Soon after he spoke, her heart filled with guilt instantly. She realized that they both were married due to unclear reasons and what he said was true. There was no love inside their marriage."It's just some kind of reflex from my brain, I guess..." he suddenly said."What? Reflex for what?" She was confused."That obsession of finding a woman with a perfect body proportion... I knew it sounded ridiculous for me to standardize women based on that. But I worked in the fashion industry, so I was prone to have that kind of thinking. I didn't have that kind of obsession before. But then five years ago, I broke up with someone because she wanted to move abroad to pursue her modelling career. She was someone that's obsessed with this kind of thing. So when she left, choosing her career over me, I think that those Golden Ratio scale number was the only thing that make me remember her. And so now, I had this habit of checking the measurement of the female models in the modelling agency, becau
The next morning, Ashley went down to the first floor of the villa fully dressed in a burgundy formal midi dress. She saw the clothes were already prepared on the bed right after she came out of the bathroom after having a shower. Apparently, Ashton had a habit of choosing what type of clothes she should wear for the day. "Oh, my beautiful wife finally come down. Come here, honey. Let's have breakfast together," Ashton greeted her from across the dining table near the open kitchen space. Ashley approached him slowly and saw he was wearing a burgundy suit with a black shirt underneath to match her attire. His perfect strong jawline face with the trimmed beard emitted out his masculinity and his dark wavy hair was styled so stunningly that she stared at him for a while before she had a seat at the dining table. The man was eating elegantly while looking at his phone once in a while. When he sensed that she did not start eating yet, he gazed up at her. "What's wrong?" He asked, feeling
Ashley laughed at his words and shook her head, thinking that he was just joking. 'How can he be the Chairman?' She thought. She completely disregarded the idea that it might be true, although it was not really an impossible thing. But her mind had assumed that Ashton was wealthy due to his father's inheritance and probably just being one of the shareholders of AG Atelier. It did not even occur in her mind that he would be capable of establishing a fashion company as remarkable as AG Atelier. Ashton just smiled amidst her laughter, had not even felt offended that she did not believe him. Seeing him not saying anything and just staring at her, Ashley slowly put her laughter to a halt. "You're kidding, right? How is that even possible?" She said softly while focusing on his face. "And why is that impossible for you?" He replied with a chuckle. He started the company when he was twenty-two, still studying art at a local university at that time. That decision was made directly after La
'Did he only act nice just to me?' Ashley murmured her confusion internally. Her eyes slowly went down to see the news on the tablet screen as Ashton showed it to her. "The photographer made a great job yesterday. This wedding photo was the one that I liked the most," he remarked. "But it didn't show our faces," Ashley responded. "I know. That's why it's a perfect photo to be used for our marriage announcement." "Why didn't you allow the press to publish our full-face or full front body photos?" Ashley was curious to know about it since she heard well enough what Ashton discussed with his PA previously. The man chuckled and shifted his eyes to her. "I'm a businessman, not a celebrity. But the paparazzi won't leave me alone if they know what I look like. I'd been there before facing that situation back then when my father died. The media published my photos without my permission and I'd been harassed publicly by a lot of paparazzi wanting to dig up my story. So, I made a rule with
'What's that supposed to mean?' Ashley murmured internally while gulping in nervousness. Her husband stood up, went to the door and locked it. Then he approached her again with his domineering steps and suddenly picked her up from the chair and made her sit at the meeting table. Her legs were spread open and he went to stand in between them, intentionally making his crotch come in contact with her private part.His hands slowly lurked around her neck and holding the back of it firmly and then ran up to stroke the back of her head. He tilted his head a bit while slowly going nearer to hers and landed a kiss on her red plumpy lips. It was a long passionate one that Ashley went breathless by it naturally."Ashton..." she gasped with both her hands pressed against his chest as that man suddenly pushed her body down to lie on the meeting table with his body inclined on top of her."I guess this is the perk of getting married. We're allowed to do this whenever we want without anyone judging
"Where's Flora and her team?" Ashton replied with a stern face but with a solemn smile on his face, showing his sense of authority again."They're over there. Checking the measurement of the new female models we received today," Hillman turned his head around and pointed his index finger towards the top right corner of the studio space. There was a small stage there with about ten women on the platform. Each of them stood straight while Flora and her team were checking their body measurements.Ashley fixed her eyes on Flora's team and the models. She could see Flora shaking her head a bit and frowning before she split the models into two groups. Ashton went there and Ashley naturally followed him. She had a thought that he might pass her over to Flora before he leaves for his meeting."How many?" Ashton suddenly asked out of the blue and all the models standing on the platform turned their gazes on him directly."Hmm... just three for today, sir. But we had two who reached over sixty
