Chapter 27: Settlement with money
The tall body left the couch and headed straight for the dining room, pausing slightly to jerk open the door to the room.
“Asher?” a forlorn face fell into his eyes, holding a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables fresh from the fridge, Mia stood transfixed in the doorway, staring straight at him.This is from NôvelDrama.Org.
Shouldn’t he be in the office right now tangling with Leena, why would he be back so soon?
He looked back at her expressionlessly, his eyes crossed her to look at the pile of ingredients on the displaced table, his heart immediately understood what the noise just now was, and after sweeping a cold glance at her, he slowly turned around and walked to the sofa in the living room. For some reason, seeing her cooking for herself, the chaotic and agitated mood was strangely relaxed very quickly.
But the despondency in her eyes and the pallor of her face stung him hard!
She took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen to him sitting on the couch and said in what she thought was a calm husky voice, “Sit down for a moment while I make dinner, I didn’t expect you to be back so early so I didn’t have too much stuff ready yet, but I think this should be enough for us to have a dinner.”
With that, she walked briskly back to the kitchen, stumbling a little.
Deep eyes slipped underneath an imperceptible tenderness at the sight of the figure that kept busy in the kitchen, but it was also fleeting, and his eyes swept over the butler who handed him a cup of coffee, “What’s her unusual behavior today?”
“That’s how it was today after Miss Luo took a phone call in the study, and she said she was going to see you.” The housekeeper standing aside hurriedly answered truthfully, followed by a cautious, “However, I think something was not quite right when Miss Luo came back.”
“Report her daily schedule to me without fail in the future.” The dark eyes took on an extra layer of complexity.
The butler quickly lowered his head and respectfully agreed, with a secret fear in his heart.
A short time later, Mia came into the living room, looked at Asher and took a deep breath, “Asher, eat.”
He glanced at her sharply, his inky eyes darkening a few more points as he looked at the simple four dishes and one soup in front of him, but hesitated to place his chopsticks. Such a scene reminded him of the last time the two of them had dinner together, but this time, the atmosphere was unusually gloomy.
“Say, what do you want?” Asher surprisingly felt a little tight in his chest at the thought of her taking in the office today.
With the suffocation in her chest, Mia forced herself to calm down and said lightly, “Haru’s is that I was the one who misunderstood, so I wanted, wanted to apologize.”
“This meal is even your apology?” For some reason, seeing the calm face of the woman in front of him, Asher’s heart surprisingly welled up with a strong sense of discomfort.
She’s actually so calm after seeing his fling with Leena?
“Yes, that’s all I can do.” She sat back down and quietly served herself, then silently looked down at her bowl.
Asher, of course, had no idea, and she swallowed all her aggression and heartache back down in silence.
Deep eyes stared intently at the woman across the table, and only after a long time did he pick up his chopsticks again, his thick eyebrows slightly knitted, his bland gaze sweeping over the grainy white rice in the bowl in front of him, holding it up and taking a chopstick into his mouth.
“If it’s about the orphanage, don’t say anything, I don’t have time for your bullshit.” Since she knew about it, there was no need to hide it himself. Although, he hadn’t planned to hide it originally, he was just too lazy to explain.
The hand holding the chopsticks shook a few times, and Mia buried her head deeply as a few crystal tears dripped into the bowl, disappearing instantly.
Asher’s deep eyes flashed a quick flash of gloom as he put down his chopsticks, his grim gaze sweeping over her still downcast face as he suddenly said, “I’m going to get back to work, so don’t you come and disturb me.”
Dropping the words, he quickly got up and headed for the living room.
Mia sat in silence, unable to make sense of the moment. She looked up at him as he walked toward the living room, taking the papers the butler had long ago packed for him in his arms and walking toward the study on the second floor.
Hearing the door to the room close, she knew he had shut her out and sighed slowly, finally shrinking herself into a ball and sitting for a long time.
The scene she saw in the office today came back to her mind, and Mia clenched her lips, almost biting her lower lip to bleed. The pain in her heart slowly spread to her limbs, slowly overwhelming her entire being.
The study.
Asher leaned back in his chair and looked at the flickering screen in front of him, his dark eyes full of complexity.
Seeing Mia run out of the office, he would actually go out of his way to chase after her… is this the same Asher as before?
