Ch. 451..455: Charmed by the Billionaire CEO Chapter 451-455

Chapter 451: The I want you to have a daughter

Ashley finished her shoot without any drama and left the set driving to Alice’s new place. Breaking the news about her pregnancy Alice couldn’t wait to share her happiness with her dearest friend.

After fighting her past traumas and infertility, Alice was finally able to get through everything, Ashley couldn’t stop herself from being happy for her.

It made her recall the time how she once asked her how it felt to carry a baby inside her and how she too wanted to experience the same feeling as hers.

Unfortunately, she lost her baby but she will guide Alice like a mother as she always did.

As her car she reached the place and was about to enter the gates she caught the sight of a man hiding behind the tree across the street.

Finding his appearance a little suspicious, Ashley frowned but it was too late as the man quickly turned and left from there, leaving her puzzled.

As the car stopped in front of the house Ashley walked in composing her thoughts. ’What if the man was just a passerby and she was getting suspicious for no reason’

Ashley wouldn’t have doubted anyone but whatever she had been through made her cautious about her surroundings and she didn’t want any of her enemies to target her loved ones.

With that in mind, she quickly composed herself and entered the house.

****

[Inside]

"I am so happy for you" Ashley congratulated Alice with a tight hug. She could sense the excitement on her face, as Alice was now glowing a lot than before.

"Congratulations to you too. After all, you are going to be the godmother" Alice chirped as they both smiled expressing their happiness.

"I couldn’t wait to see you. I am sorry if you had to rush as soon as your shooting got over" Alice apologized.

Though she had already informed Ashley about her pregnancy she still wanted to declare it in front of her.

"Not at all. I was way more eager to finish off my work and come to you as soon as possible" Ashley declined expressing her thoughts.

She was so happy that she couldn’t wait to meet her in person and congratulate her. After all, it was such a big news for all of them.

As both the girls continued talking about things related to their lives, sharing everything like always, something clicked in Ashley’s mind and she asked,

"Did the cops find Dylan’s whereabouts?" Ashley asked as his thoughts struck into her mind. She had this nasty feeling about the man she saw outside her house.

Didn’t know why she compared him to Dylan. But deep down she wanted to assure herself before breaking any news.

Hearing her words Alice paused for a second as her smile faltered slowly disappearing as she shook her head helplessly.

"They aren’t able to locate him. Noah also seems to be a little depressed because he doesn’t want to risk our lives" she said caressing her stomach.

After learning that Alice was pregnant, Noah instructed the cops to use all of their forces to track Dylan down. He didn’t want to take risks, not now when they were about to start a family.

Ashley frowned at her response and leaned back in defeat. ’Could that person be-’ her mind started to wonder once again comparing that mysterious man with Dylan.

Taking a moment to sort her thoughts Ashley asked calmly," Have you seen anyone wandering outside your house? I mean someone anonymous"

Ashley just wanted to make sure Alice was aware of someone standing outside her house. But was it enough to warn her because the person didn’t see to creating any trouble and just walked away like a random man walking on streets?

"No. I didn’t notice anything like that. Why what happened?" Alice asked feeling the change in Ashley’s words.

"I don’t know but I saw a man outside. He was staring at the mansion, but before I could stop the car and question him. He was gone" Ashley mentioned everything she saw.

Alice frowned and her mind began to rack. "Gasp!... do you think it’s Dylan" she yelped coming to a quick conclusion.

Ashley glanced at Alice silently. She wasn’t sure whether the person she saw outside her house was Dylan or not, but she couldn’t just skip the thought that someone was stalking her.

No sane person who eyes a house unless he has any motive behind it.

"I am not sure, but I just want to alert you" she answered heaving out a sigh.

Alice noticed the concerned look on her face and relaxed. "Thank you so much for the awareness. I’ll ask Noah to look into this"

"I don’t know how come no guard ever doubted it" Alice muttered feeling conflicted. But now that Ashley had already told her everything, she was surely going to look into it.

As the girls continued chatting, Alice then decided to cook dinner for them. She also asked Ashley to call the rest of their friends as she wanted to celebrate her happiness with them.

