Chapter 41"Hey! Wait for me!", Rita ran out of the house, her dress billowing behind her as she came to stop in front of them."Where's my suit?", Ian raised an eyebrow, pausing in his movement of opening the door for Ashley."You're wearing it", she rolled her eyes and walked up to the car."I seem to remember someone promising to buy a new one", Ashley said offhandedly, pretending to check her nails.Rita threw Ashley a glare and she chortled."C'mon Ian, I deserve to buy something new, from my brother's money", Rita pouted.Ian raised a corner of his lips in irritation. Rita raised a hand placatingly and moved to stand behind Yu Zhen."Where's your car?", Yu Zhen asked the woman cowering behind him."My car? We're going in Ian's Maybach", she grinned."No, we're going in the Maybach, you have your own car", Ian rolled his eyes and impatiently ushered Ashley in.Rita groaned. She had hoped that Ashley being his wife would give her extra access to some perks he blatantly denied her
Chapter 42"Remember, you love me, and so you have to smile around me, no matter how hard it is", Ashley instructed him seriously as she put on her mask and dusted off the crumbs from her dress.Ian was sure it wouldn’t be hard, she performed even better than his drugs, so much that he hadn’t had to use them. He was as prone to smile around her as a baby around their favorite person.Ian also dusted off crumbs from his shirt as she had deigned to feed him somewhere along the line when his stomach betrayed him with a growl."Do you not know how to eat? Or feed?", Ian rolled his eyes as the crumbs seemed to have gotten everywhere."Don't blame me, you nearly bit my hand like seven times", she bit back. Ian held back a mischievous grin as he had indeed tried to bite her hand. It was a thing of impulse, her hand was right there, he was overwhelmed with the urge to bite it, and so he tried.Later in his life, Ian would come to learn about a little something called cute aggression .“I don
“You must be the brand new Mrs Hills”, the lady flashed a grin that sent shivers down Ashley’s spine. Ashley had seen this before, this was how Amelia started out. “Our future matriarch right there”, Hillary smiled happily before going back to hold on to Ashley’s hand. “What a lovely woman, what may I call you?”, the lady asked with a smile.Ashley held back a sneer, she couldn’t possibly think she was that stupid.“Mrs. Hills of course”, Ashley grinned and held out a gloved hand – the one that wasn’t imprisoned by Hillary – to shake her.“There would be some confusion, since auntie is also Mrs. Hills”, the lady began and Ashley nearly gritted her teeth. The Hills matriarch might get offended that she was taking her spot.“Oh nonsense! I’m Hillary Hills, no one calls me Mrs Hills anymore, it’s all for my beautiful daughter-in-law”, Hillary countered smoothly. Ashley felt the most immense sense of gratefulness for her mother-in-law. “Oh, wonderful”, the lady forced out through her t
"She's a popular actress though", Ashley observed in confusion. She was so popular that she was supposed to marry Ian. She was clearly considered elite material too. She had been engaged to both of the youngest Hills men. She was by all means elegant enough to get in."This is a gathering of real elites, entertainers are silly clowns compared to the people allowed in here", Ian said imperiously.Ashley blinked, she wouldn't have even smelled the venue in her life if she wasn't married to Ian. Ian saw the wheels turning around in her head and felt the urge to laugh. His grandfather had invited her on the basis of her giving that one great lecture that he has been obsessed with. Her title as Ian's wife only helped the invite get to her quicker."You're a tiny elite too", he simply said.Ashley grinned. "Thanks to my husband.""No, there was a "Professor Toma" golden plaque somewhere in his living room", Ian conceded. He had done quite a bit of damage that he needed to reverse. The fi
Mark took a deep breath and calmed himself down. It wouldn't do to ridicule himself amongst those that found him in high esteem.He took out his phone and called up his mother. The woman would somehow find a way to let Mava get into the event.He could feel the displeasure radiating off the actress in waves and nearly sneered. She was acting like she could get into the event on her own power. Mark had met a lot of deluded people, but she was a special kind. She believed everyone was at her mercy because she was loved by her fans, people that meant next to nothing in this kind of gathering.She was a measly tool for him to get back at Ian. He wouldn't let one night take away all his progress.He brought her there so people would see the difference between him and his stupid half-brother. The fact that Ian was born legitimately was the only edge the man would ever have over him.A woman in a white and red dress came up behind the announcer with a wine glass in her hands."You dare disr
Eventually, Ian, Ashley and Yu Zhen eventually had to come down from the gallery to their designated seat, but only because the host of the event would be coming upn to the stage-like platform any minute.Gentle classical music played from the live band at the right side of the hall.Like an annoying joke, their table was adjacent to Mark and his family. Ian, Ashley, Rita, Hillary and Yu Zhen all sat down on their round table. Brand new plaques showed the seating arrangement."Give that child to me", Hillary said the moment she saw them. Ian raised an eyebrow. What child? Was she talking about Ashley? He wasn't delivering Ashley to anyone."You see the names mother, we're not disobeying grandfather", he said simply, sitting down at the round table on the seat beside his mother."But I haven't even spent any time with her", Hillary complained softly."I'll steal her for you mom, Ian can't gatekeep, she was mine first", Rita assured her mother as she sat next to Ashley – who obviously
“Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests, cherished friends”, Alexander Hills started, his silver hair gleaming under the lights of the chandelier. Ashley threw a glance at Ian’s gorgeous serious-looking side profile and then glanced back at his grandfather. Ian would be a very handsome old man. He had his grandfather’s facial structures and she was sure his grandfather looked a lot like this when he was still young. The Hill grandfather possessed a timeless elegance that bellied his years. His silver hair, meticulously groomed, framed a face etched with the subtle lines of a life richly lived. He had deep-set eyes like pools of wisdom that hinted at a reservoir of stories untold.Ashley directed her gaze back at Ian and her heart skipped a beat as she imagined him sitting beside her with them as old as his grandfather was. She shook her head to dispel her random errant thoughts and realized that the room was laughing. The man’s speech had been going on and she zoned out.“However, as
He had gotten into painting many years ago. Ever since he turned sixteen, he had become permanently stressed. Most of the issues he had at present originated from that bleak period in his life. Mark was brought into the family at that period and it was jarring seeing a boy your age being thrust into one’s life just like that.His father had ordered him to get along with the boy and then he disappeared again, like he was wont to do. Ian had just decided to pick up his brush, as Hills, they had gotten teachers for almost every conceivable thing, so painting came easier to him than it had when he first started. He released a single painting at a period he was particularly in anguish and it had circulated so much that he knew exposing that he had done it would mean his mother would have made him give up heading the corporation in the future to pursue life as an artist.Ian had seen many people’s reaction to his works, they had fueled his vanity greatly. None ever came close to his grandf