Chapter 282 Kindness Is Not a Transaction
By the time Kenny went to retrieve her belongings, it was nearing midnight. He thought Grandma Rhoads would have been asleep, but to his surprise, she was waiting up for him.
"Grandma Rhoads," Kenny greeted, full of respect as he entered.
"What happened to Ashton?" Janna inquired.
Hesitating for a moment, Kenny replied, "Chris Shaw, the eldest son of the Shaw family, caused her some trouble. She's slightly injured, but I didn't want to worry you or the kids."
"Chris?" Janna was taken aback. "You mean he had a confrontation with my Ashton?"
"Yeah." Kenny knew Janna wasn't aware of Ashton's past involvement with Chris and decided to keep that information to himself.
He would heed his wife's request not to go after Chris with vengeance, but that didn't mean he was going to help Chris keep the incident under wraps.
"That scoundrel!" Janna slammed her hand on the table. "I met Chris a couple of times before. He seemed polite and well-mannered; I thought he was even looking out for Ashton. I thought he was a good elder brother!"
"Grandma Rhoads, please calm down," Kenny urged. "Ashton didn't want to tell you because she was concerned about your health."
"Then why are you telling me?" Janna asked, her tone and expression devoid of any real blame.
Kenny replied calmly, "You and others always thought that Ashton was doing okay with the Shaw family. I think it's time the elders knew the true colors of the Shaws. Or should we continue to watch them leeching off my wife and exploiting the Rhoads name for their business?"
"Tell me, how has the Shaw family been mistreating Ashton?" Janna asked, her expression serious.
She had always sensed that Ashton wasn't that close with the Shaws, although, from her perspective, they had been good to her, sending her abroad for studies and buying her a nice apartment near school.
Kenny was concise and to the point.
After hearing him out, Janna's expression turned grim. "Alright, I understand. Grab her things, and head back to rest."
"Yes," Kenny replied.
At Kenny's prompt, Wendy swiftly wheeled the box over.
Before Kenny left, Janna called out to him. He turned around to face her.
Janna’s gaze held an imposing fierceness, “Since you seem to know every chapter of Ashton’s life by heart, let me give you a piece of advice: don't let her suffer any more indignities. Pamper her, spoil her, and make up for all she's missed. Treat her well, and I assure you, I won't shortchange you.”
“Grandma, loving my wife isn't a transaction. Regardless of how you treat me, taking good care of her is my responsibility, rest assured.”
A smile broke across Janna’s face as she nodded, “Off you go. I can see you’re eager to get back to her.”
Kenny returned her smile.
He bid Janna goodnight and made his exit. Janna withdrew her gaze, took out her smartphone, and briskly sent a few messages.
She knew Ashton's kindness wouldn't allow her to watch the Shaw family crumble, to see them ousted and begging on the streets. So, she planned to undermine them, to let the Shaw family's pot of water cool slowly until, unknowingly, they were left with nothing.
*
Upon returning home, Kenny found Ashton asleep on the couch. Tired and having cried, she was fast asleep. He noticed that crying always made her exceptionally sleepy. Crouching beside her, he watched her for a moment. The bruise on her face would probably be swollen tomorrow.
Anger flared within him, but he suppressed it.
He prepared to carry Ashton to the bedroom when his gaze fell upon her wrist, which had slipped out from under the oversized sleeve of her trench coat. This was the first time he noticed the severe bruising on her slender wrist.
His last bit of restraint crumbled.
Just then, Ashton stirred awake, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, “How did I fall asleep?”
“It's late; exhaustion is to be expected,” Kenny replied, gently taking her injured wrist. “Let me take this to your room.”
“Okay.” Ashton was indeed very tired.
She followed Kenny to her suite. After setting down her things, the gentlemanly Kenny excused himself and left.
With only tiredness on her mind, Ashton haphazardly showered, removed her makeup, tossed on her pajamas, and collapsed into bed.
But Kenny, with his phone in hand, snuck out to the secluded backyard, as though afraid of being overheard by his wife inside the house. He dialed a number.
“It's Young Master Walker!” The other side was noisy, but the voice that answered was exceedingly respectful.
“I need you to do something for me,” Kenny said, his voice icy. “No maiming, no broken limbs, internal injuries are okay, but no death, and don't touch the face.”
He wouldn't let anyone show up with a battered face and play the sympathy card with his wife.
"Got it, we'll make it look like an accident. This is our expertise!"
"Thanks."
Kenny was somewhat polite, but only just.
He said it indifferently and hung up the phone, then transferred two hundred thousand dollars to the other party.
After ending the call, Kenny didn't go back into the house. Instead, he walked around to the other side and glanced up at the window bathed in warm light.
He found a lounge chair and settled down.
He sat there quietly, watching for a long, long time.
Thank goodness, he had spotted her that day.
Otherwise, how much more would those monsters, worse than himself, have hurt and tormented her?
Chris watched as Kenny took Ashton away.
Chris felt terrible when he thought of what he had done to Ashton. So, he went to the nearby bar district and drank himself into a stupor.
Kenny's man found Chris at three in the morning.
Five minutes later, Chris was dragged into a back alley of the bar district.
After a severe beating, the assailant left with an air of nonchalance.
Chris lay in the filth, unable to rise, severely drunk. He vomited blood twice and called out Ashton's name before passing out.
When he awoke, it was already the next morning.
The cleaning lady thought he was dead and was about to call the police.
"Young man, at your age, how can you get so drunk and sleep in such a filthy place? Don't you find it disgusting?" The cleaning lady said with disdain. "Get up already!"
Chris was stunned for a moment before regaining his senses.
He had always cared about his reputation, but now... Coming to his senses, he was in a panic.
He tried to get up immediately, but as soon as he moved, waves of pain swept over him.
He had blacked out the night before and couldn't remember the beating. Staggering to his feet, he took a cab home and changed his clothes.
It was only while changing that he noticed the injuries on his body.
Feeling that something was not right, he went to the hospital and found out that he had internal bleeding.
Not deadly, but very dangerous.
Just then, Crystal's call came through again.
"Chris, what on earth are you doing? Why didn’t you answer the phone all night?"
Upon hearing Crystal's voice, the image that flashed through Chris's mind was Ashton's cold, mocking face, causing his heart to clench tightly, as if it were going to cost him his life!
"What's wrong?" Chris asked, his voice weak.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