****

[Kitchen]

"You should have seen his face when the doctor said careful. He was utterly clueless about what she meant to say" Alice laughed talking about Noah’s reaction to their doctor’s words.

"I can understand him. Even Tristan had the same reaction but he was quick to understand" Ashley muttered shaking her head helplessly.

"These men claim to know everything but when it comes to handling their emotions they are all over the place. He literally cried when I stopped him and told him we couldn’t do it until the baby was born. From that moment until now, he never pounced on me once. Even the kisses he gave me were a mere peck. He feared turning on"

Ashley silently kept listening to Alice as she recalled the time when she and Tristan did the same thing. Though, her doctor didn’t stop them from having sex, but the gentleness Tristan showered on her kept both her and their baby safe"

Alice who had been talking non-stop noticed Ashley suddenly turn silent. Stopping the work she was doing Alice looked at her and quietly observed her face.

"Ashley, what do you think it will be a boy or a girl" Her question snapped Ashley out of her thoughts and she looked at her in a daze.

Pursing her lips into a thin line Ashley pondered on her words. When she was pregnant, she always wanted to have a son just like Tristan loving and caring, but now when Alice suddenly came up with this question she couldn’t answer.

Maybe she was scared of assuming it to be wrong, but if she really had to answer then it would be

" A boy. I think it would be a boy" she answered and watched her lips stretched into a broad smile.

"Then I want you to have a girl because if I give birth to a son I want your daughter to be my daughter-in-law in the future"

Chapter 452: Silly argument

Soon everyone gathered at Noah’s house except for Gwen who was running late due to work. Congratulating the couple they expressed their joys to see the little one soon.

"By the way where my wife?" Tristan asked when he didn’t see Ashley around.

"She is with Alice inside the kitchen. I heard they are preparing dinner for us" Noah said taking a sip from his wine glass.

Tristan bobbed his head and then looked at Karl who seemed to be lost in some thoughts and asked.

"What happened? Are you still thinking about Linda’s marriage proposal" his words snapped him out of his trance and he responded meekly.

"I am glad that you managed to delay the wedding a month later. It gave us the time to execute the plan securely" Noah said. He too was aware of things happening around his and Gwen’s life.

Like Tristan even Noah was a brother figure to her and watching their sister getting hurt pissed them off.

"And now we have to be quick before that cunning lady comes with another scheme" Karl answered finally taking a sip from his drink.

"I heard from Gwen that Ryan had been following you. Did he confront you or something" Tristan asked.

"No, he didn’t. Even I expected the same but the man simply tailed me until I reached the company and after that, he drove away, which was quite weird"

"If he didn’t want to confront you then why did he follow you" Noah muttered confused by Ryan’s action.

"Maybe he just wanted to see if I am not double-crossing them and my intentions toward Linda are genuine" Karl stated.

"But what if he is jealous and wants to expose you in front of Linda so she can’t marry you? Didn’t you mention the man was an insecure kind of person" Noah pointed.

He was good at judging people by their actions because he had dealt with a few insecure exes of his fling who came to warn him. He was familiar with these kinds of psychology.

Snapping their head in Noah’s direction both Tristan and Karl eyed their friend weirdly. He finally talked about something that made sense to them.

"Noah, I didn’t realize after being a father your lazy, rusted brain finally thought something perfect"

Noah’s lips twitched at Karl’s comment. Gnashing his teeth in frustration he flared," I was always the smartest amongst the two of you. You were the one who was slow like a snail. Did you forget how long it took you all to get your lady loves? Huh! And here you both are doubting my brain"

Shooting a glance at each other, both Tristan and Karl let out a contagious laughter. For them, annoying Noah was the easiest thing to do on earth. The man was easily pissed off, giving them the chance to tease him.

While the boys were busy laughing, Gwen entered the house, following the sound of their laughter.

"Why are you all laughing?" she asked watching Karl and Tristan laugh while Noah sulked in his seat like a child.

It didn’t take her time to realize what was happening around her, so she simply ignored the two and went towards Noah.

"Are they again bullying your brother?" Gwen asked hooking his arm and shot a glare at Tristan and Karl simultaneously.

