Chapter 239: Chapter 239: Saying One Thing, Meaning Another
A strange emotion surged in Ashley Shaw’s heart, like ripples stirred up by the wind over a lake.
She never expected Warren Prescott to rush over just because of this.
Could it be that he... felt more than just guilt towards her?
But the pain of the past life didn’t allow her to think further.
Even if it was as she imagined, that Warren Prescott miraculously developed feelings for her in this life, so what?
She didn’t want a marriage like in the past life.
She would rather live alone for the rest of her life, spending it with Ariana.
What’s done cannot be undone; if you tread the same pitfalls again, you deserve to get hurt!
"I’m sorry..."
She took a breath and said, "I shouldn’t have misunderstood you, I’m sorry! Just pretend I didn’t say anything."
Regardless of what it was, if she needed to apologize, she wouldn’t hold back.
She indeed misunderstood Warren Prescott, mistakenly thinking he was blaming her and Ariana.
Warren Prescott said, "Don’t assume I’m talking about you. I never care about what others think of me."
His words contradicted his heart, but at the corners of his mouth, there was a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
Hearing this, Ashley couldn’t help but wonder if she was being overly sentimental.
Perhaps Warren Prescott really just came to see Mrs. Chase.
It was just a coincidence that he bumped into her.
In the next moment, Warren Prescott said, "I just happened to have something to tell Mrs. Chase, don’t overthink it."
Indeed, she was being overly sentimental.
Ashley found herself somewhat laughable.
How could a heart that she couldn’t warm in her past life suddenly have feelings for her in this one?
Ashley tried hard to make her expression appear normal, so she wouldn’t seem so ridiculous.
She feigned calmness and asked, "Did you already go up and tell her?"
"Not yet, I just arrived and found it was a bit late, so I plan to talk to her tomorrow."
"Oh..."
"I’m leaving!"
Warren Prescott withdrew his hand and started walking toward his Maybach.
Ashley suddenly remembered something else and quickly called after him, "Wait."
Does she not want him to leave?
Warren Prescott’s lips twitched slightly, but when he returned to his senses, he became expressionless again.
His tone was filled with impatience as he asked, "It’s late, what’s the matter?"
"What time are you going to the airport tomorrow? I’ll wait for you downstairs in advance."
It was only then that Warren Prescott remembered that tomorrow was the day Xavier Quincy was returning.
Coincidentally, it was also the premiere day of the "Survival in the Wild" reality show.
"We’ll see. I’ll contact you when I’m on my way. I’ll be very busy tomorrow, so I might need to cut it close."
"If you don’t have the time, I can go pick up Leo myself."
"Let’s talk tomorrow."
"Okay." Ashley nodded.
Warren Prescott waited in place for two seconds and, seeing that Ashley had nothing else to say, pursed his thin lips and turned to get in the car.
The moment the car door closed, he saw that Ashley had already turned to enter the apartment building, without even looking back to see him off.
His mood inexplicably soured again.
He must be crazy to believe Mark’s nonsense and make this trip.
Warren Prescott ground his back teeth, stomped on the accelerator, and the car sped out of the complex, startling the dozing security guard who shakily stood up to check the situation.
But by then, the car had already driven far away, and the security guard saw nothing.
Upstairs.
When Ashley returned to her room, she saw Ariana Grant approaching with a gossip-filled expression, holding her phone.
"Ashley! Big news!"
"What big news?"
As Ashley searched the cabinet for another charger, she asked.
Ariana directly pulled Ashley’s hand.
"Stop looking, check this out!"
Ashley looked at the phone Ariana handed over.
It was a piece of news trending online.
[Breaking! Lynch Group CEO’s phones at the press conference were 80% mock-ups!]
The top post had thousands of comments beneath it.
"Damn! I knew I shouldn’t have felt sorry for capitalists!"
"This is basically treating us consumers like fools."
"My neighbor’s child was severely burned by an explosion of their phone, and their promise of double compensation at the press conference was a lie, the family received nothing, and the Lynch people haven’t contacted them at all. The parents are still crowdfunding for medical expenses."
"Damn, I believed their bullshit about correcting their mistakes and thought they were a good company. To hell with it! There’s not a single good capitalist!"
"Wolves in sheep’s clothing! My family and friends will never buy anything from Lynch again!"
"Lynch Group! Go to hell!"
"Push this up! Let the officials see it and shut them down hard!"
Ashley briefly scrolled through the comments, all of which were denouncing the Lynch Group.
The Lynch Group was now almost universally reviled, like rats crossing the street.
The netizens criticized them even harsher than they did the last time the exploding phone news came out.
Which was understandable; after all, people felt tricked, naturally more furious than before.
Ariana retrieved her phone and said, "Definitely some big news, right?"
Ashley nodded.
"Indeed. It’s already top trending."
"You reap what you sow!" Ariana said, satisfied.
But Ashley inexplicably thought of that call from Gavin Lynch.
Although Gavin Lynch had apologized to the wrong person, his tone back then was quite meek.
Could it be that Gavin Lynch thought this revelation came out because of Jillian’s actions?
Does he think Warren Prescott leaked it?
Surely... it couldn’t be Warren Prescott, right?
Ashley shook her head, trying not to think too much, and turned back to continue looking for the charger.
Luckily, there was a spare charger at home.
After plugging it in, the phone powered on automatically.
Glancing at the screen, Ashley noticed two missed calls.
One was a WeChat voice call, the other was to her phone number.
Both were from the same person.
Warren Prescott.
Ashley looked at the time; the calls came about ten minutes after her phone had shut down from low battery.
For some reason, his words from downstairs replayed in her mind.
[I just happened to have something to tell Mrs. Chase, don’t overthink it.]
Really... was that the case?
"Ashley, did you find the new charger?" Ariana came over from the kitchen with a glass of water.
She was incredibly thirsty after eating too much barbecue.
"Yeah," Ashley replied, then heard Ariana ask, "Did you check your phone? Did Ms. Grant send you a message?"
Startled, Ashley quickly checked, then shook her head, "No message..."
"Should we call her to check?"
After thinking for a moment, Ashley said, "No need, she might be busy. I’ll send her a message. Don’t worry about it, go get some sleep, you must be tired today."
"Alright then, I’m going to bed!"
After downing a large glass of water, Ariana returned to her room while texting on her phone.
Ashley noticed with sharp eyes that Ariana’s screen was paused on the Stardust Team’s live broadcast.
Hypocrite!
She couldn’t help but smile, and sent a message to Claire Xavier to inquire about Ivy Bond’s situation.