Also, why would he choose to stay tonight? Just because of her back that was preparing dinner? Was he such a soft-hearted man?
No! He, Asher, is never soft!
When he thought of her performance tonight, Asher’s deep eyes swept over with extreme coldness, even if she was playing tricks, he couldn’t change his mind, he had chosen her in the first place because she knew how to move forward and backward, but from her recent performance, she seemed so far from his expectations.
He couldn’t give her hope anymore that she was just a pet out of sight, a pet that couldn’t even compare to a mistress! Even though, when he saw her forlorn, he wanted to embrace her soft body …
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, Asher, have these days been too restful? Made you forget the ugly heart that hides underneath the human heart?
Whatever happens to this Mia woman in the future, she has nothing to do with you Asher, and you should not let this woman get to you!
Asher sat quietly in his study, allowing the heavy night air to fill in. After sitting for an unknown amount of time again, he abruptly got up and walked towards the door with a determined stride.
With the light still on and the door open in Mia’s bedroom, Asher strides in, only to see Mia sitting on her bed, staring. A slightly drooping little head, a pale face, a helpless demeanor, a sense of despondency …
For a moment, Asher’s heart surprisingly crossed a trace of heartache, and he couldn’t help but want to reach out his hand to embrace her and give her comfort. However, just as his arm reached halfway into the air, he stiffened and withdrew it.
At the sound of footsteps, Mia jerked her head up, and when she saw a grim-faced Asher, her fallen dark eyes were tinged with unease and surprise.
“To bed.” He said briefly, to let her know that their relationship was only physical.
Mia flinched and paled even more, but she obediently stood up and lay down obediently.
“You must be clear that you are only my pet, and if you want too much, don’t blame me for being ruthless when the time comes.” He turned his back on her and sat down on the other side, tensing his muscles all over as if waiting for her answer.
“I understand …,” she murmured, slowly lowering her head.
“Don’t play tricks in front of me, got it? I like smart women, I hate women who play tricks.” Rather than trying to set the record straight with Mia, Asher tried to suppress the strange and throbbing feeling in his heart.
Mia’s face was pale, lying still on the bed, her black and white eyes half closed, only two rows of thick eyelashes could be seen, but the emotions in her eyes were not visible.
“You won’t be the only woman for me, but I must be the only man for you, and if I learn of any infidelity on your part, I will never let you go! But if you try to interfere with me, I will show you the consequences!” He leapt back, his bitter, knife-like eyes sweeping over her face.
Mia’s whole body stiffened and she nodded silently, her heart aching so much she couldn’t breathe smoothly. He had come out in the middle of the night to tell himself this?
“Come here.” He ordered in a low voice as he lay down beside her.
Mia moved closer to him, a bitter smile on her small, pale face.
The next day.
“There you go.” Asher walked into the den and tossed a platinum card at her feet, looking at her askance.
Mia put down the book she was holding and looked up at him, then at the credit card at her feet, and her face suddenly went white, “I don’t want this.”
Did he have to reduce her to the same level as the women of the world?
“That’s what you’re paid for.” Asher said coldly, not to be denied, “It’s what you deserve, and what I’m supposed to pay.”
He sounded like he was talking about a business deal, a deal that could easily be done with money.
A sharp spasm ran through Mia’s heart, but she held her card calmly and looked down to hide the hurt under her eyes, “I don’t want it.”
She was inexplicably stubborn, she could accept any move he had made before, but this was the only one she couldn’t accept.
At the end of the day, she couldn’t afford to lose even the smallest amount of self-respect.
“No?” Asher’s sharp eyes searched her stubborn face, “Then what do you want? Don’t forget, you’ve been asking me for money for a while now, so what, you’re not going to want it now that you’ve been given it?”
“I …” Mia trailed off, looking up at her with her eyes, her chest heaving violently.
She used to be forced to reach out to him for money because of the orphanage, but things were different now, she couldn’t ask for his money, she wasn’t a whore!
She closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing before opening them to stare fixedly at the tall man standing in front of her, and all that remained at the bottom of her clear eyes was a forlorn bitterness, “I don’t want anything now …”
“I don’t believe it.” Asher snorted and crouched down beside her, a mocking smirk curling the corners of his mouth, “The relationships of this world can all be solved with money.”