Chapter 240 No Such Thing as Coincidence
Ashton hit the speaker button, breathing hard.
Cassian’s voice drifted out, slow and sleepy. ‘Ashton. What’s up?‘
‘Did you tell my wife I had some other crush before I married her?‘
‘What? What are you on about? When would I have–‘Apause. Cassian sounded more alert now. ‘Wait. You mean before you two got hitched?‘
‘Yes!‘
‘Well, let me think… Yvaine asked something about your love life once. Ages ago. I said you’d been into someone for years. You never told me to keep it under wraps, so I just mentioned it. Why?‘
‘Did you tell her the woman I liked was a dancer?’
‘What dancer?‘ Cassian genuinely sounded confused. ‘Why the hell would I say that? Since when is she a dancer?‘
‘So that didn’t come from you?‘
‘What didn’t? Are you high?‘
‘I’m not. Are you?‘
‘What? No!‘
Ashton exhaled sharply. “Tell me exactly what you said to Yvaine.‘
‘What I just told you. That you’d been carrying a torch for some woman.‘
‘Did you name her?‘
‘No. Back then, I didn’t know it was Mirabelle.‘ Cassian’s tone turned sly. ‘If I had, I’d have told Yvaine the whole lot. That you were sniffing around even when she was still with Rhys. That you faked your grandfather’s dying death to get her to marry you. That you bought the flat opposite hers just to stalk—‘
‘That’s enough.‘ Ashton ended the call with a sharp swipe.
He turned to me. ‘You heard that?‘
I nodded slowly.
My head felt weirdly light, as if my brain had floated slightly out of place.
‘So you know there was never a dancer. Now tell me, where the hell did that come from?”
He stepped closer, his gaze pinning me in place.
I looked away. ‘Daniel Williams told me. He probably male it up.‘
Ashton muttered a curse. ‘Of course it was that dickhead‘
His eyes turned cold and were fixed somewhere over my shoulder, like he was mentally choosing which wall to slam Daniel through.
Chapter 240 No Such Thing as Coincidence
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Before he could get that far, I asked, ‘So the dying grandfather story? Your family pressuring you to settle down? That was all rubbish?‘
Some part of me already knew. Ever since that hospital visit, after watching the way Ashton treated his grandfather.
He looked me dead in the eye. ‘Yes. I lied. I lied because I wanted you, and I didn’t care how I got you.‘
‘But why?‘ I stared at him. ‘Don’t tell me it was love at first sight. I know I’m not hideous, but I’m also not delusional enough to think I have that kind of impact on men.‘ Especially not on a man like Ashton. ‘When did we first meet?‘
I tried to remember. Any glimpse of him, any flicker of recognition from before all this.
He sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand.
‘Seven years ago. You were still in school. You flew to Florence for a design competition.‘
I nodded. ‘I remember.‘
My first competition, also my first win.
I’d had to keep it from my parents, scraping together the airfare from years of piggy bank savings.
‘I was one of the sponsors. You didn’t even notice me.‘
“That’s hard to imagine,‘ I said, eyeing him.
With that face? I could barely believe I hadn’t carved it into memory.
But back then, my teenage brain was preoccupied with three things: school, design, and… Rhys.
Ashton gave a lopsided shrug. “That was the first time. We barely spoke. The second time was in Eindhoven. You were at uni. I’d been drugged at some shitty bar. Stumbled into you. You got me to a hospital. But when I came round, you were already gone.‘
“That was you?‘
I remembered the incident vaguely.
It was a dodgy part of town, near the red–light district.
The man–tall, gorgeous, clearly intoxicated–had looked like one of those high–end male escorts.
No judgment from me, but I’d had zero interest in being dragged into whatever mess he was caught in.
My friends and I had left right after he was seen by the hospital staff, and I’d promptly shoved the whole thing out of my mind.
Ashton kissed the back of my hand. ‘Yeah. You disappeared from my life. Twice. We barely said ten words, but I remembered every one.‘
My mind rewound, fumbling for details I’d never paid attention to.
‘After that, you know most of it. My business was mostly in Europe, but I dropped by Skyline now and then. I saw you with Rhys. You looked happy. I didn’t want to ruin it. So I stayed away. But I still wanted you. Even when I had no right. I wanted to be near you. Qwn you.‘ is voice hardened. ‘If I’d known Rhys was treating
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Chapter 240 No Such Thing as Coincidence
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you like that, I’d have stepped in sooner.‘
I pressed my face into his palm.
A slow ache bloomed in my chest.
‘No. You stepped in at exactly the right time.‘
If we’d met while I was still engaged to Rhys, I wouldn’t have looked twice at Ashton.
‘So the night at the bar–you showing up–that wasn’t chance, was it?‘
‘Of course not.‘ There was definitely a smug note in his voice now.
‘Stalker,‘ I muttered.
‘Guilty as charged. But I don’t feel guilty.‘ Ashton pinched my cheek. ‘If I hadn’t turned up, would you really have picked some random guy to sleep with?‘
I considered it. ‘Maybe.‘
He pinched harder.
‘Ow!‘ I batted his hand away. ‘Fine. Probably not. None of the other guys had your face. Besides, I already knew you, kind of. You were the kind stranger who drove halfway across town to return my keys. I trusted you.‘
That seemed to satisfy him.
He pulled me close, one arm wrapped tight around me, fingers threading through my hair.
We stayed like that for a while, long enough for his body heat to soak through the thin cotton of my shirt.
Long enough for me to make up my mind.
I broke the silence. “The ring. Are you giving it to me or not?‘
He pulled back fast. ‘You’re saying yes?‘
‘I thought that was obvious.‘
‘No more doubts?‘
‘No more doubts.‘ I only hoped I sounded more certain than I felt.
He opened his palm.
The ring lay flat in his hand, a faint dent circling his ski from where he’d clutched it too tightly.
He got out of bed and dropped to one knee.
Somehow, he managed to look both utterly ridiculous in his boxer briefs and absurdly handsome.
‘Mirabelle Vance, will you marry me?‘
‘Yes.‘ I held out my hand,
His fingers trembled so much, he missed three times.
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Chapter 240 No Such Thing as Coincidence
I bent down, wrapped my hand around his wrist, and slid the ring on myself.
“There. Sorted.‘
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I turned my hand, watching the way the light slipped through the curtains and bounced off the diamond.
Ashton stood.
I pulled him down and kissed him.
‘It looks good.‘
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