Chapter 2

Evelyn Clark POV

The door to the reception room was pushed open.

Lily Sullivan walked in carrying two cups of coffee. She placed one in front of me and held the other herself.

Her makeup was flawless, her collar slightly open, and the corners of her lips carried just the right amount of concern.

“Ms. Clark, would you like something to eat? Mr. Ashford is still busy, so I’ll take care of you.”

I lifted my eyes and studied her.

Early twenties, delicate makeup, a tight suit skirt. Curves where she should have curves, perky where she should be perky.

She was indeed a stunner.

No wonder Adrian Ashford had fallen for her.

“Shouldn’t Ms. Sullivan call me Mrs. Ashford?”

Lily Sullivan covered her mouth and laughed softly.

“Please forgive me, Ms. Clark. After all, I’m only twenty-three. I can’t possibly compare to the emotional intelligence of someone who’s nearly thirty.”

I let out a cold laugh and was just about to speak.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, growing closer. Lily Sullivan clearly heard them too, because the contempt on her face vanished instantly.

Without hesitation, she raised her hand and splashed the scalding coffee in her hand onto her own arm.

Hot coffee ran down her forearm, and her skin quickly reddened.

Lily Sullivan sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes immediately filled with aggrieved tears.

“Mrs. Ashford! Even if the coffee I made wasn’t to your taste, I could have made you another cup. Why did you have to throw it on me…”

Her volume was just loud enough for the person outside the door to hear.

I looked at Lily Sullivan’s reddened arm. Good move.

Adrian Ashford strode in. His gaze first swept over Lily Sullivan’s arm, and his brows furrowed.

“What happened?”

Lily Sullivan bit her lip, tears swirling in her eyes, and was just about to speak.

I spoke first.

“Your assistant said I splashed her.”

I stood up, picked up the cup of coffee on the table, and in front of Adrian Ashford, threw it straight at Lily Sullivan.

The coffee splashed across Lily Sullivan’s shirt, the dark brown liquid spreading in a large stain.

Lily Sullivan screamed and stumbled back two steps in a sorry state.

“But I didn’t splash her just now.”

I set down the empty cup and dusted off my hands.

“Now I have. Are you going to demand justice for her?”

I looked straight into Adrian Ashford’s eyes, refusing to back down in the slightest.

Adrian Ashford’s expression was terrible. His gaze moved between the two women.

Then he turned to Lily Sullivan. His brows twisted into a hard line, and his face sank to freezing point.

“Low-class thing. Get out!”

Lily Sullivan’s tears finally fell. This time, they were real.

Clutching her arm, she stumbled out of the reception room.

I watched the direction Lily Sullivan disappeared in, the corners of my lips moving slightly.

So it ended with one scolding.

If anyone else had dared slander Mrs. Ashford to her face, Adrian Ashford would have made that person disappear from Ashford Group that very day.

But Lily Sullivan only got one sentence.

How was that a reprimand?

It was clearly him giving her an out.

Adrian Ashford had already walked up to me. He reached out to wrap an arm around my shoulders and lowered his head to look at my expression.

“She’s been under a lot of pressure lately. Her emotions are a little unstable. Don’t stoop to her level.”

He gently patted my back to comfort me, his tone soft.

“It’s not worth ruining your health over anger.”

I only felt that the smell of women’s perfume on Adrian Ashford was unbearably sharp.

I shifted slightly to the side and pushed his hand off my shoulder.

“If you’re done, let’s go.”

Adrian Ashford froze for a moment after being pushed away by me, but he didn’t think too much of it.

“Okay. Let’s go home.”

The two of us walked into the parking lot one after the other.

Adrian Ashford opened the passenger door for me. The moment I sat down, I felt that the seat’s position was wrong.

Someone had moved the passenger seat.

I remembered back when we were dating, Adrian Ashford wouldn’t let anyone besides me sit in his passenger seat.

Once, Adrian Ashford’s childhood friend sat there, and Adrian Ashford dragged him right out.

I laughed at him for being childish. He said with perfect confidence that the passenger seat was my wife’s seat. If you’re not my wife, what right do you have to sit there?

So in his heart, even the wife’s seat could hold two people.

I reached out to adjust the seat.

Before I could finish adjusting it, there was a knock on the car window.

Lily Sullivan stood outside the car, staring straight at Adrian Ashford.

She had deliberately left the burn on her arm exposed. It was so red it made people ache for her.

