Chapter 169 Standing Behind at an Unknown Time
The exotic charm of Elva River made everything around it particularly enchanting, even Damian's indifferent gaze seemed very gentle to Ashley.
She thought maybe she still needed to adjust to the time difference and her mind was a mess.
Ashley said seriously, "if one day Mr. Hearst can't stand it anymore and wants a divorce, I can defend you. To increase the chances of winning, Mr. Hearst might as well have a prenuptial agreement before marriage, with detailed terms. Mr. Moretti would be happy to participate in drafting the contract. After all, he is an expert."
Damian looked at her with interest as her red lips moved. Her pretty little mouth was always tart when she spoke.
'She really needed some punch!' Damian thought.
"What do you think about Trinity? Does she like me or my money?"
Afraid that one stab wasn't enough, she added another.
Why did she always have to mock him subtly?
Ashley continued, linking arms and turning away to say, "Trinity is a smart woman. Even if she's after your money, she won't ask directly. Once she has you, everything else is easy. To test her intentions, it's simple. You can make a prenuptial statement that if you divorce due to emotional discord in the future, she will only receive alimony and have no right to asset division."
Lynn was more skilled in divorce cases, but Damian's high-profile divorce case wouldn't likely fall into her hands.
Ashley knew a lot about marriage law. Her mentor had advised her to study relevant cases more. With the current rise in divorce rates, these types of lawsuits were easy to take.
But Ashley had post-traumatic stress reactions. Every time she saw the words "divorce case," her heart ached terribly.
Damian's smile gradually faded as the slender woman ahead, wear in sportswear, seemed distant from him. She was no longer the silly woman who used to sway his arm and smile foolishly.
Her rational, calm, objective demeanor all conveyed one message - indifference to things unrelated to herself.
In her mind, his existence was merely a party of the first party, a fragile connection maintained by a piece of paper that could be easily terminated at any time.
"Ashley..."
"Mr. Hearst!"
Just as Damian called her name, Trinity's louder shout came from not far away.
Trinity wasn't alone; she was accompanied by two tall Dreamvale gentlemen, impeccably dressed in suits, carrying themselves with the manners and expressions of traditional Dreamvale gentlemen.
Ashley nodded to greet Trinity.
Trinity didn't show any surprise and said naturally, "Ashley is here too. I had something to deal with and missed the departure. There are some work matters I need to discuss with Mr. Hearst. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
Ashley stepped aside, half believing Trinity's words, but her presence at least helped her out. "I've finished talking with Mr. Hearst. You two go ahead."
Damian quietly watched her walk to Dreamvale's Gaze, his expression sparse as he turned his eye. "What’s up?"
A lot was said over breakfast, Trinity had it in her mind that all she had to do now was not irritate Damian and not add to his antipathy. "There are a few details of the project that we need to talk about in person, I took the liberty of bringing them here, I hope you're not offended. It was really sudden, and the place where we were having coffee was nearby, thinking we might run into you."
Suddenly? Nearby? Might?
Those vague words put together meant it had been planned.
Damian hated people counted on him.
"Hey, Damian!"
The man on his right offered his hands, enthusiastically offering to give him a big hug, traditional Dreamvale etiquette, but Damian replaced it with a handshake. "Curtis James, what brings you to see me?"
Curtis shrugged his shoulders and said, "Am I interrupting? Is that pretty girl a friend of yours?"
Curtis had a very strange accent.
Trinity frowned straight away to his pronunciation, did Mr. Hearst understand it?
The two continued their talk. "She's my lawyer."
Curtis exaggeratedly opened his mouth wide and said, "It's incredible, such a beautiful woman is a lawyer!"
Trinity couldn't stand anymore and laughed. "Your accent is very strong. We find it hard to understand what you mean."
Curtis laughed and complained to Damian, "looks like I have some work to do to correct my accent!
Ashley walked about 100 feet away, making sure her presence wouldn't interfere with them getting down to business. Then she pulled out the phone in her bag.
There was a whole page of unread messages on the WhatsApp list.
She checked in with the group first, then the phone rang.
It was Hendrix.
"Are you still jet-lagged?"
Hendrix picked up he's phone and then put down uncountable times, calculating the time difference between Sylvania and Dreamvale; it was afternoon there, a twenty-something hour flight, and Ashley should still be sleeping.
If he called her, it should disturb her rest.
Hendrix tossed and turned, unable to sleep till dawn. He returned to the law firm unconsciously felt empty and broke up with lover at the sight of Ashley's closed office.
As soon as Ashley's message appeared in the work group, he rushed to call.
The action were so fast that he surprised himself.
Ashley's call was winded and sounded outdoors, so Hendrix asked, "Are you out?"
Ashley glanced over at Damian, who was chatting with a blonde man, with Trinity next to him, the two of them holding arms at times, tilting their heads back to look at each other. The atmosphere was ambiguous, the same as the couples cuddling around them.
Cheesy, lovey-dovey love that pierced the deepest, softest parts of the heart the most.
Ashley looked away as she gazed across the river bridge and responded, "It's an occasional stop in Dreamvale to check out Twin Towers. Is Mr. Stone on the case to ask me something?"
Lucien was unlikely to ask her directly; even if he had a question, he would beg Hendrix to take the message.
Hearing Ashley's voice, Hendrix's agitation and annoyance was swept away, it was more spiritual than drinking coffee. "Can't I call you for things besides work? You flew to the other hemisphere, a girl has no one to rely on, as your superior, I'm concerned about you."
Hendrix was pouting, which sounded like a woman.
Ashley pressed the long hair blown up by the wind and smiled. "Thank you for your concern, everything is fine here. I don't need to be jet lagged basically. I'll drive to Taramila tomorrow, the work is about to be in full swing, and I'm okay. Is this debriefing satisfactory, Mr. Stone?"
Because of the distance of 10,000 miles, Hendrix could not do anything, so she did not bring fear in her tone.
Hendrix said, "Flying so far away, you should miss me."
"No, I just want to work hard and be a good staff."
Hendrix was almost exasperated. "You have no conscience! I missed you all night."
Ashley scratched the tip of her nose without word.
"At least say something nice to comfort me! It's not a hard thing for you, and don't forget I have to work with Lucien on his lawsuit. I'm so busy but still spare time working things out for you, you should say something nice to me more often."
The point was true, but Ashley couldn't speak out.
Hendrix exasperated. "You're heartless. When Lucien comes to me later, I'll just say I'm not available. I don't care, he'll settle it himself! It's not my fault if he loses."
Hendrix is really outrageous.
Ashley hesitated for a while. "Well, I'll miss you too, take care of yourself, eat more and rest well. Don't miss me too much."
Every sentence was polite, still in a joking tone.
Provided, that is, if Damian didn't hear it.
And as she finished the last word, she found that the figure who had been talking about work a few minutes ago were standing beside her, looking dark and sullen, his gaze locked with hers.
