Chapter 40: Chapter 40

My mind had been a mess for a while. I couldn't think with a cool head like usual. Usually plan after plan I easily made, but now I could think of none of them. Mabel had too much control over my mind and I just didn't have the power to get her out of there. I should have been relieved to find that Ashton and Mabel didn't talk to each other after that night; the matter between them had reached its peak. Then why did I feel the need to take action on it? My head kept me thinking that Mabel lost her happiness because of that. And I didn't like that statement, so I kept thinking hard about how to fix it.

It gave me a headache, because in a way, I really didn't like it when Ashton was around Mabel. I admitted I got very jealous when it came to her. I did not share mine with others. No one could take her from me as long as I was still breathing.

"Boss, he's here."

Ashton, he had arrived. I prepared myself to meet him. Yesterday I asked him to come see me. I didn't know why I did that. Everything was moving fast, and I didn't know what was going through my mind when I asked him to come except just for Mabel.

From a distance I could see Ashton's figure. He sat on the couch with his legs folded. I immediately approached him. Right when I got in front of him, he stood with a guarded gaze.

"Welcome to my residence, Ashton. I actually didn't expect you to come, but look, here you are." I said, faking my reaction. After all I still didn't like him after what he put in my life. Selena was gone for good, and now he wanted Mabel for himself.

"Stop the pleasantries, Adrian. I don't have much time to hear that from you, just get straight to the point, what do you want to talk about?" Ashton was as usual, rude and never lowered his tone when talking to me.

I just stared, not having the energy to pretend to be friendly all the time. "I want you to make up with Mabel,"

Ashton cleared his throat after my words. "Did you think it was that easy to do it? And who are you to tell me? Last time I checked you weren't happy with me around her. You should have realized that you were the source of our fight. You came out of the blue and took her away from me,"

"It wasn't my fault, you were the one who let her off the hook when you had so many chances to keep her." I replied in a relaxed tone. I really enjoyed seeing Ashton easily burn with anger when talking to me. He must learn to control his anger better. With him getting angry easily, my desire grew stronger to make him peak in those emotions. "And for your additional information, I never took her away from you. She was never yours in the first place,"

I could see Ashton's breath racing fast, he was still trying not to throw his fists at me. At least he knew where he was right now.

"Then why did you ask me to make up with her? You should be satisfied that your desire to keep us away worked," Ashton replied sarcastically.

"Whatever the reason, it's none of your business."

Ashton showed a mocking expression afterwards. "You know she's not happy without me in her life,"

"You jumped to conclusions too easily, Ashton. Precisely without you, her life is better. I'm saying this just so you don't go crazy and even contemplate suicide by being away from her. I just feel sorry for you and think of giving you a chance to make up. And if you mind, it won't have any effect on me. You're the one who will regret it because this is the last time I give you a chance to talk to her. After that? After that I'll make it so hard for you to even see her,"

Ashton stood from his spot, grabbing me by the collar gruffly. "Who do you think you are to threaten me? You can't take Mabel away from me while I'm still breathing!" Right after his words, my men pointed their guns at him. I just calmly looked at him as he realized he had lost control of himself and was instead intent on settling things with violence like before. Characteristic of him. I became too familiar with the moves he would take next after feeling so cornered.

"Put down your guns, I want to see if Mr. Valley's punches are any better than before." I ordered my men without taking my eyes off Ashton.

After my men lowered their guns, Ashton didn't even move, but glared at me just as intently. He didn't throw his punches like he used to.

"What's wrong, Ashton? Have you changed your mind?" I asked with a scornful grin.

Ashton let go of my collar and returned to his seat. He massaged his forehead briefly then looked back at me. "I don't understand why out of all the women, you chose Mabel. She never even had any previous business with you. You didn't even know each other. But suddenly you came and easily asked her to marry you. I know your past and what you've done, Adrian. And she is not a woman that fits your criteria,"

Out of the box Ashton suddenly asked such a thing. My guard fell at that moment. I didn't think Ashton would question that.

"You're not intending to do anything bad to her, are you? Or sell her after you marry her. I know you do things for your own benefit, Adrian." continued Ashton with sharper eyes looking at me as if I was a great sinner.

When I came across this conversation, my soul was in turmoil. Never did I think of hurting Mabel. I even gave up my life to always take care of her. Hearing Ashton's words, I couldn't accept it. How could I do that to the woman I really, really love?