Their smile faltered a little as Gwen’s cold gaze intimidated them for a second. While Tristan was still smiling Karl slowly closed his mouth.

Once they stopped smiling Gwen then looked back at Noah and hugged him. "Forget about them, brother. You are going to be a father. Congratulations...." she squealed hugging him making Noah forget about his grumpy mood and soon smile taking over again.

"And you are going to be aunt," he said patting her back and they pulled back.

"By the way were his sister-in-law. I want to congratulate her too" she said and he pointed towards the kitchen.

"She is with Ashley. Go meet her" Noah said and she quickly ran towards the kitchen.

Watching her run like a child, Noah smiled. "She is still the same. Always running around like a kid" he said and turned to look at them and his smile faltered.

Karl glared at him like he was ready to attack him. "Why are you giving me that glare? Did I say something wrong?"

"Don’t you think you are taking advantage of your fatherhood? My girlfriend literally ignored me and you are asking why I am glaring at you"

"Is it fault she wanted to congratulate me first?" Noah said in defense. Was it him why they were here in the first place, then was it obvious everyone would congratulate him first?

Tristan simply smiled at the two, enjoying their banter.

*****

[Inside the kitchen]

Ashley and Alice had done preparing the dinner and were about to step out when Gwen sprinted towards Alice and hugged her.

"Congratulations sister-in-law," Gwen said pulling back from the hug.

"Thank you..."

"I heard you both were preparing dinner, Can I help?" Gwen asked moving her eyes across the kitchen island and pouted

"You both have already finished cooking" she muttered looking back at them.

"Yes, so don’t worry and enjoy everything we made," Ashley said ruffling her hair like a mother does to her child. For her Gwen was still a child, the youngest Knight.

Gwen smiled bobbing her head and soon the girls walked out of the kitchen together. By the time they reached the living hall, they saw two people arguing with each other while the third one was busy enjoying the sight.

"Why are you two arguing?" Alice said taking a seat on the couch next to Noah and shooting a glare.

"Yes, why are you arguing Karl? Are you a kid or something" Gwen slapped his back before sitting next to him.

"Argh!.. don’t stare at me like that babe. He is the one who started it because his girlfriend ignored him, and chose to congratulate me first"

"...."

Except for Tristan everyone was shocked by Noah’s claim.

Covering his face Karl tried to hide his embarrassment. He didn’t realize his actions were so silly that he ended up making fun of himself.

Gwen on the other hand was shocked at first but when she noticed the blush on Karl’s cheeks, a smile formed on her lips and she slowly leaned towards him and whispered, "You want me to first greet you"

Karl who was already drowning in the poll of embarrassment felt like digging a hole for himself. ’What kind of mess he landed himself into’

Ignoring her words he stood up and walked toward the porch.

Smiling at his action, Gwen too excused herself and tailed him outside.

"Awe... Karl looks so cute when he blushes" Alice said with a dreamy look on her face unaware of the man sitting next to her freezing cold like ice.

"You call that cute. STUPID!... he looks stupid" Noah didn’t like his wife admiring another man in front of him. He was the only adorable kid in her life and after would be their child.

Ashley who was observing the too turned to look at Tristan who kept on drinking glass after glass of wine while he kept smiling.

’Don’t tell me he is drunk’ she wondered and quickly took the glass from his hand.

"Stop, you already had enough," she said placing the glass back on the table ahead.

"But-" Tristan tried to explain but when she shook her, he pouted.

Though he little tipsy as he forgot the count of glasses he consumed while enjoying his friend’s fight, still he wanted to more.

*****

[Porch]

Karl was still coping with his embarrassment when Gwen joined him. He knew she would follow him and instead of being happy, she put on a serious act, concealing his blush from her.

Standing next to Karl, she leaned forward and peeked at his face which was still red but he managed to hide it with a serious face.

"Whatever brother Noah said inside, was it true. You were upset because you wanted me to meet you first" Gwen asked.

When Karl reached the office, he could meet Gwen properly as she had to leave for an emergency meeting on behalf of Tristan. So when he received a call from Noah, he hoped to bring her along with him, but Gwen said she would come a little so he should head first.

