By Zephyria After hearing the door close, Ashley got up after confirming that he was alone. He had bought himself some time for now. But the work had only just begun.
He quickly got out of bed and went to the window. He slightly opened the thick curtains to look outside and saw people busily coming and going. They were preparing to leave the mansion, as Dominique had said the day before.
If he said he wasn’t feeling well, he could buy himself about a day.
Dominique wouldn’t be fooled by his shallow trick, but he would probably allow it. It wouldn’t be bad to watch and enjoy Ashley’s clumsy struggles for a day or so. After all, Ashley couldn’t escape from his grasp. Dominique was clearly confident in that.
Ashley had thought so too until now. So he had resigned himself early on and resigned himself to living silently like a puppet as he wished, but now it was different.
Ashley had Koi, who was more precious than anyone else. For him, he would fight Dominique as much as he needed to.
A little later, when the secretary returned, Ashley was lying in bed as before.
And the secretary conveyed Dominique’s message that it was difficult to obtain suitable medicine at the moment, and that he had decided to postpone the departure until the evening.
That was exactly what he had expected. The secretary placed the soup on the tea table and continued.
“Drink it later if you think of it. I’ll bring it back if it gets cold.”
Ashley said while lying down.
“…I have to pack.”
“I’ve roughly organized it for you, so don’t worry.”
This was also what he had expected. Ashley feigned a tired voice.
“I want to check, so bring it here.”
“…The suitcase?”
The secretary asked this time after a pause. Ashley sneered in a weak voice.
“Is it not allowed even though I’m saying I’ll pack my own things?”
The secretary, who had paused for a moment, opened her mouth.
“I’ll check with Mr. Miller.”
She went out again and returned this time with the suitcase. Ashley knew the meaning of it all too well.
Go ahead and do whatever you want.
He thought of the purple eyes that were mocking him, then quickly erased the thought and closed his eyes.
“I’ll sleep a little more and open it. Don’t let anyone come near here in the meantime, it’s noisy.”
“Understood. I’ll tell everyone to be quiet.”
Soon the secretary left the room, and after some time had passed, Ashley got up. He listened carefully, but there was no sound at all.
He quickly got out of bed and headed for the door. He was very nervous, and when he finally opened the door, the hallway was empty as expected. The secretary had clearly ordered that no one should even come close to the floor with the bedroom so as not to disturb Ashley’s sleep.
After closing the door again, Ashley quickly opened the suitcase. He rummaged through it quickly, wondering if there was anything useful, and was momentarily frozen when he discovered an unexpected object.
It was a cell phone.
*
♬♪♪♬♩♪……
Koi, who was sitting in the cafeteria doing his homework, was startled by the sudden ringing of his cell phone and checked the number, his eyes widening.
“Ash, Ash?”
– Koi.
Tears welled up at the voice he heard from the other end. Koi nodded quickly and replied.
“Yeah, it’s me. Ash, it’s Koi.”
– I know.
Ash said from the other end with a playful voice, but in fact, he was barely holding back the dampness in the corner of his heart. Koi tried not to cry and quickly continued.
“H-How have you been? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
– I’m fine, don’t worry. What about you? How are you?
“I’m fine too.”
Koi took a shaky breath and replied.
“Father is still in the hospital, so I haven’t gone to see him. Don’t worry, he hasn’t hit me again or anything.”
– Okay, that’s a relief.
There was a lot to talk about, but there was no time. They decided to talk about the rest later, and Ashley quickly got to the point.
– Koi, listen carefully. I’m going to tell you something important now.
“Y-Yes.”
Koi tensed up and pricked up his ears. Ashley continued quickly.
– There’s a train leaving in three hours. Let’s meet at the train station. We’ll take it and leave for another state.
“T-Train?”
Koi raised his voice without realizing it at the sudden words, then quickly covered his mouth and looked around. Fortunately, it was after class, so there was no one left.
After confirming that he was the only one in the cafeteria, Koi pressed his ear close to the cell phone again. Ashley continued to speak.
– Let’s run away together. We’ll succeed this time, trust me.
Koi swallowed hard without realizing it. He had a feeling that this time would be different. Last time, he had done it impulsively without thinking, but this time it was different. More than anything, he wanted to see Ashley soon. But there was something he had to check first.
Koi held back from saying yes right away and asked.
“I-Is it really okay to do that? I mean, nothing’s going to happen to you, is it? You were arrested…”
Koi didn’t know at all what conditions Ashley had been released under. He was afraid that it might become an irreversible situation.
What if his choice now led to an ending where he couldn’t see Ashley again?
Ashley said to Koi, who was terrified.
– If we don’t run away now, we’re really going to be separated.
At that moment, Koi felt like his heart was falling to the bottom of his feet. Ashley quickly continued to speak to him, who had turned pale.
– Father is here, he’s going to take me to the East Coast. Everyone is preparing now. If it’s not now, we’ll never see each other again.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell him that Dominique despised and opposed Koi. So Ashley mumbled vaguely.
– It seems like Father has someone else in mind for me. Of course, I’m not going to marry any of those women. Because the only one I love is you.
At those words, Koi stopped breathing. Ashley might marry someone other than him? Ashley added to Koi, who had frozen in place.
– This is the only chance. Let’s run away together, Koi. Let’s get married and live together, just the two of us.
His words were so sweet. Koi recalled the words he had heard at the church he had attended as a child. Could the voice of the serpent that tempted the first woman in mankind have been sweeter than this?
“…I’ll go.”
Koi finally uttered in a trembling voice.
“I’ll go, I’ll go anywhere with you.”
– Good, Koi.
Ashley also couldn’t hide his joy and replied in an excited voice.
– Let’s meet at the train station. I’ll get out of here somehow, so come there.
“Yeah, I got it.”
Koi, who had quickly gotten up from his seat, quickly said before hanging up.
“I love you, Ash.”
– I love you, Koi.
Only after hearing Ashley’s reply did Koi end the call. He wanted to hear his voice more, but now was not the time.
He could hear it as much as he wanted soon.
Ash’s voice could never get tiring, Koi thought, and quickly packed his things and ran towards where he had parked his bicycle. Three hours later was tight.
There was a place he had to stop by before going to the train station. He hadn’t had the presence of mind to take it last time, but this time it was different.
He had to take all the money he had saved up.
Koi got on his bicycle and pedaled hard, running frantically towards the Motorhome. The most important thing no matter where they went was money. Besides, they were still minors. Ashley was running away secretly, so he wouldn’t be able to bring much money with him.
He needed money.
Koi gritted his teeth and pedaled his bicycle at full speed.
*
The slightly pushed door opened with an ominous sound that grated on his ears. The hallway was still empty.
Ashley looked around and quickly came out. Thankfully, the luggage that the secretary had packed was well organized without anything missing.
He held the small carry-on suitcase in one hand and quickly walked across the hallway. Fortunately, the employees seemed to be frantically busy going back and forth between the garden and the house. Many of the bodyguards had also disappeared, so they had probably gone to the airport to prepare for departure.
They were probably checking in advance to see if there were any suspicious movements.The remaining number wasn’t much. Thankfully, the garage side was empty, so Ashley easily got his hands on his Cayenne. As always, the car keys were carelessly placed on the dashboard for all to see.
Ashley opened the driver’s side door, released the parking brake, and slowly pushed the car to move it, so the engine sound wouldn’t be heard. He faintly heard people’s murmurs. But no one noticed his escape.
No one stopped Ashley until he had pushed the car for a while, hurriedly got into the driver’s seat, and started the car.
Not even Dominique Miller, who was looking down at him through the window.