Chapter 358 Arguing When We Were Dating
On the way back, Ashley didn't say a word.
Thomas wanted to break the silence in the car several times but couldn't find a suitable topic, so he kept quiet to avoid making things worse.
Damian remained as calm as a statue.
Ashley looked at the scenery passing by outside the window, recalling her conversation with Dorian.
In front of Damian, she didn't want to show her true emotions, preferring to wrap her fragile heart in a shell of indifference.
At the fork in the road, Thomas had to break the silence, "Mr. Hearst, where are we going?"
To the left was where Ashley rented her place, and to the right was the Imperial Residence.
Thomas didn't dare to decide on his own.
Ashley said, "Drop me off by the roadside ahead. I'll take a cab back. Don't delay taking Mr. Hearst home."
Damian's face, illuminated intermittently by the streetlights, frowned, "Head to Sunset Ridge first."
After the mutual silence among the three was broken, Ashley felt she couldn't remain silent any longer. After a moment of hesitation, she finally said, "Thank you for what you did this time."
Damian replied in a deep voice, "No problem."
Ashley thought for a moment, "You can pretend you didn't hear Dorian's last words."
Damian looked at her with his narrow eyes, "Why? Not happy about it?"
Ashley said, "Dorian must have misunderstood our relationship, but I know the truth. So, Mr. Hearst, don't worry. I won't affect your life, and you don't need to spend too much time on me."
Do you think this is a rejection?
Damian let out a light chuckle and didn't respond.
The road wasn't long. Ten minutes later, the car arrived at Sunset Ridge's gate, and Thomas drove straight to the unit door.
Ashley opened the car door herself, "Drive safely."
As the car turned around and drove back, Thomas clearly sensed Damian's displeasure and said in a low voice, "Mr. Hearst, Mrs. Hearst just saw Dorian off. She must be very upset. Sometimes, women say things they don't mean when they're sad."
Damian rubbed his temples with his long fingers, "Didn't you hear what she said? She's eager to distance herself from me and doesn't want to benefit from my status."
Thomas quickly said, "Mrs. Hearst probably just doesn't want any misunderstandings."
After all, from Dorian's words alone, it seemed like he was trying to set Ashley up as Damian's lover. With Ashley's personality, would she agree? Would she be happy about it?
Damian said, "She doesn't want to be tied to me at all."
Thomas didn't know what to say. Ashley's tone suggested that was exactly what she meant.
"By the way, Mr. Hearst, Mrs. Hearst's car will be ready to pick up tomorrow afternoon. Will you accompany her to get it?"
Damian said, "She doesn't want to see me. Why should I go and make things worse?"
This...
Aren't you the one actively pursuing her?
After washing up, Ashley sat in front of her computer to collect her thoughts for a few minutes before diving into work.
At midnight, she finished organizing the materials and sent an email to Hendrix.
Two minutes after sending it, Hendrix called, "Why aren't you asleep this late?"
Ashley hadn't paid attention to the time. She looked at her computer and realized it was already past midnight, "Mr. Long asked me to cooperate with the work as soon as possible. I finished organizing the materials I missed during the day. You can review them tomorrow morning, and I'll make any necessary corrections."
"Corrections? What have you been doing these past two days?"
"Personal matters."
"Personal matters? You spent an entire day at Shadowcrest Castle. Whose personal matters were those?"
An alarm went off in Ashley's mind. Hendrix knew she was at Shadowcrest Castle. Did he see Dorian?
"Were you following me?"
"Could you like me to follow you? Who doesn't recognize Damian's license plate?"
She was seen getting out of Damian's car by Hendrix's people.
As long as he didn't see Dorian, Ashley didn't care about the rest. She calmly said, "I had some things to take care of."
Hendrix almost said that divorced couples going to a hotel could only mean one thing, but he held back. "I'll send you a location. Meet the representative from Infinity Enterprises Group tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay."
The next day, Ashley went to the law firm and, as soon as she entered the office, saw a bouquet of vibrant roses.
The bright red color reminded her of what Damian had said.
She could refuse Damian behind Dorian's back, but this couldn't continue.
Given Damian's temper, last night's incident had already touched his bottom line. If anything else went wrong, he might lose his temper.
Ashley arranged the roses and put them in the trash can.
Dozens of crimson flowers were packed tightly, almost overflowing.
Then, Ashley sent a WhatsApp message to Sean.
[Mr. Ross, thank you, but please don't trouble yourself in the future.]
She thought, without saying it directly, Sean would naturally understand.
After a few minutes, Sean hadn't replied.
During lunch, Sean's message finally came through.
[I've been busy at court. I just wanted to let you know that you don't need to thank me. Let's play tennis sometime.]
Ashley breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a bit guilty. Using Sean as an excuse for so long was indeed not very kind.
At the very least, she should treat him to a meal: [Sure, I'll treat you to dinner sometime.]
Meanwhile.
Sean looked at the chat window, deep in thought.
This was the second time Ashley didn't want him to send flowers anymore.
Last time, he had subtly expressed his feelings and received her tacit approval.
This time?
Did she have someone she liked?
Didn't want to waste his efforts anymore?
Or was she hinting that there was no possibility of them developing further?
No matter which possibility, it was a bit painful.
"What are you thinking about, standing still like that?"
Hearing the voice, Sean put away his phone. "Nothing. The verdict is out. I'm heading back to the firm."
Peterson had also just come down from a trial, still in his uniform. He patted Sean on the shoulder, "You think you can fool me? Your eyes just now were the same as when you used to argue with your girlfriend back in the day. Are you having relationship troubles?"
Sean smiled, "It seems it's not easy to fool your eyes."
Peterson said, "Who is it? Is it Ashley?"
"It's her."
Peterson hooked his arm around Sean's shoulder as they walked out together, "If you really like her, you should pursue her openly. Please don't keep it to yourself. If you don't say anything, how will she know?"
Sean said, "She has someone else in her heart."
"Really?" Peterson paused, "Well, in that case, it's not suitable to force your way in. But if she has someone she likes, why aren't they together? There must be a reason. If you can find the root cause..."
Sean interrupted him, "She deserves a better life, not to marry me and become someone else's stepmother. If she doesn't have feelings for me, I won't force it."
Ashley was busy for most of the day. At 3 PM, she received a call from the car dealership, informing her to pick up her car.
"Ms. Astor, all the paperwork is done. You can drive it away."
"Thank you, I'll come after work."
The thought of owning her first car bought with her own money made her a little excited.
"Ashley..."
Hannah's face was dark, and her teeth were grinding.
Ashley packed her things to leave work and saw Hannah's cheeks puffed up like a little squirrel's. She smiled, "What's wrong? Who made you angry?"
Hannah closed the door, pulled down the blinds, and said angrily, "Ashley, there's something I have to tell you."
"What is it?"
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