded Ashley, so during lunch, she took the initiative to comfort her with some fruit. "Ashley, are you okay?"
Lynn glanced towards her ear, where a faint red mark was visible. Damian had kissed her quite passionately, and it hadn't faded even after a while.
Ashley lamented, "Hendrix criticized me for not paying attention to my appearance, which made me so angry that I scolded my boyfriend."
Lynn felt happy inside, but pretended to be concerned. "Men are careless, you should scold him."
As Ashley watched Lynn leave gracefully, she rested her chin on her hand, staring at the fruit plate, and smiled.
In the afternoon, Ashley arrived at KM Road right on time.
The elevator took her straight to the floor where the meeting room was located, and Ashley met Mr. Moretti and his colleagues who were walking with documents.
They were chatting, but stopped as soon as they saw her.
"Mr. Moretti, Mr. King, Jerry ."
Mr. Moretti smiled. "Ashley, you're here, please come this way."
Ashley said, "I heard Mr. Moretti just mentioned that our schedule has changed. What happened?"
Mr. Moretti looked a bit taken aback. "You should know."
Mr. Moretti sneered in the eyes, pondering, 'Are you kidding me? How could you not know it?'
"I don't know." Ashley replied calmly.
Kevin smirked as he glanced at Ashley, as if watching a walking joke. "The new project jointly launched by KM Road and Emperial Avenue Groups is about to kick off, and Mr. Hearst and Trinity are also flying to the Eirondia."