Adrian Ashford lowered the window.

“Mr. Ashford, my arm is burned. I really can’t hold a steering wheel, and I can’t get a rideshare… Could you drop me off at the hospital if it’s on your way?”

I sat in the passenger seat without even lifting my eyelids.

Since when did an assistant who couldn’t get a car have to ride in the boss’s car?

Adrian Ashford frowned and was just about to speak.

Lily Sullivan’s eyes reddened again, and her lips trembled lightly, like she was desperately holding back tears.

Adrian Ashford’s refusal got stuck in his throat.

“Get in.”

He turned his head to look at me and lowered his voice to explain.

“Don’t overthink it. After all, she got hurt at the company. I’ll drop her off at the hospital since it’s on the way, so people at the company won’t gossip about you.”

I only found it ironic.

Back then, when Adrian Ashford had just taken over the company, I stayed up with him and endured it all together.

A poor student from an orphanage marrying him—I heard plenty of gossip behind my back.

They said I was trying to marry up, that I wasn’t worthy of Mr. Ashford.

Adrian Ashford’s way of handling it had been simple: whoever gossiped was gone. He wouldn’t let me suffer even the slightest grievance.

But now, wonderful. He was using “so people at the company won’t gossip” to shut my mouth, openly and righteously letting Lily Sullivan into our car.

For a moment, I was too angry to speak.

Adrian Ashford immediately took my silence as agreement.

“What are you waiting for? Get in.”

But Lily Sullivan stood there without moving, twisting her fingers together.

“I… I get a little carsick. If I sit in the back, I might throw up. Could I sit in the passenger seat?”

I sat in the passenger seat without even changing my posture.

When Lily Sullivan didn’t get a response, she continued on her own.

“I’m being unreasonable. I shouldn’t bother Mr. Ashford and Mrs. Ashford, and I definitely shouldn’t make Mrs. Ashford sit in the back. I’m sorry. I’ll call a car myself.”

After saying that, she let out a soft hiss, as if the injury on her arm hurt again.

Her mouth said she was leaving, but her feet stayed nailed to the spot. She didn’t move a single step.

Adrian Ashford glanced at the burn on her arm, his Adam’s apple shifting slightly.

He was about to speak when my voice sounded first.

“If you know you shouldn’t bother us, then what are you still standing here for?”

Lily Sullivan went stiff.

Adrian Ashford knew my next sentence would be to tell Lily Sullivan to leave, so he quickly spoke up.

“Get in the car already.”

Lily Sullivan didn’t dare say anything else and got into the back seat with an aggrieved look.

The car had just pulled out of the parking lot when Lily Sullivan spoke again.

“Mrs. Ashford, could you get my lip balm for me? I accidentally left it in Mr. Ashford’s car last time. It’s in the side storage compartment to your right.”

Adrian Ashford’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Last time, we went to a business dinner. She drank a few glasses for me and got drunk, so I dropped her off at home since it was on the way. It was just that one time. Don’t overthink it.”

I didn’t look at him. I opened the side storage compartment on the passenger side.

Lip balm, women’s perfume, a comb, lipstick, hair ties, earrings.

The storage compartment was stuffed full. It was practically Lily Sullivan’s personal makeup bag.

Just that one time?

I casually rummaged through the things in the compartment, then closed it.

“I didn’t see any lip balm.”

I turned to look at Adrian Ashford.

“How long has it been since you cleaned out this compartment? There’s too much trash. Pull over. I’ll throw it away.”

Adrian Ashford didn’t understand what I meant, but he still pulled the car over to the side of the road.

I pushed open the car door, bent down, and threw everything in the storage compartment into the roadside trash can.

In the back seat, Lily Sullivan’s face went pale, then red, then pale again.

She seemed to want to say something. Her lips moved a few times, but in the end, she didn’t dare speak.

I dusted off my hands, sat back in the passenger seat, and closed the door.

“Let’s go. Isn’t Ms. Sullivan in a hurry to get to the hospital? The intersection up ahead is it.”

Adrian Ashford glanced at Lily Sullivan’s expression in the rearview mirror, then at my perfectly calm profile.

He seemed to realize something.

But since I didn’t make a scene, he was more than happy to let it slide.

The car drove in silence to the hospital entrance.

Adrian Ashford stepped on the brake, stared straight ahead, and said coldly, “Get out.”