67. He Said He Can't

The words of her mother and Josh's mother came to mind when Ashley spent her breakfast alone this morning—for the umpteenth time after she and Josh returned from Paris.

In fact, after the incident where she was injured, she felt that her relationship with Josh was somehow going quite well as if nothing had ever happened. Although at that time there was still no clarity on the exact solution that the two of them should do about Josh's scandal with his girlfriend.

Ashley also still hoped that Josh would agree to her proposal for a divorce at the right time one day. She had even offered to think of a good scenario that would allow them to separate without disrupting the business relationship between the two families. But Josh just ignored her. When Ashley asked Josh if he wasn't afraid of Ashley snitching on his family or leaking it to the media, he remained calm and continued to ignore all her remarks. It was as if Josh knew that Ashley would never do that because the impact would clearly be detrimental to Ashley herself. 

Meanwhile, Josh ignored her for another reason. He knew Ashley wouldn't dare to do that not just for the sake of ruining her reputation, but for the sake of something more important for the girl herself.

Therefore, Josh never ignored every time Ashley tried to talk about divorce. But he also didn't push back with annoyance or turn angry like before. Instead, he just gave a perfunctory response—answering ‘no’ or just shaking his head silently. The rest of the time he behaved just as well as when they spent time before the wedding—before Ashley knew Josh was in a relationship with another girl.

They even had breakfast and dinner together. Josh also always came home and slept at their house—though this was quite inconvenient because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get a man to give up sleeping in the bed with her. They didn't do anything after all, but it was still uncomfortable.

But after their big fight after their return from Paris, Josh finally returned her coldness toward him with a colder attitude. They never had breakfast or dinner together anymore, Josh often didn't come home, and barely spoke to her at all.

Ashley knew she was guilty of saying bad things about Josh's girlfriend. She had probably gone too far to hurt his feelings. 

This made her not overthink about it at first, assuming that if Josh was upset with her then it would probably make him can't stand with her anymore and agree to her proposal to divorce. But it turned out that the atmosphere between the two of them was quite agonizing for Ashley.

She felt very lonely and empty, for some reason.

Josh's mother's words wishing the two of them to have a happy marriage, and her own mother's instructions to build a good relationship with Josh... seemed to be something that was clearly not going to happen.

As Ashley was lost in her mindless reverie, the cell phone she had placed on the table vibrated and buzzed. Her mom's name appeared on the screen displaying an incoming call.

Ashley sighed. Preparing for everything her mom was going to say.

“Hello, Mom?” Ashley answered politely.

"Clear your schedule today. Come to Seoul. We need to see someone in the hospital." As usual, her mother always spoke directly without mincing words.

"Is someone sick, Mom? May I know who?" Ashley was not surprised by her mother who was used to giving sudden updates or orders.

"No one is sick. Mrs. Choi's daughter gave birth. She's the owner of real estate, our company's biggest partner. So I had to ask you to honor her."

"Alright, mom. When should I get there?"

"Around lunchtime. I'll be waiting at home. Dress nicely and take your husband with you."

“Should I take Josh too?” Ashley asked the question with great hesitation. Because her mother's request was something that she would probably find difficult to do at the moment. Even talking about light things was difficult for them, let alone if Ashley had to propose to go to Seoul. This thing that might be trivial, would be an impossible thing to happen.

"Of course. He can't be shown off, but at least I can show them that you married a decent man."

Ashley had a hard time swallowing her own saliva. Her mother's request to bring Josh along was already impossible, now she was even hoping that people would praise her for getting herself married to Josh. The public image her mother wanted seemed far-fetched.

It was true that Ashley wouldn't leak Josh's scandal to protect her own reputation and also her family’s, but her mother's expectations were ludicrous. The woman would probably faint if she found out that her son-in-law had lied to many people, including his own family—though Ashley wasn't sure if Josh's family really knew nothing about Josh's relationship with the girl, but considering Josh had warned her not to tell anyone without exception, it seemed like they also didn't know.

"Can we go without him? It might be difficult because he's very busy at the office," Ashley tried to reason.

"Have you asked him if he can or not? Not yet, right? Why speculate if you haven't confirmed it?" Her mom said firmly.

“Alright, Mom,” Ashley finally agreed, unable to argue anymore.

“Remember, don't be late, and wear nice clothes.”

“Yes, Mom.”

After her mother hung up, Ashley tried calling Josh a few times but he didn't pick up. She waited for a while, tried calling again, but still didn't pick up. Then Ashley took the initiative to just send him a message. If she still didn't get a reply, she would have to tell her mother the truth. That would be easier and simpler. Even if her mother asked for proof, she could just show the message.

Ashley typed in one message and sent it.

My mom wants to take us both to see the grandson of her business partner in Seoul. Can you accompany me this afternoon?

Still not getting a message back from Josh, Ashley finally put down her cell phone and got dressed. She checked her phone again and received a short reply from him.

I can't. Please convey my apologies to your mother.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief. Josh's rejection eased her burden. Because she didn't have to try so hard to pretend to be on good terms with Josh while around her mother.

Ashley immediately left to go to Seoul and headed to her house. Once there, she waited for a while in the living room until her mother finished her work in her study.

Her mother came out with Mrs. Go, the assistant who used to live with her in New Zealand. After Ashley got married, the middle-aged woman returned to work with her mother again after many years. And when her mother saw only Ashley alone without Josh, the woman snorted in annoyance.

“He seriously couldn't come?”

Ashley nodded. “Josh apologized for not being able to accompany us.”

Her mom exhaled again. "Whatever. Let's go."

The elegantly dressed woman walked out of the house to the waiting car, with Ashley and Mrs. Go following behind.

“Mrs. Go, are the gifts ready?” Ashley’s mother asked.

“Everything is in the trunk, Ma’am.”

"Let's stop somewhere to buy the snacks that the girl said she likes so much. It would be great if we didn't just give her a standard gift."

“Yes, Ma'am.” Mrs. Go then drove the car to the first stop.

As soon as the car stopped, Ashley turned her head and saw a cafe building with a bright yellow exterior decoration that was familiar to her. It was a cafe that sold a variety of snacks that had become very popular all over the world since the last decade.

“Oh, that's my favorite place,” she suddenly muttered.

Mrs. Go, who hadn't come out yet, had heard Ashley's remark. She then said, “I'll buy it for you too, Miss.”

Ashley's eyes lit up at that.

“Do you want the usual menu?” Mrs. Go asked to make sure.

“Ngg, can I come in and choose it myself?” Ashley asked quietly and very carefully. She glanced expectantly at her mother and Mrs. Go.

“Go then,” her mother who was focused on her tablet screen realized Ashley's wish and allowed her.

Ashley smiled happily. “Thank you, Mom.” She got down and walked into the cafe with Mrs. Go.

They went to the ordering station to order quite a lot of snacks and sat waiting for her near the counter.

"Miss. Isn't that Mr. Lim?" Mrs. Go, who accidentally caught sight of a figure among the many customers, whispered to Ashley and nodded her head to one of the tables inside the cafe.

Ashley followed the woman's gaze and found Josh with a girl, his beloved girlfriend.