"Why are you silent, Adrian? I'm tired of thinking and figuring this out all this time. I'd better ask you directly even though there's only one percent chance you'll answer. Only one percent, because I know you don't like lying and choose to always tell the truth."

I paused to realize that all this time Ashton had also come to find out everything about me. The things he knew about me was enough to make me clap my hands. "You act like you already know a lot about me, Ashton. You know what bad things I've done, you even know what labels people put on me, and here you still think I don't like lying? Lying is just a small crime for someone like me,"

"It's up to you to admit it or not, Adrian. But I know the facts are true. You do commit a lot of crimes, but lying doesn't define you." Ashton started again. This time I could feel his anger subside, but me, on the other hand, started to feel my anger slowly rising. I didn't like how what he explained about me was true, besides that I also didn't like this conversation starting to come about me.

I just chuckled, hiding my real reaction. "You really act like Mr. know-it-all, Ashton."

"I also know you had an ex before, Adrian." Ashton added, this time he said calmly with a smirk which I knew didn't bode well. "Her name was Selena, right? She has gone into the ground, my condolences."

"Leave," I couldn't hold back my anger anymore this time. Anything that concerned Selena, still left deep sorrow in my heart.

Ashton didn't heed my orders, instead continuing. "I feel familiar with that name until finally yesterday when I visited my father in prison, I realized one thing. My family has long been connected with the most terrible mafia family in this city," He smirked again while looking at me. "Did you think I'd be willing to come see you without something I wanted to talk about too?"

"I'm still kind enough to repeat myself, so once again, get out of here."

"I'll be going soon, Adrian. But I'm not done yet. I just found out yesterday who made my father's life miserable with his seemingly endless punishments. I should have known from the start who I was dealing with," Ashton said harshly. "You made many people suffer, including him. My father isn't a bad person who can bear to kill a woman. What happened was an accident he never expected. He also didn't want to be labeled as a murderer, because that would be tantamount to obtaining a title not much different from you and your family!"

"Enough!" I bluffed and kicked the table in front of us. "Get him out of here!"

"No need to bother, I'm done here so I will gladly leave." Ashton got back at my men. "But just so you know, Adrian. I'm always watching you,"

Ashton finally broke through my last stronghold. My head hurt a lot afterwards. I threw whatever was in front of me. I thought I could come to terms with whatever happened in the past, but my heart was still not ready for that part; Selena's death.

Because of that I almost forgot that I had an appointment with Mabel to visit my parents' graves and also Selena's. I fixed my burning emotions by inhaling and exhaling. After feeling quite relieved, I got ready to set off. I didn't want her to see this side of me again. Her problem alone was complex enough, and I didn't want to add to it.

Long story short, Mabel and I were already on our way to the cemetery. There was something different about her that day, she was more silent. I was also not in a good enough mood to start a conversation. Even so, I enjoyed our silence, at least I was with her and saw that she was fine.

The few times I caught Mabel watching me, I was sure something was bothering her. I wanted to ask what was wrong or act like I normally did, but really, I couldn't even if I forced myself to. There were no good words in my mind to say. So I could only stay silent and pretended not to notice.

"I always avoided this question after coming back from Bali, but Adrian, is it true that everything is fine especially between us?"

Mabel sounded sad when she asked that. I didn't know what to do other than did one thing that was on my mind; I wanted to hug her tightly right then and there. My car pulled over quickly. I was ready to hug her, but then I said something else. "Can I kiss you?"

Mabel stared at me without blinking as if wondering if I was sober or under the influence. It made me slowly smile. I gently pulled her closer to me. I kissed her forehead then cupped her cheeks. Her amber eyes were so bright the moment the sun shone through my car window.

"All's well, Mabel." I replied finding Mabel still waiting for my answer. She was still staring at me before finally turning her face away. I immediately realized she didn't believe what I was saying. "Hey," I made her turn back to face me. "I'm sorry if lately I'm not focused and boring,"

My heart shook as Mabel shed tears. The first drop already made me very, very worried. "You're not boring at all, it's just that I'm worried. I thought you didn't love me anymore,"

"Sshhh don't say that," I immediately put my arm around Mabel. "I still love you, now, and beyond."

Mabel stared at me doubtfully, but in the end she just nodded. I got worried after seeing the response.