And just like that he lost another chance to be with her. He was barely able to spend some peaceful time with her so he tried grabbing every chance to be with her.

And now it was circumstances that kept them away.

When Karl didn’t answer, Gwen understood the problem was serious. She realized he needed her to clear his head after whatever happened at Linda’s place.

Heaving out a sigh, she wrapped her arms around him. "I am sorry..." she apologized for her ignorance and hugged him.

Karl who had his eyes fixed ahead blinked a few times as his shield broke in her embrace. He wasn’t upset with her. He only wanted to be with her for himself.

The whole of Linda’s matter was draining him mentally and he had no clue how long she was going to stay in their life.

 

Chapter 453: Drunk Tristan

"Why are you saying sorry? I was not even upset with you. I was upset with that stupid Noah who got all your attention the moment you arrived" Karl dropped his displeasure and turned to face Gwen.

"I was missing you and wanted to be the first one to see you as soon as you came, but Noah got all your attention," he said with a small pout.

Gwen smiled at his cute reaction and hugged him. "Still, I am sorry because I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me"

If it wasn’t a work call, Gwen wouldn’t have left in a rush the moment Karl arrived Skylar and it took her a while to join them at Noah’s place.

Karl didn’t say a word and just hugged her back. He wanted to soothe his unsteady heart which was messed up because of the marriage news.

Though he delayed the date for a month, still the uneasiness didn’t vanish. Linda had managed to trap him in such a way that he didn’t even realize he was getting played.

One moment of weakness landed him in such a mess and he didn’t know how was he going to play along without losing his mind.

"I shouldn’t have fought with you that day. If I didn’t drink that night, Linda wouldn’t have trapped me. I feel like a loser for being this fool" Karl couldn’t contain his emotions and let them out making Gwen pull back.

"She trapped me because she wanted to marry me the entire time, but the question is why me... why can’t she marry her loser boyfriend" Karl’s emotions were taking control over his rational mind.

He just wanted to finish everything and live a peaceful life with Gwen. But knowing how cunning and smart Linda was, he couldn’t just act recklessly.

Gwen silently listened to him and let him vent his frustration. She knew no matter how much she tried to convince him it wasn’t his fault, he still couldn’t stop blaming himself.

"Do you love me Karl?" she asked out of the blue and watched him frown.

"Is that even a question Gwen? I love you more than my life. I can’t live without you. How can you even ask that?" Karl couldn’t understand from where this question arose and it made him upset.

Gwen smiled watching him sulk like a child. She intentionally questioned his life for her even though she knew what would be his answer. And when he knew that both of them couldn’t survive without each other then why can’t he believe in that love and fight for it till the end?

Getting scared is normal. Doubting yourself is normal, but when you know at the end of the tunnel it’s only their love he is waiting to reach, then why can’t he keep walking fighting away off the odds?

"You too are my life Karl and I want to fight for you... for us and we shouldn’t lose hope just because Linda has the upper hand now. Tables turn and you know very well if we keep ourselves focused we can make it"

Gwen’s words soothe him and he bobbed his head silently. He knew losing his cool would never let him think wisely and they weren’t in the position to make any mistake.

"You are right. I shouldn’t lose hope. If we are together, we can conquer anything" Karl declared.

"Now let’s go inside everyone is waiting for us" Once they were back to normal, both Karl and Gwen walked back inside the house.

*****

[Inside]

"Ah... sister-in-law where are you both going?" Gwen asked when she saw Ashley helping the half-drunk Tristan walk out of the house.

"Eh, Gwen I think your brother drank a lot and he wants to go home.

"But what about the dinner?" Karl asked.

"Hmm... we will have it some other day. For now, I have to take him home" Ashley said apologetically and excused from there.

"He was fine all the time, How come he suddenly got drunk" Noah muttered watching their retreating figure.

He remembered Tristan drinking only three glasses of wine and knowing his alcohol tolerance, he wouldn’t even get dizzy.

"Okay now, you also stop drinking. Let us have dinner" Alice who noticed even Noah had been drinking snatched the glass from his hand and asked them to join the dinner table.

