He could tell something was off about Ashley.
Ashley had a lot on her mind. There was no way that she could fall asleep that easily but she didn't
want to confront Andrew and his cheating so she just pretended to sleep.
She was acting so well this time.
Andrew didn't even know she was just pretending.
He put his book away, pulled Ashley over and held her in his arms. When he had Ashley in his arms,
he mumbled, "What's wrong with you today?"
He could feel the distance that Ashley had put between them.
Andrew didn't care about Lesley. He threw away his clothes because he didn't like that they had
already been touched by someone like her.
He had many other clothes and he didn't like being touched by any other woman.
Usually, it was Johnny's job to keep the women away. Women were all over him. He wasn't interested
in any of them so he just didn't pay them any attention.
Andrew would reject women left and right. Johnny's job was to make sure that those women stayed
away.
Andrew always had an aversion to any physical contact with women.
He figured it must have been from his childhood. He knew his parents didn't love each other. He had
never seen his parents kiss or hug. Their marriage was arranged, and it was for family business. One
time, he was looking for his mother.
He found his mother in bed with another man, one who was much younger than his father. It
traumatized him to see his mother that way. It made him feel disgusted.
From that day forward, Andrew had always found it disgusting to have women touch him.
Ashley was the only exception.
She was the light in his world. When she came into his dark life, it suddenly lit up. He loved her so
much and he looked forward to spending the rest of his life with her.
He tightened his grip on her as he thought of this.
He held Ashley like she was the most precious thing in his life.
Ashley was feeling frustrated as she pretended to sleep.
Andrew held her so tight that she could hardly breathe. She thought, 'Why are you holding me so tight?
Didn't you just sleep with another woman?'
She could feel her heart twisting in pain as she thought of it.
She was getting angrier and angrier.
She couldn't believe that he was cheating on her while she was at home, worrying about him. She
couldn't contain her anger anymore.
Finally, she exploded. She turned, mumbled something and lifted her hand. With a strong smack,
Ashley had slapped Andrew on the face.
The slap rung throughout the otherwise silent room.
Ashley sneered inside. She felt one slap on Andrew's face was not enough punishment for cheating on
her.
Andrew was shocked. This was the last thing he expected. 'What could Ashley be dreaming of?' he
thought. He didn't know what else to think. He just looked at Ashley, stunned.
Suddenly, it had sunk into Ashley what she had just done.
She couldn't believe that she just slapped Andrew.
Andrew was the CEO of the Lu Group. He could have anything he wanted. He wasn't someone you
could just mess with as he was a very important person.
Suddenly, Andrew moved. He grabbed Ashley's hand and snuggled himself close to her.
He put an arm around her so that they were cuddling.
Ashley thought she wouldn't be able to fall asleep in his arms that night. However, she fell asleep after
some time.
Before she fell asleep, she couldn't get her mind off the fact that Andrew had cheated on her.
She hated that he thought he could do whatever he wanted. She hated that he slept with another
woman. 'Am I not enough for him?' This was the last thing on her mind before she fell asleep.
A couple of days later, Ellie still hadn't returned to J City.
She said she would be back the next day but she still wasn't.
Francis was starting to get worried. He tried to call her but she wasn't answering. Just as he was about
to look for her, she suddenly messaged him. She said that she was okay and that he didn't need to
worry about her.
She had to take care of some family matters and that she won't be coming home yet. She asked him to
take care of Elain for a few more days until her father could come and pick her up.
Francis wasn't going to refuse her so he didn't mind that Elain was going to stay with him for a few
more days.
Most of the time, Elain was very well-behaved. Other times, she could get on Francis' nerves.
No matter how annoyed Francis got, he knew he couldn't do anything about it.
The following day, Elain's father, Edmund came and picked her up.
They were in Ellie's house and Francis was proud that he had his own key.
He was going to win Ellie's heart. It would be only him and no one else. Anyone who was planning on
pursuing Ellie should back off.
He purposely mentioned that Ellie had given him a copy of her house key when Edmund arrived to pick
up Elain. Edmund didn't say anything about it. Instead, he just thanked Francis profusely for taking care
of Elain.
Francis couldn't help but feel upset at Edmund's lack of interest.
Since Ellie wasn't home and he had the key to her apartment, he could sleep in her room if he wanted.
Ashley lived with Ellie in this apartment for a while. They grew close to their neighbors and upon
noticing that Francis was also living in the building, they became friendly with him too.
Francis was great at small talk. He could start up a conversation with just about anyone.
He ended up being friends with everyone in the neighborhood. He had won everyone over.
He was good-looking and he had a way with words. It also didn't hurt that he would bring them small
gifts at times.
Who wouldn't like him?
That day, Ellie had finally come back. When she arrived, she sat on the living room floor.
Her eyes were dull and she looked exhausted.
She looked like a completely different person. It was as if she didn't know how to smile anymore and all
the energy had been sucked out of her.
She spent a few moments just sitting on the floor. After a while, she opened the box she had brought
with her. It was a box of beer.
Ellie didn't bother standing up to get herself a glass. She just drank straight from the bottle.
She coughed a little.
She had never had beer before. She was taken aback by its bitter taste that she had to cough it out.
After a while, she started drinking again.
Soon, tears were streaming down her cheeks. Maybe she was crying because of the bad taste of beer
or maybe there was dust in her eyes—either way, it was hard to tell.
As tears continued to roll down her face, she continued to drink.
It was a heart-breaking sight.
Francis had been coming to Ellie's apartment consistently. That day, when he tried to open the door, he
already knew something was wrong.
The door wasn't locked.
Francis was certain that he had locked it the day before. How could the door unlock on its
own?
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