Chapter 217:
“If you have,” he stated evenly,
“I owe that man my thanks for looking after you during my absence.”
“No,” Ashley replied, her heart thundering like a runaway train. Her voice dropped to a murmur, her expression dimming like a cloud passing over sunlight.
“Since we broke up, I’ve remained alone. With my illness looming over me, I couldn’t possibly entertain the thought of accepting someone else’s affections.”
She knew the impact her words would have on him, likely stirring a potent mix of guilt and regret within him.
This was her play: if he felt remorseful enough, perhaps he could see past her previous transgressions.
Unfazed, Kristian unlocked his phone, pulled up a message with attached photos, and slid the device across the table towards her.
“Then explain these. Who is it?” he demanded, watching her closely.
Confusion etched her features initially, but as she glimpsed the photos, her complexion drained to a ghostly pallor.
The phone slipped from her trembling hands, clattering loudly against the tabletop.
Her expression was a portrait of panic and uncertainty, her lips parting slightly as if to speak, yet no words escaped.
Confusion and fear intermingled in her wide, desperate eyes. How the hell could this happen? How did these photos find their way onto Kristian’s phone?
Kristian’s voice, cool and collected, cut through the tense silence.
“What exactly is your connection to him?”
𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼 gⲁ𝗅⁚𝗇𝗈⁚ν𝖊⁚𝗅𝘀⁚ⅽ⁚𝗈⁚𝗆
He offered her a moment to clarify, his demeanor suggesting that he was prepared to listen—if her explanation was convincing enough.
Ashley stuttered, her fingers nervously catching her bottom lip, her thoughts a tangled mess. With a shaky breath, she said,
“I don’t know him.”
Kristian’s gaze turned cold, his detached words pressing down like a weight.
“Is that so?”
“Kristian, please, you have to believe me,” Ashley pleaded, her mind racing to forge a believable excuse. She couldn’t afford to falter or foster any doubt.
“I honestly don’t know him. It had to be Freya who tampered with these pictures. She’s trying to tear us apart.”
In that instant, she decided to shift the blame to Freya.
Given Kristian’s growing disdain for Freya, coupled with Freya’s past deceptions, Ashley banked on this redirection.
“It must have been her scheme,” she insisted with a newfound resolve.
“Ashley,” Kristian called out, his voice now a blend of warning and formality as he placed the incriminating documents on the table.
“You know I have no tolerance for lies or deceit.”
Ashley felt her heart plummet into the depths of despair.
She had toyed with the idea of being honest, but circumstances had backed her into a corner.
If she failed to marry Kristian, she would tumble back into her own living nightmare.
.
.
.