r 216 Banished
+15 BONUS
Chapter 216 Banished
“You’re not walking out. So they’ll carry you,” Ashton said to the men. “He flies out tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
One of them yanked the duvet off.
Reginald shrieked.
Another grabbed his arms, two more took his legs, and they hoisted him off the mattress in one smooth
motion.
He kicked like a feral cat. “You’re all insane! Put me down!”
They didn’t. They marched straight for the door.
Reginald wriggled free for half a second, dropped to the floor with a loud thud, and scrambled into a sitting position. “Fine! I’ll go! But it’s the middle of the bloody night. There’s no flight now. Just let me sleep, I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“It’s the middle of the afternoon. And you’re leaving tonight,” Ashton said. “The jet’s ready. Oh, and you’re -paying for it. Out of pocket or out of salary. Your call.”
Reginald stayed on the floor.
The guards didn’t touch him again, but they closed in just enough to block every exit.
He glanced around, wild–eyed. His shoulders sank. He wasn’t getting out of this.
The silence dragged.
His ears flushed bright red.
“Ashton, I’m your father,” he muttered. “You’re humiliating me. Can we talk this through like adults?”
His voice had thinned out.
He looked up at Ashton as if he expected sympathy to land if he just sounded pathetic enough.
It didn’t.
Then the door banged open.
Gwendolyn burst in, heels clacking, coat swinging off one shoulder. “What the hell is this?” she shouted. ” Are you actually planning to abduct someone in a hospital?”
She shoved through the wall of men, dropped to a crouch, and pulled Reginald up by the elbow.
She dusted off his sleeve, checked his face like he was ten years old and in trouble at school.
“Are you serious right now?” she yelled at Ashton. “That’s your father. Not some stray animal you’re shipping off to die. You want to send him to Africa? Youve lost your mind.”
“My decision stands,” Ashton said simply.
She looked like she might explode. “He’s nearly sixty. You think he’s going to build infrastructure in the
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damn heat? He’s not well. You want him dead, is that it
Ashton’s eyes flicked from Gwendolyn to Reginald, then back again. “You’re worried about him?”
“Duh!” Gwendolyn rolled her eyes. “Unlike some people I still have a heart.”
“If you’re so desperate to help him, you can take his place.”
Gwendolyn recoiled. “What the hell are you talking abo? Have you completely lost your mind?”
“You really want me to spell it out?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. What did I do now? Or did Mirabelle get in your ear again?”
She twisted around and glared at me.
I smiled at her.
“You hired someone to follow me and post the photos of line,” Ashton said. “Then you tried to pin it on Mira. Did you think I’d just forget?”
Gwendolyn’s expression cracked for half a second.
She caught herself fast, but it was there.
“I didn’t do that.”
Ashton smiled without any warmth. “No? Then who did”
“It was-” She stopped.
Reginald finally caught up. His whole face flushed, lips nched tight.
He pointed a shaking finger at Gwendolyn like he was ready to slap the teeth out of her mouth.
“I told you,” he growled. “I told you not to send anyone. Are you fucking deaf?”
Gwendolyn stared at him, wide–eyed, as if she couldn’t Believe he was turning on her.
For a second, she looked wounded.
Then she snapped.
“You were the one who agreed to it!” she shouted. “Don act like you didn’t know. You said we needed evidence-”
“I never agreed to such a thing!”
Gwendolyn’s face twisted with rage.
“Fine. I did it. I took the photos. So what? What was I supposed to do, wait until she dragged the Laurent name through the mud again? She’s already seeing some other guy behind your back!” a
I stopped chewing the inside of my cheek.
That one got my attention.
“Excuse me?” I stepped forward. “What the hell are you alking about?”
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Gwendolyn stormed up and shoved her phone into my face. “You want proof? Here. You and that little intern you keep giggling with. Look at your hands. Look at his fucking eyes. What do you call that?”
I stared down.
It was me and Daniel.
He was grinning.
I was holding a sketchbook, leaning over his desk, pointing at something on the page.
His elbow nearly touched my waist.
The angle made it look closer than it was.
I snorted. “That’s my studio, Gwendolyn. The street’s filled with people, and I’ve got another employee there. You think I’d flirt with someone in plain view like a bloody moron?”
She scoffed and stepped forward, the stench of her perfume hitting my throat. “You brought him with you to Sunset City. Don’t act like it was all business. You said it yourself, you’ve got another employee, and I know it’s a girl. Why’d you bring the guy instead of the girl, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes. “So now you’re accusing me of cheating with my assistant in another city? Based on what, your magical intuition?”
Gwendolyn shoved the phone towards Ashton.
“Ashton, listen to me. She’s using you. She did the same with that Rhys Granger idiot. He was loaded, wasn’t he? That’s her thing. She goes where the money is. She probably thinks you’re too old to keep up. Hence the young side piece. You think she actually wants you?”
She waved the phone at his face, practically jabbing it at his nose.
Ashton’s expression didn’t change, but I saw the way his fingers curled, the tiny twitch in his temple.
Then he shoved her hand away.
The phone dropped with a hard clack, skidding across the floor before the screen split into a spiderweb of
cracks.
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