Ashley thought that the Rose Academy was only on that level. Turned out the academy was actually the biggest department inside the company because they also took space down until Level 40, making it eleven levels in total for all the designers and models to work together. Level 50 was actually the main part where the products from designers were brought to be photoshoot and then put inside the AG Atelier fashion magazine called Fashion Atelier, similar to the name of the online shopping app that was owned by the company. After going around the studio for almost twenty minutes, Romano interrupted the couple. He bravely tapped on Ashton's shoulder to remind that man about the shareholders' meeting. "Right..." Ashton seemed like he had just remembered that thing again. Truthfully, it really did slip his mind. Romano had a worried expression on his face because his boss had postponed that meeting earlier and looked like now he was going to be late as well to attend it. The shareholders
"It's unfair..." he said slowly."Unfair? About what?" Ashley was confused. Her eyes looked forward again, waiting for him to respond."Hillman sent these to my email," he showed his phone to her and she saw all the pictures taken by the photographers at the Rose Academy while she tried on several clothes there."You were having fun while I'm working hard," he murmured and gently bit her right earlobe. Ashley instantly cringed her body backwards, falling onto his chest with his unexpected bite. He chuckled while releasing the bite then slowly embedded his face on her neck, doing what he would normally do, smelling her delicate fair skin there and kissing it a few times."You'll leave hickeys there if you do that," Ashley budged her neck away from him."Honey... we're inside a fashion company. How long do you think it would take for me to find a scarf to cover your neck later?" He asked her rhetorically. Certainly, he was not interested at all to hear her response and just simply conti
Ashton didn't care if she was not in her right mind right now. Maybe tomorrow she would probably forget all about it. But what he did care about was the fact that at this very moment, he was finally sure that he loved Ashley so much and that he couldn't imagine his life without her.A smile formed on her face and she wrapped her arms around his neck, clung herself to him and teasingly said to his ear, "I love you too...""My husband is so rich, handsome, kind-hearted and generous human being," she added fondly."That was a lot of adjectives for one person," he joshed."How about adding some more like loving, charming, gentle and irresistible too?" He played along with their witty conversation."That too... But I don't like seeing the other women being nice to you when you're being nice to me...""What's that supposed to mean?" He was confused and then glanced at her that now was just resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes as if talking while asleep."There were some models at
He had married this woman for three months, yet he did not even know that she could not swim. He turned his head swiftly, looking at their pool with his gaze showing a worried expression."From today forward, you're banned from getting nearer to the pool. That was now a restricted area for you. Don't go there. You need to have a swimming class first," he firmly said to her, having his heart anxious now.His mind began to imagine her falling into the pool when no one was around and that thought scared him so much. 'What if she drowns? Gosh, drowning is such a horrible way to die.' That kind of what-if situation began to attack his mind and it suddenly got him feeling paranoid.Martha came to the dining table to refill their drinks and Ashton suddenly gave her some unnecessary extra task."Martha, from now on, you have to make sure my wife doesn't go near the pool, okay? She didn't know how to swim. She might fall in there and drown," Ashton said seriously and that made the servant stun
Hana, along with her husband and their baby finally left the villa after bidding goodbye. Ashley still pondered over Hana's words in the living room even long after that woman had gone. She just sat there on the sofa alone while staring at the floor. Her husband had gone upstairs to take a quick shower and changed his shirt because the smell of barbeque stuck on him. 'Appreciate what you have,' that was the one that kept repeating on her mind like a broken record. She did not know how long she had been sitting there, but the lights in the living room were suddenly turned off by someone. "Are you going to sleep there?" Ashton's voice came from behind her. She turned her head around only to find him standing behind her, leaning his body closer and wrapping both his arms around her shoulders. "You smelt good," Ashley said softly, having her nose got pierced by the exquisite scent of the expensive body gel Ashton usually used. "And you smelt barbeque, I wanted to eat you," he replied h
