She lay down on the floor, wrapping herself in the blanket.
Just as she was about to close her eyes, Dave lifted her gently.
“The floor’s too cold. You take the sofa, and I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“But-”
“No arguments.”
Dave gently guided her onto the sofa and tucked her in with the blanket.
“It gets chilly at night. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”
He went to his room and came back with another blanket.
Bianca blushed when she saw him lying on her bedsheet. It felt like they were sharing the same bed.
Dave caught a pleasant scent, realizing it was Bianca’s fragrance lingering on the bed sheet.
He typically didn’t like women’s perfumes, but Bianca’s scent felt comforting to him.
That night, they both slept peacefully.
****
The next day, when Bianca went to work, she saw that her coworkers were suddenly being much nicer to her.
The day before, Golden Gate Films had posted online, blaming Darien for what he did wrong and publicly apologizing to Bianca.
After the news spread online, people started talking about it a lot, and Bianca’s name started getting known in the industry.
Bianca checked her email and found a message from Golden Gate Films. She selected some good scripts and arranged auditions for her actors.
Surprisingly, this bad situation had made her position in their department stronger.
Meanwhile, Ashley was having a tough time. When Connor came back, he scolded Joshua harshly and told him to break up with Ashley.
Joshua didn’t have the courage to go against his brother. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but desire to sleep with Ashley, so instead of breaking up, he chose to avoid her for a while.
Ashley was pacing around her house anxiously. When Stacey came out of her room and saw her daughter looking worried, she asked with concern, “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
When Ashley saw Stacey, she became even more anxious and looked around nervously.
Stacey had worked hard to get close to Joshua. She wanted Ashley to marry into the Reed family.
The Reed family was one of the top four prestigious families in the city, very wealthy and powerful. If Ashley married into their family, she’d have a good life. And as her mother, Stacey would benefit too. She wouldn’t have to depend on Peter anymore.
Stacey knew Peter would kick them out if he found out her unborn child wasn’t his.
She also wanted a stable future for herself.
After getting to know Joshua, Stacey talked to Ashley about it. She emphasized that Ashley needed to do everything she could to make Joshua love her. Only then could she convince Joshua to marry her and become a member of the Reed family!
This time, Ashley decided to handle things by herself with Bianca. Unfortunately, her actions end up causing problems.
Because of this, Ashley didn’t want to tell her mom that Joshua had been ignoring her for days.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
Stacey was smart. When she saw Ashley avoiding her eyes, she knew something was wrong.
She led Ashley to sit on the sofa and spoke gently, “You’re my child. How could I not notice when something’s bothering you? Tell me what’s going on.”
Ashley hugged Stacey and cried as she told her what happened. But she didn’t say she was the one who tried to hurt Bianca at first. Instead, she said Bianca was causing problems for her by lying to Connor, which made him angry with her.
Ashley also told Stacey that there was something strange about Bianca’s companion. He might have been the reason why Connor was angry this time.
Stacey was furious when she heard what Ashley had told her.
“Our priority now is to make sure Joshua loves you. Remember, don’t sleep with him. That’s your best chance of winning him over. Until you’re married, don’t let him think he can have you easily.”
Stacey pushed down her growing hatred and calmly told Ashley, “We’ll deal with Bianca later when the time is right.”
Ashley nodded, snuggled into Stacey’s arms, but felt guilty.
Back in college, she had a secret fling. The guy, older than her, lied about being rich when they met at a bar. They ended up being intimate that same night.
Their short relationship showed he was actually poor. Ashley broke it off fast. But he used her wealthy background to extort huge amounts of money from her, something she never disclosed to anybody.
It was a shameful experience that Ashley had kept to herself all this time.
Even now, Stacey still thinks of her daughter as a pure and loyal young lady.
Following Stacey’s advice, Ashley sent a message to Joshua.
“Mr. Reed, remember when you said you liked me? Well, tonight at eight o’clock, I’ll be in Room 3102 at the Edenfield Hotel.”
Joshua arrived that evening as expected.
“Mr. Reed, you’ve been distant lately. What’s wrong? Do you not like me anymore?” Ashley sat on the hotel bed, feeling so sad that tears blurred her vision.
Joshua had been avoiding Ashley because of his brother’s orders. Seeing how upset she was, he felt sorry for her.
“If only I hadn’t been so focused on dealing with Bianca, we wouldn’t be in this mess with Phoenix Alliance Group, and my brother wouldn’t have scolded me so harshly. He’s told me not to see you, and I don’t know what to do.”
Ashley wiped her tears and said, “Bianca hurt me a lot. I just wanted to teach her a lesson. I didn’t know she had powerful support, and even you have to be careful around her.”
Joshua scoffed, “Who told you she had someone backing her?”
Surprised, Ashley looked at Joshua with confusion and asked, “What do you mean?”
With a hint of disdain, Joshua told Ashley everything he learned from Connor.
It turned out that the man with Bianca wasn’t powerful at all. The CEO of Phoenix Alliance Group got involved to protect his company, and helping Bianca was just a coincidence.
Ashley felt relieved to hear this, thinking Bianca’s escape was just luck.
Now, she didn’t have to worry about Bianca’s companion. It made Ashley feel much better.
“Can we do what I want now?” Joshua hugged Ashley with excitement and hope.
Ashley blushed and looked sweet and innocent. “Mr. Reed, my parents taught me to save myself for someone special since I was little. I’ll only share that moment with a man who loves me and wants to marry me. Will… Will you marry me?”
Joshua was shocked. He hadn’t thought about marriage at all. All he wanted was to have fun with Ashley.