Holding Isabelle in his arms, Ashton turned and shot me a vicious glare.
"Kate, are you following me?"
I looked up at him, disbelief thick in my voice.
"I already told you, Isabelle won’t threaten your position. Why can’t you just leave her alone?"
“Following you?”
“Ashton, have you lost your mind?”
“This is a hospital! I—”
Before I could finish, he cut me off sharply. “Enough! Kate, do you know what I hate most about you?”
“I hate how you think money makes you superior. Are all the people here blind?”
His lips curled into a cold sneer, disdain written all over his face.
“Money can buy an engagement, but it can never buy real love.”
“Kate, people like you will never know true love in this lifetime!”
Watching Ashton stand up for Isabelle, the crowd around us began to murmur in approval.
He straightened his back and spoke coldly, “Hand over that riverside villa. The air there is good. Let Isabelle stay there during her pregnancy. That will settle everything.”
Rage clouded my thoughts. My eyes flared red in an instant.
“Are you serious? That villa is my mother’s inheritance! And you want your mistress living there? On what grounds?”
Isabelle sobbed so hard her voice broke, soft and pitiful, “Ashton, actually, Kate… she isn’t—”
“You don’t need to defend her. I know exactly what kind of person she is!”
“If she hadn’t interfered, we’d have been married long ago!”
He shot me a sharp glare, his eyes full of scorn.
“You think spending a hundred million buys you the right to marry me.”
My body swayed uncontrollably. I could barely remain standing.
This was the man I had loved in secret for eight long years.
How blind I must have been back then.
I wanted to tell him I had already called off the engagement and had no intention of bothering Isabelle.
But Ashton gave me no chance to speak. He ordered the bodyguards to drag me into the car.
The Maybach sped toward the riverside.
Inside, Ashton held Isabelle tightly in his arms, his glare burning with fury directed straight at me.
“Where’s the room key? Hand it over.”
“In your dreams!”
Ashton’s face darkened, malice practically dripping from his eyes.
He glanced at the bodyguard, who immediately stepped forward and began searching me.
“If you don’t know what’s good for you, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”
My scream nearly shattered the car roof.
Ashton covered Isabelle’s eyes with his hand, never sparing me a glance.
Still weak from illness, I barely had any strength left.
The bodyguard tore my outer clothes to shreds.
Only the sheer dress underneath clung to me, barely covering my body.
All the dignity I had left was trampled into the dirt.
Tears of despair slipped silently from the corners of my eyes.
At last, the bodyguard found a wallet, and the nightmare finally came to an end.
Ashton handed the room key to Isabelle.
He passed the black card to the bodyguard.
“Go to the nearest mall. Buy everything in the maternity store. Nothing under ten thousand dollars. I don’t want anything that could harm Isabelle or the baby.”
After speaking, he wiped his hands on a tissue with clear disgust, as if my wallet were a filthy thing.
The bodyguard was dropped off halfway.
My fever flared again, and I slipped back into unconsciousness.
In my haze, I faintly heard Ashton’s voice, laced with venom.
I was kicked twice.
“Quit faking! Get up!”
“Kate, can’t you hear me? Don’t make me throw you out of the car!”
“You’ll stoop to anything for sympathy, huh? Isabelle’s pregnant and weak, so now you’re pretending too?”
“Perfect. If you’re pregnant, I don’t have to go through with the engagement. Still not moving? Want me to call your family and tell them?”
