Chapter 354 Because He Is Your Brother
He had Dorian come back not just to facilitate their reunion but also for other matters. However, he couldn't bear to interrupt the reunion inside. With him around, Ashley wouldn't be so relaxed, and Dorian would be on guard. "I'll talk to him alone tomorrow."
On the screen, the curve of Ashley's eyes never faded, and soon she burst into laughter.
It was clear that she and Dorian had a good relationship.
Damian rubbed his brow with his long fingers, a trace of worry on his face.
Thomas brought him some tea and whispered, "Is there still room to maneuver with the Astor Group situation?"
Damian replied, "It's not easy."
"I heard someone up there is deliberately holding it down," Thomas dared not be explicit.
Damian held the teacup, lost in thought, "If it's just a debt issue, throwing money at it would solve it. But the people Todd offended don't want to see him come back alive."
Thomas couldn't bear to look at Ashley's smile anymore, nor could he imagine if he would ever see such a smile again, "How could the money Mr. Astor transferred from the KM subsidiary just disappear? I've checked all his accounts, and there's no trace of the money unless he has another account overseas."
It was undisputable that Dorian personally took a large sum of money from KM, but what puzzled him was why, after taking the money, he didn't save the Astor Group? He didn't even use it to enjoy a better life while on the run overseas.
Damian's fingerprints were on the Astor Group's bankruptcy, but Dorian wasn't a fool. Shouldn't he have pleaded for leniency and admitted his mistakes to give the Astor Group a chance?
Why didn't he contact Damian even once after the incident?
Was he afraid? Embarrassed? Unwilling to humiliate himself?
Dorian was, after all, the president of the Astor Group, not stupid and quite capable. If he could help the Astor Group through the crisis, it shouldn't be hard to set aside that little bit of pride, right temporarily?
Thomas thought and thought but couldn't figure out the reason.
Perhaps it involved a complex situation beyond his imagination.
Damian lightly tapped his fingers on the cup, his voice low but clear, "Dorian may not have taken that money."
This was his judgment based on Dorian's character, but there was no evidence to prove Dorian's hands were clean.
The fact that he could secretly embezzle KM's funds already meant he was far from clean.
Thomas nodded, "If he didn't take it, who did?"
Damian coldly curled his lips, "Who doesn't want money?"
Thomas completely agreed; there were too many greedy people. In Rochester City, every joint, every checkpoint, every layer of relationships could only be smoothed out with a lot of money.
Once he started thinking along these lines, Thomas felt a chill in his bones.
If that were the case, it would be extremely difficult for Todd's family to return to Rochester City safely.
"Ashley, tell me the truth. Did you... make a deal with Mr. Hearst to get me back to Rochester City this time?"
The sudden serious conversation in the surveillance pulled Damian's attention back.
He looked deeply at the screen, his eyes locked on Ashley's face.
She was eating with her head down, her slender fingers gripping the fork, her eyelashes covering her pupils, making her emotions hard to read.
Dorian didn't get an answer, hesitated, and asked again, "Did he make things difficult for you? Did he hurt you?"
"No," Ashley looked up, a smile on her face.
But Dorian felt particularly heartbroken, "You're my sister. I've watched you grow up. Can't I tell if you're genuinely happy or just pretending?"
Ashley smiled, her eyes sparkling, "If he were making things difficult for me, would you be sitting here so comfortably? Even though we're divorced, we were once married. He didn't make things difficult for me; he helped me a lot."
Hearing Ashley say this, Dorian felt like his heart was being stung by a swarm of bees.
She had really grown up, more understanding and accepting, silently swallowing a lot of difficulties.
It was his fault for not being able to protect her, for not letting her remain a carefree little girl. The more sensible she became, the more it pained him.
Dorian found it hard to swallow any food, his heart heavy with sorrow, "Do you still have feelings for him?"
"No, I just want to work hard and do what I should. I'm not a teenager anymore; I don't have any silly, irrational thoughts."
Thomas instinctively looked at Damian's expression.
But as expected, he saw no change.
Even though when Damian heard the waves had already overturned Ashley's words, the dam in his heart, the torrent raging.
Ashley meant she would never like him again.
Damian didn't know how much of what Ashley and Dorian said was true, but he hoped this part wasn't true.
"Mr. Hearst, that..."
Damian interrupted him, "Turn it off."
Thomas quickly pressed the remote, cutting off the signal.
Back there.
Dorian saw Ashley's eyes turn red and smiled bitterly, "You still can't let go?"
Ashley hung her head, like a child who had done something wrong, "No."
"You did so many foolish things to be with him before. I know you haven't completely forgotten him even after these years in Sylvania."
Ashley put down her fork and looked at her relative across the table with questioning eyes, "Dorian, can you teach me? What should I do?"
As someone involved, she was really confused.
Dorian said, "From the standpoint of protecting you, I hope you never have any involvement with him again. That's also what Mom and Dad want."
When he came, his parents and wife repeatedly told him to make sure to persuade Ashley.
But seeing the sadness in Ashley's eyes, he couldn't bear to make such a harsh decision.
If feelings could be cut off cleanly without any lingering attachment, they wouldn't be human.
Cutting through bone and flesh, digging through flesh and sinew, such pain was something outsiders couldn't empathize with.
Ashley bit her lip, clenching her fists, "Dorian, you used to have a wide network in Rochester City, and Mom and Dad know a lot of people too. Can you introduce me to a trustworthy man?"
Her parents' judgment wouldn't be wrong, and she was willing to accept a plain marriage.
It's just a lifetime; she didn't want to go against her parents' wishes anymore. If she couldn't do anything else for now, at least she could give them some peace of mind.
Her self-sacrificing attitude amused Dorian, "You'd be willing if I introduced someone?"
"Yes, at least I'd meet them."
"Let me think about it."
That night, Ashley stayed in Dorian's suite, chatting with him until the early hours. They were so tired that they fell asleep on the sofa.
When she woke up, she was in bed, but Dorian was nowhere to be found.
Was he caught? Did someone report him, and he was taken away by the authorities?
Ashley woke up instantly and rushed out to find someone.
"Ms. Astor? What's the hurry?"
Ashley grabbed Thomas's arm, her eyes burning, "Where's Dorian?"
Thomas had anticipated her anxiety but only realized how much she cared for Dorian when he saw her trembling shoulders, "Mr. Hearst and Mr. Astor are upstairs talking. Ms. Astor, please don't go up for now. They'll come out when they're done."
Thankfully, he wasn't arrested. Ashley felt a bit relieved but then nervously asked, "Do you know what they're talking about? Will Mr. Hearst make things difficult for Dorian? He hates Dorian."
Thomas said, "I don't know what they're talking about, but one thing is certain: Mr. Hearst won't make things difficult for Mr. Astor."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because he's your brother."
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