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Chapter 132: Some kind of business deal
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The Wife Swap Chapter 133: A shocking discovery
Ashley’s POVI felt my legs begin to tremble, and I forced myself to stand tall, even as my heart pounded wildly in my chest. I wanted to lash out, to tell him he was a heartless monster, but there was no point. He wouldn’t hear it. All he saw was the bottom line—the damage control, the facade that needed to be maintained.“And what about me?” I asked, my voice raw with emotion. “What about what this is doing to me? To Andreas? To all of us?”Alfred’s gaze shifted, almost as if he were considering my words. But then he shrugged, a gesture so dismissive it made my blood boil. “You’ve handled it so far,” he said simply. “And if it means protecting what we’ve built, then yes, I expect you to continue. If you walk away now, everything crumbles—don’t you see that?”“No,” Andreas said, his voice shaking with fury, “what I see is a man so obsessed with control that he’s willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of a lie.”The room went deathly quiet, and I felt Andreas’s hand go rigid in mi
The Wife Swap Chapter 134: The weight of secrets
Ashley’s POVI felt the floor drop out from under me. My vision blurred as I tried to comprehend what Andreas had just said—Ashton might still be alive. The world had turned upside down, leaving me dangling and unable to find my footing. My chest tightened, and I fought to keep my breathing steady, but the walls felt like they were closing in. Everything was suddenly too loud and too quiet, all at once.I stared at Andreas, struggling to piece together how the man I had trusted—who’d become my only stability in the chaos since I first got news of that plane crash—could have hidden something so monumental from me. “How long?” I managed to choke out, my voice barely above a whisper. “How long have you known, Andreas?”He hesitated, and the flicker of guilt that crossed his face twisted the knife deeper. “Not long,” he said, but his voice cracked, betraying him. His eyes darted away from mine for a fraction of a second, a moment that told me everything. “A few days, maybe a week—”“A wee
The Wife Swap Chapter 135: New Terms
Ashley’s POV"Don’t you see?" Alfred pressed, leaning forward with a gleam in his eyes. His tone was almost triumphant, like he’d won some invisible battle. "If you leave now, if you let this unravel, it won’t just be you who suffers. It will be Andreas, the family, the company. Everything we’ve worked so hard to maintain will fall apart if the truth gets out now, especially without knowing if Ashton is dead or alive. Your role, Ashley, is crucial. You've done a remarkable job keeping things together, and to walk away now would be irresponsible. Reckless, even."I clenched my jaw, every muscle in my body tense as I glared at him. "So, what you’re saying," I said slowly, my voice low and controlled, "is that you want me to keep lying. Keep pretending to be my sister even though she might still be out there somewhere.""Yes," Alfred said bluntly, not even bothering to soften the blow. His eyes met mine without flinching, as if daring me to defy him. "For the sake of the family. For the
The Wife Swap Chapter 136: The confrontation
Ashley’s POVThe car ride had been silent, the kind of silence that felt too thick to break. I stared out the window, watching the blur of city lights, my mind racing through everything that had happened in the last hour. I could feel Andreas’s eyes on me occasionally, like he was waiting for me to say something, to shout, to accuse, to do anything—but I didn’t. I was too angry, too hurt, and too tired to unravel the mess we were in.By the time we pulled up to the house, I felt like a tight coil ready to snap. I got out of the car without a word, but just before I reached the front door, I stopped. I couldn’t go inside, couldn’t pretend everything was fine until I had more answers. My hand was on the doorknob when I turned back to face him, my voice flat and cold.“What exactly did the private investigator tell you, Andreas? What made you think Ashton might still be alive?”He looked startled by my directness, as if he had expected me to wait until tomorrow, or the day after that, or
The Wife Swap Chapter 137: A twisted game
Ashley’s POVHe nodded and pulled out his phone, scrolling through it with shaking fingers. A moment later, he held it out to me, the screen showing a grainy black-and-white image of a woman standing in the shadows outside a run-down hotel. It was hard to make out her features, but there was something unmistakably familiar about her—something that made my breath hitch in my throat. I couldn’t tell if it was really Ashton, or if it was just my mind playing tricks on me because I wanted it to be her.“That’s the only image we have,” Andreas said quietly. “The investigator’s still looking for more leads, but it’s like she vanished after this. No records, no sightings, nothing.”I stared at the screen, my emotions a tangled, aching mess. I didn’t know what to think, what to feel. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted it to be Ashton, because if it was… if it was, then everything I thought I knew was a lie, and I didn’t know if I was strong enough to handle that.I could feel the room tilting, th
The Wife Swap Chapter 138: A woman on a mission
Ashley’s POV“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper now, trembling with the weight of it all. “Why did you keep this from me?”“I didn’t know what to do,” he said again, and this time his voice cracked, raw and exposed. “I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to think that she could have done something like this, and I didn’t want to hurt you with something that might not even be true. I was hoping… I was hoping that I was wrong, that she was just another victim of the crash, that there was some other explanation.”“You were hoping I’d just keep playing along, that I’d never find out,” I said bitterly, the words lashing out before I could stop them. I saw him flinch, and a part of me felt satisfaction at the pain in his eyes, even as another part of me hated myself for feeling that way.“It wasn’t like that,” he said softly, desperately, and I could hear the truth in his voice, the rawness of his emotions, but I didn’t know if I could believe him anymo
The Wife Swap Chapter 139: Honesty is just another complication
Andreas’s POVHours earlierAs I pushed open the café doors, a familiar mix of dread and resignation settled over me. The place was immaculate, an embodiment of my father, Alfred’s tastes: crisp white linens, muted tones, and a kind of hushed elegance that was unmistakably his. He sat at his usual spot in the corner, stirring an espresso, a slight, approving smile appearing on his face as he gestured for me to join him.As I sat, he started talking about the gala, surprisingly giving it a warm review, though he still added a few of his usual critiques. I nodded along, barely listening, just waiting for the right moment, though I wasn’t even sure what that looked like. Finally, he asked about the anniversary plans.A lifeline. I seized it, my heart pounding as the words stumbled out. “Actually, Dad, there’s…something you need to know. About Ashton.”His gaze sharpened, and I could see the careful lines of interest and suspicion forming in his expression. “Something I need to know?”I l
The Wife Swap Chapter 140: In the Shadow of Expectations
Andreas’s POV “And if Ashley doesn’t…fall in line with whatever you decide?”I flinched, remembering the promise I’d made to her—the promise to let her go if that was what she wanted. I’d held back what the investigator had found, knowing it might tempt her to stay. As much as I wanted her by my side, it couldn’t be under false pretenses.“She doesn’t have to,” I replied, defiance lacing my voice. “If she wants to leave, I’ll respect that.”An eyebrow arched, a shadow of amusement crossing his face. “You’ve grown soft, Andreas. Are you forgetting what’s at stake if anyone gets even a whiff of what you just told me?”“I’m not forgetting,” I said firmly. “But Ashley…she deserves the opportunity to do what’s best for her.”His gaze hardened. “You’re letting sentiment cloud your judgment. You don’t get where I am by indulging emotions.”I fought to hold my ground. “Maybe not. But I’m not willing to turn this into a game of manipulation.”Silence settled over us, thick with tension. His d
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