"But babe, today is the celebration day," Noah said reminding the purpose of the dinner.

"So what! Are you going to booze until I have to drag you to the room? Sorry but I can’t carry such a big man all by myself" Alice dodged his words and left from there.

Noah pouted feeling offended by Alice.

"She is right. You think a petite figure like her would carry a hulk like you" Karl’s comments made Noah shoot a glare at him.

"I am not Hulk okay. So stop comparing me to that green thing" Annoyed by his remark Noah didn’t wait for his reply and followed his wife.

"Why do you both keep arguing?" slapping Karl’s arm Gwen scolded him.

"Ah!.. what wrong did I say? It’s he masculine and tall like Hulk except for his color because he isn’t green. Even his brain cells are similar to him"

"Karl..."

"Okay, fine I am not comparing him anymore. Let’s go and have dinner" To avoid getting scolded once again Karl dragged Gwen to the dining area.

****

[Outside]

Helping Tristan settle in the car, Ashley walked to the other side and hopped in.

"How much did you drink?" she asked loosening his tie and quickly unbuttoned the upper two buttons of his shirt.

"Hm.. three" he muttered with his eyes closed.

"Three... and you got drunk" Ashley couldn’t believe her husband had such a low alcohol tolerance. Drinking wine got him wasted.

Tristan who had his eyes closed snapped open them in shock and straightened on the seat. "Hmm... I know. I can easily get drunk" he said and quickly wrapped his hand around her arm and snuggled his face into the crook of her neck.

"And also horny"

"..."

Chapter 454: Caught lying

Tristan peeked to see her reaction. He wasn’t drunk at all but wanted to sneak away from his friends and spend some time with his wife.

He didn’t mind if his way of excusing was silly, still, he didn’t mind being one for her.

Now that they declared their marriage publicly, it was time for them to be together more than ever.

So to get her out of there he had to act drunk. In that way, she would be having all her attention on pampering him.

’Tristan Knight, you are too much’ he scolded himself mentally and kept snuggling.

Ashley found his actions strange but then she remembered once he got drunk and they ended up having sex the entire night before he passed out on her.

So it wasn’t his fault that he felt horny, because he was always driven by sex whenever she was around.

"Okay, now stay still, and let’s reach home first," Ashley said caressing his hair, but Tristan didn’t stop.

Bringing his lips closer to her neck he started nibbling it. ’Uh... Tristan stop, we can’t do it here. Let’s go home first" She tried pushing his shoulder and finally watched him pull back.

"I am hungry" Tristan muttered staring at her in a daze.

Though he was entirely in his sense, Tristan was taking advantage of the situation. He started demanding for more.

Ashley frowned when he said he was hungry. He had been bugging her to take him home so that they had to leave without having dinner. If he had said he was hungry then would they have had their food before leaving?

She was already feeling bad because they had to leave like this. Both Alice and her had cooked the dinner with so much love but everything went in vain.

Heaving out a deep breath, Ashley looked away. She couldn’t handle his gaze that was turning intense with every passing second.

"Let’s wait until we get back home. You can have your food there"

Tristan’s lips twitched when she misunderstood his words and he instantly pulled back staring at her in disbelief.

"You think I want food to eat" his drowsy tone changed back to normal much to Ashley’s surprise that she shot her head in his direction only to find him normal.

Tristan couldn’t believe she didn’t understand the meaning behind his words. He said he was hungry but not for food. He was hungry to taste her. And here she was waiting for them to reach home so he would fill his stomach.

’Is she even for real’

Ashley on the other hand recovered from her shock and her eyes turned sharp because she caught her husband’s lies.

"So you were acting all the time"

"...."

Tristan who didn’t realize he ended up exposing himself by getting offended by her words felt chills run down his spine.

The way Ashley caught him red-handed he imagined himself sleeping outside their room.

Gulping a mouth full of saliva Tristan forced a smile and took a step back from her. He was hell-scared and didn’t to get beaten by her in front of his driver.

