Ashton wrapped up his work, and they reached New York the day before the wedding.
“Take care of your health in everything you do. I have to check up on Alexander.”
“Dad’s in Singapore. Can I stay with you in your apartment?” asked Hayley hopefully.
“Not this time, baby. You’ll be all alone there since I will have to be with Alexander. Go home after checking up on Eva.” He kissed her forehead and left to go to Alexander’s penthouse. Hayley went inside her house, pulling her luggage along. With Eva in the hospital, Skylar would pick her up in an hour and head there.
Just as Ashton had expected, Alexander broke down on seeing him, and they plotted and planned their next course of action.
“Why don’t you clear up the air between you? How did it deteriorate to this?”
Alexander explained to his friend all about Beatrix’s evil plans to separate him from Eva. He had resigned from Rotterdams as well.
In the evening, Skylar called Alexander to inform him that Eva was stable and had been discharged from the hospital. Maxwell had taken her home.
“Where’s Alyssa?” asked Alexander, while Ashton frowned with worry.
“I have no clue about what’s going on, bro. I wasn’t even here.”
“Wait, I’ll call Sienna. She knows everything.” He tried her number, but Sienna didn’t accept his call.
“I’ll go crazy, Ashton. Do you know Eva is pregnant with Maxwell’s child? I went to the hospital to ask her, but she broke down before I could even talk to her. What do I do now?”
“Are you sure it isn’t yours? There’s only one way. Let’s barge into Maxwell’s house at 10 o’clock in the morning and grab hold of him. We can force him to spill. I’ll call a few of our friends and you can marry Eva forcefully there itself,” suggested Ashton. Alexander frowned at his plan but agreed eventually since there wasn’t any other option available with the wedding scheduled at 11 o’clock.
“Fine, call our friends but make it clear to them. We don’t want bloodshed. We will just beat up Maxwell and force him to give in.”
“Sure.” Ashton went away to make a phone call while Alexander paced the floor, thinking about their plan for the next day.
The next morning was quite stressful as Ashton and Alexander picked up their old school friends, Jax and Mike, and stormed into Maxwell’s house to stop the wedding. There was utter chaos when Alexander confronted his enemy.
“How dare you touch her?” He punched Maxwell so hard that he staggered and fell backward on the floor while everyone gasped with horror.
“It’s not Maxwell’s baby, Alexander. Eva is pregnant with your baby,” Sienna yelled, and the others supported her. Alexander froze and slowly turned to face Maxwell.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you knew it all along?” Alexander asked Maxwell in a dazed state.
Ashton, Jax, and Mike stood by their friend, protecting him against the entire family.
“Why should I tell you? I want you to suffer for Eva the way I have for my girl, Teresa. It’s because of you she left me and married someone else. You injured me and sent me to the hospital. She met a rich guy there and left me for him. If I wouldn’t have been hospitalized, she would have been with me. I hate you, Alexander Van Every! You deserve this. I’ll snatch Eva and your baby away from you and you wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it,” yelled Maxwell, shoving a dazed Alexander towards the exit. Ashton, Mike, and Jax came forward to get a grip on the situation. Even Maxwell’s family supported Alexander after knowing the truth.
The commotion made Eva emerge from a room, ready in her wedding fineries. She broke down on seeing Alexander. Finally, they reunited and solved their misunderstanding. The family got Alexander and Eva married, while Alexander offered to pay for the expenses incurred.
Maxwell informed Alexander’s parents, and they came over to intervene and stop the wedding. However, Alexander still went ahead with the wedding and his parents broke off all ties with him, throwing him out of the penthouse as well. Ashton felt upset, but he couldn’t do a thing about it. Alexander was stressed and wanted to start a new venture with him. He couldn’t decline his friend and agreed half-heartedly, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to give time.
Hayley fell sick from the drama and went to her parents’ house to rest while Ashton got busy with the construction work of the new hotel. With Barclay International investing in the project, the work had been going on at an accelerated rate. He didn’t get a moment of respite when Alyssa announced her wedding to Nicholas.
With Alexander and Eva having disappeared somewhere since the wedding, Ashton was in two minds about attending it. Would Alexander return to attend his sister’s wedding? Would there be chaos again?
He talked to Hayley every day, who waited for her dad to return. She wanted to announce her relationship and move in with Ashton as soon as possible.
The wedding day arrived, and to everyone’s relief, things went smoothly. Alexander patched up with Nicholas and congratulated the newly married couple. Hayley tried her best to hide her pregnancy from her friends. Ashton stuck to her all the time, as he couldn’t spend time with her ever since they arrived in New York.
“Mom was asking about us. I think she is suspicious about my condition,” said Hayley with a sigh.
“Has your dad returned from his work trip?”
“No, not yet. He should be here by Monday.” Ashton sighed because he was hoping to talk to her dad this time.
“I wouldn’t be able to stay until Monday. Mr. Willis wants my signature on several documents at the earliest. I will be returning tonight.”
“What about me, Ashton?” asked Hayley, her eyes filling up with tears.
“I’ll come back by Monday and ask for your hand in marriage. Then you can move in with me, baby. Once this hotel is built, I’ll shift the Baylor Group’s headquarters here. Can you give me that much time?” Hayley smiled and nodded at him, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek and marched towards her group of giggling friends.
“So, what’s cooking between you two? Don’t deny it, Hails. We saw you two kissing,” said Sienna, who never missed a thing.
“So, are you guys marrying next, Hails?” asked Alyssa while they posed for the photographs.
“Maybe, I’m not sure,” said Hayley with a shy smile.
“We can see the shining pear on your finger, girl. You didn’t even tell us you got engaged,” pouted Sienna and the others gasped, grabbing hold of her hand to see the engagement ring.
“It happened so suddenly that I didn’t get time to catch up with any of you.”
“Are you pregnant?” asked Sienna, staring at her flat abdomen.
“How do you know?” asked Hayley with her jaws dropped to the floor.
“The way you’re holding onto it, I felt you’re trying to protect your baby growing in your womb. I used to do the same initially.” For the next few minutes, they all grilled her until she escaped to look for Ashton. She saw him with Alexander and Eva and went up to him.
“Ashton, can you drop me home?” He nodded, and without asking a thing, led her to the parking area.
“Won’t you stay for the wedding lunch?” he asked her with concern as he started his car.
“I’m feeling nauseated.”
“I’ll take you to a gynecologist right away.” Ashton didn’t listen to her protests and took her to a good gynecologist nearby. The doctor gave her some tests, changed her medicines and supplements, and scheduled her next check-up.
“See? I’m fine. You were unnecessarily worried.”
“This was necessary, Hayley. You need to get the tests done and show her the reports.” He stopped in front of her house and turned to look at her longingly.
“Give me a kiss now.” Hayley wrapped her arms around his neck and claimed his lips in a sweet kiss, full of love and longing. Ashton drowned in the kiss, not wanting to let her go, but he had to. He had a flight in two hours. He took over and plunged his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss to a new level. At last, he released her mouth and gazed at her with longing.
“I wish I didn’t have to go. I wish we could get married now.”
“Will we marry next, Ashton?”
“Yes, I won’t wait for months. I’ll talk to your dad on Monday and marry you by Saturday.”
“What? How will we complete the wedding preparations so soon?” asked Hayley, gaping at him.
“Do you want a gala wedding?” he asked her with interest.
“No, but I want a memorable one.” Ashton smiled with relief, since that was what he, too, wanted.
“How about a destination wedding on the beach?” he asked her with a wink.