Chapter <b>289 </b><ol start="2"><li>2. </li></ol>


    12:55 vouchers


    Upon hearing Reece’s words, the others quickly got up and headed for the door one after another.


    Soon after, only Ashton and Briar were left in the living room.


    Still in Ashton’s arms, Briar watched the others disappear before her gaze fell to his arms, which were tightening even more firmly around her.


    “Um, Ashton, I’d like to go see, too. Could you let me go?” Briar asked hesitantly.


    “What do you think?” Ashton chuckled softly as he noticed Briar’s face filled with guilt. “Babe, you can run, but you can’t hide. There are some things I still want to hear from you.”


    “Say what?” Briar asked.


    “Harith Lopez is dead, and we watched him blow up with our own eyes. Surely you have other thoughts?” Ashton pressed, not giving Briar a chance to beat around the bush.


    Briar pressed her lips together, about to deny it, but she faltered under his knowing gaze. “Alright, I do have other ns.”


    Knowing she couldn’t hide it from Ashton, she gave up and lowered her head in admission.


    Ashton ced his hand on Briar’s head, and she immediately felt the warmth from hisrge palm.


    “Briar, we’re legally married now. If you dare ditch me and go off on your own again, I’ll have to enforce some family rules.” Ashton’s tone was fierce and threatening, but the tenderness in his eyes was almost tangible, enveloping Briar.


    ‘It was another tant use of his good looks. What else could I say?‘ Briar thought.


    She nodded obediently. “Okay, I get it.”


    “That’s my girl.” Ashton was extremely pleased. He lifted Briar’s chin in one hand slowly and leaned down to give her a rewarding kiss.


    Briar tilted her head back, surrendering to Ashton’s passionate kiss. But in an instant, her eyes widened, and she struggled to break free from his embrace.


    “K–kissing is fine, but don’t be a rascal!” Briar ced her palms on Ashton’s arms, trying to force her way out


    Ashton chuckled, grabbing Briar’s hand with one hand to stop her from fleeing.


    “We’re legally married. This shouldn’t be a word between spouses.” Ashton smiled slyly, ‘It’s called emotionalmunication.”


    “You rascal!” Briar eximed.


    Ashton held her soft hand to prevent her from pulling away, while she struggled desperately to do so<b>. </b>She was


    6:04 <b>Sat</b><b>, </b>Sep 27


    :


    clearly no match for Ashton’s strength, and their position was far too intimate.


    55 chec


    However, Briar’s struggles seemed like a token resistance, as though she was ying hard to get, especially in the eyes of Ashton.


    “Mmph… This is the living room!” Briar eximed in surprise when she felt Ashton’s actions getting bolder.


    “Yes, just like that, Briar. Hold on tight and don’t let go.” Ashton whispered into Briar’s ear.


    Strange rustling and intimate, hesitant whispers echoed through the spacious living room.


    Ashton had her pinned to the sofa, neglecting the fact that there was a group of friends outside who could burst in at any moment, doing as he pleased.


    Briar was feeling thrilled, excited, nervous, and shy altogether, and was so exasperated with this shameless man, who seemed to get turned on anytime and anywhere, that she couldn’t help butugh.


    ‘Ashton really knows me well. Especially when he had his suspicions that I might try to escape, he would shamelessly use any means necessary to make me submit to him. Briar thought.


    Briar found herself swept into Ashton’s relentless embrace, caught between resistance and surrender as his affection consumed every corner of her world.


    From one end of the sofa to the other, from the stairs to thending, he gave her no escape. Her breathless pleas only carried them further–to the bedroom atst—yet the moment the door closed behind them. Ashton cast aside all restraint.


    Everywhere became his territory: the door against her back, the carpet beneath her knees, the wide sill of the window, even the marble counter of the bathroom. There was nowhere untouched, no surface that hadn’t borne witness to his unyielding devotion.


    Time blurred. Day dissolved into night, rooms melted into one another. Briar no longer remembered how many times he had imed her–only the dizzy sway of ceilings and curtains, the trembling of ss and water, the tremor that left her pleading for mercy.


    Her lips were parched, her body aching, her strength undone. She could not recall when exhaustion overtook her–only that, in the end, she was carried back to bed. The instant her cheek touched the pillow, memory dissolved into darkness.


    This time, she was exhausted beyond thought–too drained to scheme, too weary to repeat what had happened before, when Ashton had barely stepped away and she had gone chasing after him again.


    ‘Ashton, that damned man… that brute!‘ Briar thought.


    When Briar stirred awake the next morning, bleary–eyed and aching, it was barely half past five. The bedroom door creaked open, just a sliver, and half a head poked in.


    “Briar, you’re awake?” It was Alexia, grinning from ear to ear.


    Briar didn’t answer and shifted ufortably, wincing as she sat up, exposing the skin along her arm and


    corbone.


    <b>6:04 </b><b>Sat</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>27 </b>


    :


    210, pirk


    <b>It </b><b>was </b>a patchwork of red and purple, bruises scattered like confessions–evidence enough of just how fierce the battle had been the night before.


    Alexia, unfazed by Briar’s frosty silence, walked in with all smiles, leaned toward the bed, reached for the quilt and <b>was </b>eager to tug it back.


    She wanted to see if Briar was still dressed beneath the covers<b>, </b>and also wanted a glimpse of just how thorough Ashton had been in his conquest the night before.


    But before she could peel back the quilt, Briar’s hand shot out and pressed it firmly down and warned, “Get that filthy nonsense out of your head.”


    Alexia only chuckled. “Heh,e on–we’re both women. What’s wrong with looking? I’ll even let you look at mine. See? Don’t you think my chest has gotten bigger?”


    With an exaggerated motion, she puffed out her chest, the curves beneath her clothes swaying provocatively.


    Almost against her will, Briar’s gaze dropped.


    No wonder Alex couldn’t keep his hands off them. They were truly eye–catching.


    “You didn’te all the way here this early just to show off your chest<b>, </b>did you?” Briar snapped herself back to reality and asked, her face set in a stern expression.


    “Of course not!” Alexia suddenly remembered why she hade–this wasn’t a social visit. “<i>Last </i>night, while


    you


    and your man were busy having fun, something big happened in Shoneport…”


    “What happened?” Briar asked, still weak in her limbs from just waking, too groggy even to check her phone for messages.


    Alexia lowered her voice, her eyes glinting with secrecy. “Mountain View Vis–you know, the one Harith Lopez lives in? There was a sudden firest night. The mes devoured most of the mountainside, and Harith’s vi, it’s gone. Reduced to ashes.”


    Briar narrowed her eyes, quickly piecing together the implication behind the news. “It was reported that he died in the fire?<b>” </b>


    <b>AD </b>


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