"N-No, w-why would I act? Ah.... I feel so hot and drowsy. My head is spinning" Holding his head Tristan rested his head on the headrest and peeked at Ashley from the corner of his eyes.

’Does she believe me’ he felt like crying when he didn’t see an ounce of empathy in her eyes. The gaze remained sharp like a knife slaughtering all his lies

Tristan messed up too badly. He couldn’t even hold on to an act until they did deeds and now he didn’t even have the face to look right in her eyes.

Dropping his shoulder in defeat, Tristan looked at the other side and closed his eyes, ashamed of himself.

Sometimes he couldn’t understand why he ends up repeating the same mistake letting him face the consequence of sleeping away from his wife.

Time passed by slowly and Tristan felt like he would die out of silence. He didn’t dare to look at her and kept counting 1-100, 1000, 5000 in his mind until they finally reached home.

Without waiting for Tristan, Ashley walked into the house, passing the living hall, and headed upstairs to their room.

Tristan on the other hand followed her silently. He didn’t want to give her the chance to throw him out of the room, so he quickened his steps and started walking along.

As soon as she reached the room, she turned around stopping Tristan on his steps, and said," You are forbidden to enter the room"

Tristan’s eyes widened in shock but he quickly composed himself and decided to act. He just wanted to use this chance to get into the room without getting thrown out.

"But Ash... I am feeling dizzy..." Stumbling on his steps Tristan approached to lean on her but she stepped back and his face hit the door.

"Ouch..." whining his pain Tristan turned to look at Ashley who didn’t seem to care whether he felt pain or not. Her face remained unfazed and he realized there was no way, he was going to get through it.

Clearing his throat, he straightened up and watched her enter the room and shutting the door right at his face.

Standing there like an abandoned child, Tristan was about to head to the study when his eyes fell on his father.

"What did you do this time" Trevor asked witnessing everything happening between the two.

He was out to refill the water jar but the scene where he was welcomed stopped him in his tracks. By the looks of it, he could clearly tell it was Tristan who pissed off his wife and now was forbidden to enter their room.

****

[Study Room]

"You shouldn’t have lied, son. I know how it feels to be beaten black and blue because of your lies" Trevor said recalling one of the incidents that happened between him and Grace.

He remembered going on a trip with her and to avoid them from stepping out of the room he decided to spike her juice. The real purpose of bringing her wasn’t to travel and tour the place but to stay with her inside their room and make babies.

After Tristan was born, it took him a while to convince Grace to have another child, and to get her into bed was very much difficult. She would never let him touch her because she didn’t want any more kids. She was happy having one child along with her husband who wasn’t lesser than Tristan when it came to throwing fits.

But who would’ve thought, the moment she realized what he had done, she would beat the shit out of him and forbid him to enter their bedroom for an entire month.

Luckily his tool worked fine and within a month Grace conceived with twins.

"By the look on your face, I think it was too much for you to overcome. Mom is feisty at times"

"Ahem... let’s not talk about the past but the present. What do you plan to do? Stay here or barge into the room"

Chapter 455: Not helpful

"I don’t think she would let me in so easily. I literally lied about getting drunk, and dragging her out of Noah’s place" Tristan muttered rubbing his temples.

Trevor could only shake his head at his son’s stupidity. But he couldn’t blame him even though he was the same when it came to having his wife’s attention all by himself.

When he sensed that Grace wasn’t paying much heed to him, he would too come up with any silly tricks but was barely caught. The spike one was the only exception for now.

"Then my son, you should shift your things in the study room because I don’t think you are ever going to sleep with your wife again" Patting his son’s shoulder Trevor got up and walked out of the study with the jar in his hand.

Trevor assured his son because of his own experiences and other than consoling him he couldn’t help him in any way.

Tristan watched his father leave with his mouth parted in disbelief. Instead of guiding him, he just asked him to accept defeat.

"Am I even his son? How can he just walk away like that?" Tristan muttered getting offended by his father’s words.

"There is no way he would be moving his stuff here in the study room. I need to find a way to get back to our room" Tristan mumbled and started racking his brain when suddenly an idea struck his mind and he quickly jumped down the couch and dashed out of the study room.

