Ashley's POV: I don't remember anything about how I walked out of the venue, I don't know if there was any expression printed on the faces of my family members… I don't know if they objected to our departure, or not. All I know is, I have almost been led by Ethan towards his car; and when I still struggle to climb into the high seat of Ethan's SUV, even after three attempts, he simply lifts me in his arms and makes me sit on the passenger seat. He fastens the seatbelt himself, and before I know it, he is sitting behind the wheel and has ignited the engine with a rumble. But all I can feel is the rumbling in my guts, that is making me bawl my eyes out with the thought that after the death of my parents, everyone has suddenly turned their back on me… Everyone who used to show their loving and caring nature for the last twenty one years, has turned out to be a monster in disguise, waiting for me to be left alone. My tears don't take a break throughout the time that Ethan is dri
Ashley's POV:“I… Wh- what?”I stammer in spite of myself, perhaps I was too lost in my thoughts to hear him properly.“You heard me: come forward, unbutton your top and turn around. So hurry, don't waste my time any further.”His words are completely stiff, stern and emotionless, making me question myself again, in the moments when I was thinking that he had actually started to care for me, which is why everything here has been made according to my taste.But in reality, I'm nothing important to him; nothing more than a sex toy or a fuck doll whom he is using to pleasure himself. ‘Ashley, you really need to come out of the fantasy where you're used to imagining yourself to be just as important to people around you, as they are to you…’I scold myself, knowing the reality: I am just like an empty void which everyone wants to use for their own special projects. They associate with me simply to get the most amount of benefit they can get out of me. Just like my family wants me for my
Ethan's POV:I really don't know what is wrong with me, but it's getting out of hand. I'm not sure about what is going on inside my head and my heart; because clearly, these two have definitely quit working together since the day this girl barged into my life.I have a list of blunders that I have made since then, starting from the contract to keep her as close as possible, to speaking in someone's favor in public, for the first time… I mean, for God's sake! I didn't even defend myself when all those accusations were pointed towards me, setting everything up for my downfall, before my rise.Then why? Why did I have to meddle in her family business like it's my own? Forget that, I first want to know why I was unable to stand it when that lady was trying to hit her.I am still not able to get rid of the fury that has been burning in my guts since the moment I saw that lady slapping her! ‘How dare she… how dare she touch something Ethan Johnson is protecting?’That was the only cohere
Ashley's POV:“Your… girl?”Rob repeats Ethan's words, glancing towards me in confusion. For a second, I feel my breath hitch in my throat as fear runs cold in my veins, thinking that maybe, he is going to reveal the contract situation we have going on… any moment now.Otherwise, how can he justify calling me "my girl" in front of everyone? And even if we have the contract in place for a hundred nights, still, it doesn't make me his! I have signed a contract, not given him possession over myself.But after what just happened, I notice the way Robert's eyes and his left eyebrow react to it… and this whole situation only rings one bell in my mind: the bell of panic. And right on cue, the chorus singer sleeping in my mind suddenly wakes up and starts a playback song named “Disaster."Of course, I have always known that this contract is going to have some implications in my life, and even though I have always believed myself to be a person who is always ready to take responsibility for m
Ethan's POV:I have read somewhere that anger is the worst parasite you can allow to live inside your body; without your knowledge, it has the power to not only keep you burning you from the inside, but also set fire to your entire world.And I am angry… extremely angry, but with no clue as to why I’m angry! I have no right to be angry with her, because even though she is bound by the contract, she can still have her own life.I have no rights on her, no more than a hundred nights… and even while I am saying all those things to her, I know it is anything but true, there is no such clause mentioned in the contract.It's just that I happened to notice her signing the contract without reading it, and back then too, I knew that I could profit off of it. So now, I'm just taking the benefit of something I tucked away in my memory earlier.But it still doesn't justify my anger, nor the loss of control that I have experienced almost after three years… three years since Emily left me for someo
Ethan's POV:“Shoot, can't you see it's an emergency?”I blurt out without realizing that I haven't been sharing this place with anyone else, and no one is supposed to be here, apart from the two of us.I lift my eyes for a fraction of a second to see who the hell has dared to turn their steps towards my property, and that too, when I'm in a time of crisis.It is goddamn Robert! But how… and most importantly why?“What are you doing here-”“What happened to her?”He ignores my question very calmly, like he isn't an employee on my payroll but a guardian assigned to me, and shifts his entire concern towards Ashley.“You made her eat green bell peppers, didn't you? I knew you were up to something, or probably, you've ignored the fact that she is allergic to peppers. I guess, that's why it is advised that if you can't care for anyone apart from yourself, you should not take on responsibilities, either.Thank God, I noticed the peppers in the kitchen, and happened to have extra medicine in
Ashley's POV: I slowly come to my senses, finally waking up with a heavy pain weighing my body down… I blink… then blink again, until the room comes into view, and it still takes me a few minutes to remember where I am, and how my life is playing a prank on me.It takes another few moments of me staring at the roof, to realize my exact location… the Devil's dungeon!!!‘Oh God! I have to leave… I have to leave now!!’This thought is enough to inject a high dosage of panic into my body, and my heart starts the marathon it was never prepared for.I remember eating green bell peppers… then somehow, Rob was here, giving me the epinephrine shot, and I asked him to leave… but then, how did I end up here?Even though there are some faint glimpses where Ethan was carrying me to this room, but… I don't think it could be true.Anyway, the best thing I can do for myself now, would be to sneak out of his room before the devil spreads his wings again and catches me red handed, ready to punish me
Ethan's POV:Sweet dreams are something that make you forget all the pain you are going through… take you to an entirely new land of desires, buried under the stone that has replaced your muscular heart. And that's just the kind of dream I was lost in, a sweet dream… about the life I wanted, about the person I needed beside me… the feeling that I craved in her absence. The dream has everything I once wanted, until the bubble bursts all of a sudden; and I realize that I'm most probably dreaming. Opening my eyes the next moment, however, I do find my body entangled with a small stature. Shit! Once again, I have replaced her with Emily in my sleep.My actions start to flash in front of my eyes, playing like a movie that makes me remember that just last night, I gave her a loving forehead kiss, wishing her a good night.This obsession of mine, of being with Emily… it is really getting out of hand these days. I need to remember that she isn't Emily… she is even allergic to the food she