Chapter 23The whole room was divided between people congratulating Ian and trying really hard to stare the mask, sunglasses and the hat off of Ashley. It was a remarkably curious thing. Who was the woman special enough to make a hard-hearted man like Ian Hills smile?“Thank you all for your well wishes”, Ian started, his voice cutting through the chatter, “But I would like to be with my wife, you all are dismissed”, He said and waved them off. They could not get away fast enough, he could suddenly change his mind and start another ten hour meeting.Ashley felt something pull at her heartstrings a little bit as he said ‘my wife’, reminding herself that it was acting and he was a surprisingly good actor, she waved at them like an elegant hostess.Only Sven, Yu Zhen and Rita still stayed behind.“Ashley you are literally the coolest person alive”, Yu Zhen breathed. Rita smirked and flicked her hair.“Of course she is, I have excellent taste in friends”, she puffed. Ian squinted at the b
Chapter 24Ian didn’t expect her to be able to present anything at all. But she did, and her voice was so convincing that he had half a mind to tell her to become a saleswoman, she would succeed massively. He surmised that she didn’t formulate the proposal on her own, she wouldn’t have chosen to be a biology professor if she was this good at concocting business plans.He had to admit, even without the proposal, Ian would have given in to her demands. It wasn’t that he was jealous of Mark, he just didn’t want the literal bastard having an upper hand over him in any way. So her plan, no matter how strange it was, would ensure that he and Mark had an equal playing field. However, if he was being really honest with himself, he would have given in because of how good she looked. She was eye-candy of the highest variety, like an empress out to defend her throne.He remembered the feeling of absolute shock that descended on him when he realized Ashley was the foxy woman elegantly strutting
Chapter 25Ashley was sipping a juice box through a straw. It was her fourth juicebox of the afternoon. Christopher and Chloe were sitting in front of her and they were also sipping from juice boxes. They were all in her own relatively small – compared to where she was residing currently– home, sitting haphazardly on the sofas as Christopher read comments aloud from the video she had ‘anonymously’ posted in the morning of her entire stint with Ian the previous day. She had to commend Sven, the camera didn’t waver once.@Ian’sfavoritesuit commented: “He is glorious, he is our king, he is perfect, he is Ian Hills.”@Ian’swife’sredcoat commented: “Her body is so gorgeous I want them both to adopt me!”“My body is gorgeous and I have a fan, both of you should pay to see me”, Ashley interrupted with a laugh. Chloe gave a mockbow and Christopher knelt.“Our gorgeous bodied queen”, Chloe snickered. Ashley threw an empty juice box at her.@ibelieveinHillssupremacy commented: “CAN Y’ALL SEE YO
Chapter 26Ashley had an upbeat song in the background that made her feel like a foreign princess as she ran down the halls in a billowing red gown Ian had provided. Louis delivered it to her with a wink and she was obsessed with it. Her footsteps matched the tempo of the song as she slid down the library’s round staircase, singing along as the material flowed behind her. Chloe and Christopher would be there in an hour, so she had one hour to get up to her best shenanigans.The servants of the mansion were already used to her exuberance, seeing as none of them batted an eye when they saw a five foot six woman running bare feet in a brilliant red flowing gown.“Try muah muah, try zdaga zdaga”, she sang, and melodramatically flailed against one of the giant bookshelves in the library. It wasn’t everyday a woman got to wear gowns they only dreamed about. The long sleeved silk arms slid against her skin and she felt like a rich heiress, wiggling her arms and whipping her hand around.She
Chapter 27"Drunk? I don't get drunk, Toma", he glared at her petulantly and Ashley knew he was indeed tethering over the edge of drunk.She walked up to him and snatched the bottle from his hands. "You're not allowed to drink, you can't sabotage me!", She huffed. Ian looked astounded at her audacity, his hands poised like he was only a second from clutching his chest due to the fact that he was flabbergasted."D-""No, nothing. We agreed that you'd come along with me, you can't be drunk!", She exclaimed. Ian shut his eyes and massaged his temples looking tired.Instead of arguing, he just crossed his long elegant legs and leaned back on a pillow.Ashley didn't know why she seemed to do this around Ian, but like before, she felt the need to fill the void of the silence."My dad wants to ban me from my inheritance", she said awkwardly, sitting at the edge of the pit. The last time she did this was the night they got married, and the conversation had flowed well at that time, perhaps i
Chapter 28Ian glared at Rita before she even opened her mouth. He knew exactly what she was going to say.She said it anyway."Oh my oh my, you're doing the devil's tango in a wine cellar, how naughty", Rita grinned from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat."Which eye of yours saw us touching each other?", Ashley asked, as annoyed as he felt."You seem to be in that stage where you're giving him directions", Rita winked."We're literally not touching", Ashley said, falling back on the pillow across from him."Hey Ashley, what did I miss?", Yu Zhen strolled down in an emerald green blazer with his dress shirt unbuttoned to his navel yet again. "They were having sex", Rita said, strolling down the staircase and taking a bottle on her way."Drop it you thief-""We were not having sex, we will never have sex-""Don't sound so sure Ash, and don't be so stingy Ian", Rita chastised like a mother. Ashley threw a pillow at her in annoyance. It hit her head with a plop and she scowled."Why are yo
Chapter 29"Girl you look like a million dollars, girl your house looks like fifty million dollars, girl!!!!", Chloe whisper-yelled as she ran to hug Ashley in a beautiful yellow dress. Christopher stood behind her in a black suit with padded elbows – a true lecturer that one – and a bright look in his eyes."It's actually two hundred million", Rita said, walking slowly to the two of them. Chloe stopped short and Ashley could see the slight hint of intimidation in her eyes – the tension strummed high – before Chloe squared up and smiled."Only four times more than I imagined"."Pfft, oh heavens no, I actually have no idea what it's worth, I'll Google it, hold on", Rita laughed and brought out her phone from her purse. "Ah yes, we're both wrong, it's worth six hundred million, because of the library I think", Rita huffed out a laugh and Chloe was gobsmacked."You were closer than I was", She eventually shrugged."Ha! Like you can call that closer. Blame my brother for everything", Ri
Chapter 30Ian had gotten his confirmation. It hadn't even been planned, he was busy brooding, but it seemed her being asleep lulled him to sleep too, and it was a worriless sleep.A perfect two hours. He woke up feeling much better than he had in an entire month. What was it about her that made his insomnia go away? Was it the fact that she always looked so peaceful sleeping that tricked his subconscious? He didn't know it was even possible to get sleep in the evening. It was always something he heard of people doing, but never himself. She could sleep anywhere. She especially loved cars.Now that he knew she wasn't what he thought her to be – because no gold digger would voluntarily give out that kind of money every month – he didn't know how he'd convince her to sleep with him. He wasn't picky, just once or twice a week was enough to atleast elongate his wonky lifespan by two years. He wished Rita hadn't gone into law. The conglomerate could under no circumstances fall into Mark'