*****

[Bedroom"

Sitting in front of the dressing table, Ashley kept cursing Tristan while she removed her earrings.

She couldn’t believe Tristan would act so childish just to get her out of Alice’s place.

’Huh!... When did I never pay attention to him’ she scoffed recalling how she had her eyes on him the entire time. They were having such a good time with their friends but this stupid man acted getting drunk.

Though she was doubtful whether he was drunk or not, but his action made her believe him.

’Ha... this man didn’t even let me have dinner with them’ she sneered getting up from the seat and was about to enter the bathroom when someone knocked on the door.

Looking in that direction the frown on her forehead deepened more.

"I know it’s him. Now he is trying ways to get in the room. But that’s never going to happen" Ashley had always softened her heart every time she threw Tristan out of the room or demote him on the couch.

But this time he crossed all the lines. If he wanted to spend time with her why he had to lie? She was so embarrassed that her adult husband was acting like a spoiled child.

’Who is ever going to believe he is a mafia leader’

Taking a moment she composed herself. She was not going to melt this time, she told herself before walking ahead and opening the door.

"Miss, young master ask me to bring your food," the maid said as soon as Ashley opened the door.

"..."

Staring at the maid in surprise, Ashley looked at the food tray. ’So he does remember we haven’t had our dinner’

"Hmm... keep it inside. I will have it in some time" she said and the maid entered the room. Placing the tray on the table she left.

Ashley closed the door after examining her surroundings but didn’t find any sign of Tristan anywhere and that somewhat left her confused.

She thought he would be hiding somewhere like a mouse eavesdropping her conversation with the maid. But to her surprise, she didn’t see him anywhere.

’That’s strange. I was expecting him to take this chance to barge into the room and act like a brat’

Turning around she walked to where the food tray rested and her eyes fell on the small note tucked under the plate.

Reaching her hand she pulled out the note and open to read it.

’I know you are hungry. So please eat something before going to bed- Tristan’

Ashley’s face twitched at the note and she quickly shoved it back under the plate.

"Why do you care now when you already dragged me empty stomach" Ashley didn’t want to soften her heart at Tristan’s thoughtful gesture, but then she remembered something and gaped.

"Even he didn’t eat anything. He must be hungry too" she recalled.

Staring at the food tray, Ashley then sighed before entering the bathroom.

*****

[ Study Room]

Tristan had been anxiously staring at the door waiting for Ashley, but even after thirty minutes, he didn’t see anyone coming.

"Did she read the note?" he asked himself, suddenly doubting whether she read the note he sent along with the food.

Tristan purposely asked the maid to bring the food to their room as he didn’t want to look pushy. Him being careful, he tried to sound regretful hoping his actions and the words inside the note would lessen her anger toward him and eventually, she would ask him to return to their room.

"But why isn’t anyone coming," he thought if not Ashley then at least a maid would pass on her message.

"Am I getting hopeful for no reason? What if she doesn’t come and what if I have to stay here as dad said" Tristan’s eyes widen in terror thinking about staying away from his wife.

"No!... this can’t be happening. She knows I can’t fall asleep with her in my arms"

Tristan was busy muttering to himself, trying to dodge his thoughts when someone knocked on the door soon opening it.

Tristan paused and shot his eyes in the direction of the door and found the same maid entering the study.

Not wanting to look weird in front of her, Tristan immediately composed himself and asked," Did you bring the food to Madame’s room" his eyes observed the maid keenly and watched her give him a nod.

"But-" the maid began making Tristan’s brows crease together.

"But what?" he asked sensing the nervousness in her tone. He wondered why the maid looked so afraid when he was never someone anyone got scared of.

’Do I look like a ghost or something’ he asked checking himself.

The way he had been sitting with the ragged look did make him appear like a drunkard. No doubt the maid seems to be nervous.

Ignoring all his thoughts he asked," Tell me"

"Madame refuses to eat the food and asked me to take it away" the maid answered lowering her head.

Though she knew Tristan was always the calm and composed one but the way he looked at her made her think otherwise.

She felt like he was being asked to donate his kidney or something. The terror on his face said everything.