Chapter 300
At the sound, Eliana’s eyes shot up to the rearview mirror. There sat Ashton in the back seat, eyes cold and unblinking
She reached for the door handle in a panic, but before she could escape, Ashton leaned forward, gripping her shoulder and forcing her back Into the seat.
A started cry escaped her lips. She tried to push his hand away, but the next moment, something sharp pressed against her waist.
Glancing down, she froze. It was a gun..
Her heart thundered in her chest,
To avoid blocking the entrance to the government building, she’d parked in a quiet, secluded corner. With it being official property, there wasn’t a single passerby in sight.
She was on her own.
“Mr. Ford… you’re not seriously doing this, are you?” she said with a shaky smile.
Ashton’s eyes lingered on her forced expression. His voice was low and flat. “This time, the gun isn’t empty. And Theodore won’t be coming to stop me,”
Eliana switched tactics instantly, her voice softening “You wouldn’t do this. You and Theo are best friends. You’d never…”
“Say his name again,” Ashton cut in, teeth clenched, “and I swear you’ll regret it”
She heard the safety click off Her breath caught. “You want to know where Harper is, don’t you?” she blurted. “I’ll tell you.”
He leaned back, composed again. “Go on.”
“She’s in Lunara,”
unara,” Eliana said, lying without hesitation. Buying time was her only option now.
Ashton watched her carefully for a moment, then ordered, “Take out your phone. Call her. Video”
Her face twitched, almost imperceptibly.
“Now!” he said, his grip tight
tightening on her shoulder.
Her life quite literally in his hands, Eliana nodded. “All right. I’ll call,”
She retrieved her phone, pulled up Harper’s contact, and was about to initiate the call when Ashton added, “Video, Eliana. Don’t think about. playing tricks.
“Got it,” she replied quickly, praying Harper would understand.
She sent the video request.
Within seconds, the call connected.
Her heart leapt to her throat as Harper’s smiling face appeared onscreen.
Unaware of Ashton’s presence, Harper greeted her cheerfully. “Eitel Morning! Wait, no. Must be evening for you, huh?”
Eliana jumped in, her tone oddly deliberate. “How’s Lunara treating you, Harper?”
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Chapter 300.
Please don’t say you’re in Meliora,’ she pleaded silently.
Harper raised a brow at Eliana’s strange expression, clearly puzzled, but Flans trusted her instincts, if anyone could pick up on a led warning, it was Harper,
Just then, Ashton’s voice interrupted, sharp and impatient. “Raise the phone.”
At the sound of him, Harper’s smile vanished. Her hand jerked toward the screen, ready tend the call, but she frone.
As Eliana lifted the phone, Harper caught sight of the pum pressed against her neck. Ashton’s cold unice followed, “Harper, your choice. She lives, or she doesn’t.”
Eliana kept the phone raised, her hand trembling, as the two locked eyes through the screen.
Harper paused, stunned, before her voice returned, calm but firm. “Ashton, don’t hurt Ellie.”
Ashton’s gaze roamed over her face with a hunger he didn’t bother to mask. “Tell me the truth. Are you mally in Lumar?”
“That doesn’t concern you.” Her tone sharpened. “What exactly are you trying to do?”
His breath caught as he stared at her, the distance between them suddenly unbearable. “I want you to come back!”
“That’s not happening” Harper replied without hesitation. “We’re done. You don’t get to make demands.”
His voice dropped, roughened by something deeper. “Done? Then explain this.” He pulled a pregnancy test from his pocket, the lines still faintly visible. “Where are you taking my child?”
Eliana gasped. “What?”
Ashton didn’t look at her. His voice was low and hoarse. “I found it in your bathroom trash, Two lines. Maybe other men wouldn’t know what
that means, but I do.”
‘Of course he does, Eliana thought absently ‘He owns a nightclub, after all.‘
On screen, Harper flushed, her anger barely contained. “You went through my trash? Seriously?”
After she’d left, Ashton had scoured every inch of the villa they once shared, desperate for a clue. He’d searched until there was nothing left untouched.
Seeing there was no way around it, Harper exhaled. “Fine. I’m pregnant. But are you sure it’s yours? Don’t forget, once checked into a hotel with a boy toy.”
The words landed like a slap, not just for Ashton, but for Eliana too.
She remembered. It was around Christmas. She and Theodore had argued over Alice’s fall at Amberhold, and she’d returned to Covenhillon
her own.
Harper had called, inviting her for drinks. The man with them that night had been a dancer named Asher,
Later, Eliana had stormed off at the sight of Theodore, leaving Harper and Asher alone.
Ashton clearly remembered too. His jaw clenched. “I don’t buy it. When I got there, neither of you had taken anything off.”
Harper smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “Think it through. With how obsessed I am with money, if it really were your child, I’d have
stayed. I’d be flashing a diamond ring and calling myself Mrs. Ford by now, not disappearing without a word.
Chapter 300
“Why would I run, Ashton? Because I had something to hide?
“Harper, Eliana thought anxiously. “Why provoke him now? You’re just making it worse.”
She didn’t believe Harper would sleep around, not like that.
There was a pause, long and heavy, before Ashton finally spoke again. “Come back,” he said quietly. “I’ll give you a name. A proper ont
From Eliana’s vantage point, she saw Harper falter.
Is he… proposing? she wondered.
But the look in Harper’s eyes shifted Whatever moment of doubt she’d had was gone. “You’re too late,” she said evenly. “Back whenlond you, all you saw was Cathy. And now, what, suddenly I matter, just because you can’t have me? That’s not love, Ashton. That’imprett.
He was silent for a long moment before finding a new angle. “I’m the father, You don’t get to take that away from me.”
Running the Gilded Ford had shown him too many women forced into abortions, or left to raise children alone, juggling bills and night shits He wouldn’t let his child become another nameless shadow.
But Harper held her ground. “I’ll say it again. I’m not coming back. I have money. I have options. Finding someone to be a father to my child? That’s the easy part.”
Ashton’s eyes darkened, veins rising in his neck, fury blooming across his face. “Don’t you dare!” he said, voice barely controlled.
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