'Am I dreaming? Are Ashley and I okay now? Plus, it looks she's starting to trust me again, ' Andrew
thought to himself.
Upon noticing that Ashley seemed to be staring at the ceiling, he asked, "What's wrong? What are you
thinking about?"
Ashley said, "I'm thinking about the design competition tomorrow. I'm both excited and nervous."
Andrew gently rubbed Ashley's shoulder and comforted her, "Don't worry. Believe in yourself."
Ashley looked at Andrew and said, worried, "What if I don't believe in myself? I didn't major in jewelry
design so I don't know the technical stuff. I don't think I'm good enough."
Andrew smiled as he replied "Are you forgetting that I'm your number one fan and that you'll always
have my support? I'm an excellent teacher and I'm the one who taught you. So you have to believe in
yourself."
Ashley looked at Andrew as she chuckled. She didn't expect Andrew to be this supportive.
He wasn't arrogant though. He was just the right amount of proud. Ashley liked it that he was like this.
Ashley then nodded and said, "Okay. I believe in you and I believe in me."
Andrew replied softly, "Okay. It's time to sleep. Good night."
They rarely just talked ever in bed because most of the time they flirted with each other or made love.
Perhaps Andrew wanted to preserve Ashley's energy for the competition the next day.
Ashley inhaled Andrew's scent to relax herself. In no time at all, she had fallen fast asleep.
When Andrew gazed at Ashley who was sound asleep, his face softened.
He didn't tell Ashley that he was also attending the design competition the next day.
He didn't want Ashley to be so nervous and he wanted to surprise her. He wanted to be there for
Ashley and support her.
The following day, Ashley and Andrew rode in the same car when they headed to work and they were
perfectly fine.
The atmosphere around them seemed romantic.
Johnny was taken aback when he saw them two together. 'Are they okay now?
Weren't they having a cold war and were not talking like a few days ago?' he thought to himself.
If everything hadn't been going smoothly, he would have thought that their whole fight was just an
illusion.
Johnny wondered if they had finally reconciled out of love.
When Johnny approached Andrew, he could immediately tell that Andrew was in the best mood he had
been in in days.
As soon as he entered Andrew's office, he immediately informed Andrew of his schedule that day.
He started, "Mr. Lu, you're presiding a meeting at nine this morning. Around noon, you have a banquet
to attend."
As for Andrew's evening schedule, Johnny kept it open. He knew that Andrew would refuse to go even
if he had arranged something.
Andrew had just started talking to Ashley again so it was safe to assume that he wanted to spend more
time with her.
In addition to that, Andrew had been working so hard these past few days that there really wasn't much
work to be done anyway.
Recently, things had been going smoothly.
Andrew suddenly interrupted, "Push that morning meeting back an hour."
While Johnny didn't know why, he still nodded, "Okay, Mr. Lu." After all, Andrew was the boss.
When Johnny left Andrew's office, he suddenly realized why Andrew asked to put off his morning
meeting to an hour. He was probably going to see Ashley.
A few minutes before nine, Ashley opened her drawer where she had put her design the day before.
It was time for her to take it out since the competition was about to start.
She placed the design in the drawer so that it would be the first thing she held if she reached inside it.
When she put her hand in, she couldn't find anything. She frowned and looked at the drawer. Her
design was gone.
"What happened? Where did it go? I know for sure I put it here yesterday," Ashley murmured to herself,
panicking.
'What happened? Where did it go?' she thought to herself.
When Amaia saw Ashley frantically rummaging through her drawer, she asked, "Ashley, what's wrong?
What are you looking for? It's almost nine o'clock. We have to go now."
Ashley had already rummaged through her drawer but still, she couldn't find her design. She
responded, worried, "Amaia, what do I do? My design's gone! What do I do?"
Ashley looked at Amaia helplessly.
It was only a few minutes before the competition would start. She couldn't find her design and she
didn't know what to do about it.
Amaia was shocked. "What happened? Where did it go?"
Ashley replied anxiously, "I don't know. I put the drawing here yesterday. When I was about to get it, I
couldn't find it anymore. I don't know where it is now."
Ashley was about to burst into tears out of anxiety.
'Who took it?' she cried inwardly.
"Try looking for it again. Maybe you left it elsewhere," Amaia suggested.
Ashley rummaged through the drawer again. "No, I can't find it. I've looked everywhere and I still can't
find it."
Amaia gently rubbed Ashley's shoulder to comfort her and said softly, "Ashley, retrace your steps. Think
about it. Maybe you didn't put it in the drawer. Think of another place where you could have also
possibly put it. Calm down and think carefully."
Ashley tried to calm down as she racked her mind. She had brought the design to work yesterday.
'Where did I place it?' thought Ashley.
She then searched her desk but still, she couldn't find it.
She knew for sure that she placed it in her drawer yesterday. Where would it go?
Ashley said sadly, "I can't find it. I'm sure that I put it in the drawer yesterday."
After a few minutes of fruitlessly looking elsewhere, Amaia finally gave up. She then turned to Ashley
and asked, "Would you have a spare design ready? Just use it for this round. This is an emergency.
Anyway, this is just the first round. I doubt it'll be difficult already."
Ashley wanted to cry as she was already panicking. "No, I only had that design ready. My other designs
aren't here. Amaia, what should I do?"
"Wait. Let me think. Okay, so you left your design here yesterday. If it's gone, it means someone took it
because it wouldn't just disappear by itself. Someone took it so let's ask the others," Amaia said.
Both Ashley and Amaia left as soon as work finished so they see didn't who had stayed behind. Their
only option was to ask around.
Ashley was already panicking. It was only until Amaia suggested the possibility that someone must
have taken it that Ashley considered that idea.
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