<b>Chapter </b>242
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Briar couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst outughing. Seeing Ashton’s resentful and hurt expression, she coughed twice topose herself. “Uncle, Ashton wouldn’t do that. He has plenty of money.”
Larry thought about it and realized it was true. Although Ashton was only 26, his worth had already soared into the billions, and he had even topped the list of the world’s youngest billionaires.
Ever since he and Ruben learned that Briar was dating an older man, they immediately had someone run a background check on Ashton overnight.
Only after thoroughly investigating Ashton several times and confirming he had no other undesirable qualities did they reluctantly agree to his rtionship with Briar.
It wasn’t that they were overreacting. The pain from their sister’s cautionary tale was immense and had not yet healed.
Moreover, Briar was their sister’s only child. As her family, they could let her be willful in other matters. Although the Grant family had withdrawn from Dasmieca’s circle of the wealthy elite, they were still rich enough to afford her a life of freedom.
However, when it came to Briar’s choice of a partner, they were extremely strict and wouldn’t allow her to be reckless. This was why Briar, a sucker for good looks, had never had any dating experience in her eighteen years in Qathana, a country known for its attractive men and women.
Her family kept a close watch on her.
“Then why did you run off to the border? It’s so dangerous there. What if you run into bad people?” Larry nagged.
Larry <b>was </b>overjoyed to finally receive a casual call from his niece,pletely forgetting that whenever Briar bypassed Ruben to call him first, it always meant she had some ulterior motive.
Briar said, “Don’t worry. Ashton is with me. He has business interests here, so we’re very safe.”
Briar looked at Ashton, whose brows were tightly knitted, and put in a good word for him with a smile. “And Ashton said he wants to fly to Qathana tomorrow ande home with me to visit you and Ruben…”
On the other end of the line, Larry immediately caught the hidden meaning in Briar’s words. He interrupted her, “Wait, you two? Tomorrow? Flying to Qathana? To see us?<b>” </b>
Briar said, “Uh, yeah.”
Ashton sat up straight, his expression tense. No matter how powerful a magnate he was, he was still nervous about meeting his girlfriend’s family.
<b>“</b>Ashton ising to meet us? Is he nning to propose to you?” Larry was not as naive as Briar. When a man made such a request, <b>it </b>was a clear sign that he was ready to make amitment and <b>propose</b>.
He understood that, as he had been through it.
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Briar nced at Ashton, her jaw tightening. “Yeah… He seems to be nning on it.”
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He wasn’t just nning to propose. He was already thinking about tricking her into secretly getting a marriage
license.
Of course, she couldn’t say that. Otherwise, Larry would surely chew Ashton out over the phone.
Larry was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the line. Then, in a serious tone, he said, “Alright. Bring Ashton home for dinner tomorrow. Ruben will also be home and free.”
Briar said, “Okay. See you tomorrow night.”
“See you tomorrow night.”
After the call ended, Briar looked at Ashton, who was rxed and leaning against the nightstand. “Happy now?<b>” </b>
Ashton smiled, pulling Briar down to sit beside him. “Yes! You’re the best.”
Briar nudged Ashton’s shoulder. “Then you’d better hurry and prepare a gift. Larry is easygoing, but Ruben is hard to fool. You’re walking into the lion’s den tomorrow night, so it won’t be easy!”
Of course, Ashton knew. “Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared gifts for your two uncles. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the party with the utmost sincerity and make sure they feel confident entrusting you to me.”
“You have?” Briar asked curiously. “I haven’t seen anything.”
They had been together constantly for the past few days. Besides when they were apart for work, Ashton was very clingy, yet she hadn’t seen him prepare any gifts.
Seeing the curiosity in Briar’s eyes, Ashton simply smiled without a word, pulling her into his arms and whispering to her softly.
*****
Ashton was taking Briar to Qathana for the Grant family party, but the most nervous person was neither of
them–it was Brandon.
He urgently arranged for a private jet and contacted his people in Qathana to prepare for their arrival.
He also hastily selected a dozen bodyguards to apany them and had someone buy many local specialties from the border region to bring along.
Unfortunately, the border region’s main specialties were weapons and mercenaries. Of course, they couldn’t bring those kinds of gifts, or they would surely scare Briar’s uncles.
Looking at the living room, which had been piled high with gift boxes in less than an hour, Ashton said, “We <b>can </b>take all of these, but we don’t need so many bodyguards. Just a few to ensure things <b>go </b>smoothly will be
fine.”
Connor disagreed. “Mr. Wade, we should take all the bodyguards. Although we can mobilize our people in
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Qathana, we still need someone to watch over us on the way there.”
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Brandon also tried to persuade him. “He’s right. Neither of us is going with you and Miss Jennings. If anything happens on the way, you’ll have people to protect you. Once you arrive in Qathana, you can just send them away.”
Ashton looked at Briar. “Should we bring Ian?”
Briar nodded. “A bodyguard hired for 16 million dors should be with us at all times. I can’t let you waste your money.”
Ian <b>was </b>speechless.
Ashton nodded. “Ian is enough. Riley and Artemus can bring a few of their men. With them, our safety is guaranteed.”
Brandon and Connor exchanged a look. They knew they couldn’t change Ashton’s mind once he had made a decision, so they simply nodded.
Connor said to Riley, “Fine. Then Ian, Artemus, and you should bring our new shipment of weapons. You must ensure the safety of Miss Jennings and Mr. Wade.”
Ian was dumbfounded. “Are you guys really treating this family dinner like a trap? The Grant family is just an ordinary business family. If we show up armed, we’ll be thrown out, won’t we?”
Brandon and Connor were speechless.
Briar looked at Ashton. “See? You’re so tense that you’re making them tense too. Rx. My uncles might give you a hard time, but they won’t actually hit you.”
Ashton chuckled. “You’re right. I am a bit too nervous. This is my first time meeting your family, so I’m not very experienced!”
He waved Brandon and the others away. “Alright, you can all go back to your duties.”
Just then, Briar’s phone rang on the coffee table. Since it was closest to Ashton, he smoothly picked it up and handed it to her. When he saw the caller ID, Uncle Ruben, his eyes flickered.
Briar nced at Ashton before answering the call. Her tone was even more well–behaved than when she spoke with Larry. “Uncle Ruben…”