Karl whimpered even more. He had the back of his body resting over the edge of the bed while he sat on the floor. But now he felt his whole body trembling and getting fragile. In seconds, his body slowly fell to the floor, just lying there like a melted jelly. The floor got wet from his tears and the empty red wine bottle that he held was released, lying flat on the floor just like him. "I want you back... I want you back... Tell me how to fix this..." he whispered hoarsely to her through the phone. "You... can't... There's no way to fix this. We're really... over this time," Ashley found it hard for her to speak properly while holding her tears in. "I want you back..." Karl kept repeating those words to Ashley like an insane person. He just stared blankly towards nowhere while his hand gripped his phone hard as if that was the only way he could reach Ashley. Back then, when he decided to marry Lucia, he thought that maybe someday, Ashley would still come back to him, willing to b
There were some drinks inside the limo and Ashton's hand reached for the bottle of whiskey. He poured some into a glass and drank it. He gestured his eyes asking Ashley if she wanted some, but she shook her head. "I invited Samuel and Hana to our house tonight for dinner," he said, and then gulped the whiskey in one go. "You did?" Ashley responded rhetorically. They were quiet again, having nothing to talk about. Ashton still staring out of the car window, pondering over the things that happened at the clubhouse. He kept pouring himself the whiskey until it was the fifth glass. Ashley stopped him from pouring more. She had never seen him drunk before and she was scared to see him losing his conscience, so she stopped him before he did. If she was not there, he would probably be going to drink more because he felt like this was a day where he needed that. He tried to act like he was unbothered by what kind of relationship Ashley used to have with Karl. But it was really hard because
He was well aware that all his family members pretty much still loved Ashley like she was part of the family. But she was now married to Ashton Grey. Karl did not want to offend that man in any way so he tried to hinder his mother from speaking with Ashley too much. "Why didn't you tell me that Ashley was coming? She should have sat with us in the front row before. She was part of the family," Lily reprimanded her son immediately. "Mom, she-" "How terrible were you to do this kind of thing to her. I helped raise her like my own daughter and now you just threw her away for a richer woman," Lily cut her son off. She was so disappointed that Karl did not end up with Ashley. "Mom, I-" "Shut it. Ashley, let's sit with us. The others will be so glad to see you again. You haven't come to our home for like months. We all had missed you very much, dear," Lily grabbed Ashley's wrist and tried to bring her to the table of Karl's family members. "Mom, don't..." "Aunt Lily, I can't..." Ash
"I thought you were over him completely," Hana approached Ashley with two glasses of champagne in her hands. She gave one to Ashley. "Where's Sam?" Ashley asked and Hana pointed her finger at one corner of the hall showing Samuel was having a casual talk with Ashton again. "They both seem to get along quite well," Hana commented about their husbands. "You think so?" Ashley responded unconsciously and Hana nodded. The two were silent while watching the wedding couple dancing. After they both finished the champagne, they put down the glasses on the table and started chatting again. "Do you think what Ashton did back there was too much? Too harsh maybe?" Ashley brought up that topic. She wanted to hear what her close friend would think about it. "Can you even blame him? It was harsh a bit I guess, but I think if I were in his position, I would do the same too," Hana replied. "Why so?" "He might look fine, Ashley. But a husband is a husband after all. At one point, even though you
Having sensed that Ashton was picking on Lucia, Karl changed his target instantly and pleaded to Ashley instead."Ashley, please save my face. I can't have this important occasion cancel. My family would be embarrassed if that happens," Karl said beggingly. But Ashley looked away from him instantly and refused to get involved. She glanced at her husband and she could feel a domineering aura emerging from him again.Seeing Ashley ignoring him, Karl finally turned his body and looked at his wife with a mad expression. He could not believe that Ashley would give him a cold shoulder considering that they had known each other for so long and even used to have such a special relationship before. But his heart convinced him that it was his fault to begin with and maybe this was how karma worked on him."Apologize to them immediately," he ordered Lucia and that woman seemed reluctant again. But Karl grabbed her arm harshly and pushed her forward to face Ashton and Ashley.Lucia could feel as
"If five years with me could somehow mean nothing to him now, what makes you think that he would value a five years marriage with you? I really hope you pass the five years of marriage crisis you going to have with him later. And if you did happen to pass it, then I'll congratulate you once again for your marriage," Ashley ended Lucia smoothly."That's it! You need to leave," Lucia was really pissed off by Ashley's words. She did not know how to retort to it, so she took the easiest way to solve it, by trying to get rid of Ashley and her partner from the wedding event."Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Ashton remarked calmly, ignoring the glare Lucia gave him. Instead, he just stroked Ashley's hair lovingly and only had his eyes focused on her."Excuse me? This is my wedding, I rent the whole clubhouse for me to enjoy my big day. I would never compromise your disrespectful behaviour towards me and my husband on our big day. This is unacceptable. How shameful of you to be stubb