Chapter 12
Ashton had no plan of continuing the entanglement with Claire. Thus, he made himself extremely clear.
“I don’t care who you love, or who you were trying to help. All I know is that I don’t love you anymore, let alone want to marry you, Claire. From now on, stay out of my life”
With that, he ended the call amid her pleas and tears, then blocked her number,
Standing beside him, Jake gave him a satisfied thumbs–up. “Decisive–that’s how you should be when dealing with a toxic woman.
“Anyway, I need to drop by the company later. Giselle will be driving you to my place. If you need anything, just tell her-”
Ashton’s expression shitted at the familiar name. He cast a cautious look at Jake and asked, “Giselle, as in, Giselle Jacobson? Jake, why would you reconnect with het?”
Jake had yet to notice his strange expression, instead casually explaining, “You know how I’d been studying abroad all this time, and I just opened a studio here in Novaport.
“Since Giselle’s doing pretty well around here, I figured I’d make use of some free resources. I mean, why not, right?”
Ashton’s brows only tightened even more. This time, he was visibly nervous.
“Don’t be fooled by her again, Jake! She doesn’t deserve you at all! Back then-”
A hint of frustration flashed across his face before he continued, “Back then, she confessed her feelings to me. I didn’t want to distract you during your exam, so I planned to tell you after that.
“Then, I heard you two broke up, so I didn’t bring it up at all. Trust me, Jake. She’s not as great as she seems. Don’t even think of getting back together with her!”
As it struck by lightning, Jake froze and widened his eyes in utter disbelief. “What? You were the guy she was into back then?”
Suddenly, his expression turned awkward. “You know, she isn’t actually that bad. In fact, she’s pretty great! I think you might’ve misunderstood her…”
Ashton realized that Jake was oblivious, while he could see everything from the outside.
Frustrated and exasperated, he cut in. “Wake up, Jake! You were just telling me to stay away from toxic women, and now, look at you! You deserve someone way
better.
“Don’t waste your time and feelings on someone like her!”
Jake only gave an awkward chuckle.
“You know, have you considered the possibility that Giselle… might actually be my older sister? As in, biological sister?”
Before Ashton could even digest his words, a sultry voice came from behind them.
“Long time no see, Ashton.”
It had been a few years, and Giselle had only gotten more stunning and composed.
Ashton was sitting in the passenger seat, arms full of tulips, staring out the window in pure embarrassment. He had only found out the truth five minutes ago.
Giselle and Jake were fraternal twins. Their parents had divorced early, each taking one kid and later remarrying.
Even though they didn’t grow up under the same roof, they had always kept in touch and even ended up attending the same university.
Since their family situation was complicated, hardly anyone knew they were actually related. That led to Ashton mistakenly thinking they were dating…
When he found out the truth, he honestly wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
If he had confessed to someone, and the other party had misjudged the whole situation, insulted him, and blocked him without giving him a chance to explain, he would probably hate that person, too.
To top it off, Jake had casually handed him off to Giselle and disappeared.
Ashton stared blankly out the window, watching the streetlights pass in a blur,
“How’d you hurt your neck?” Giselle asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He flinched slightly and instinctively touched the scab on the side of his neck.
“I… scratched it by accident,” he mumbled. He didn’t want to talk about the whole abduction ordeal.
Luckily, Giselle was sharp enough to pick up on that. After confirming he had seen a doctor, she didn’t press any further. He let out a sigh of relief.
When they got to Jake’s place, Giselle pulled out a pair of house slippers for him. A brand–new, blue linen pair, still spotless, was placed neatly by his feet.
“They’re new, and they’ll do for now. If you don’t like them, I’ll get you a different pair.”
Ashton’s face was still a little red when he thanked her and slipped on the slippers.
She handed him a mug of warm water and showed him around the place. When she noticed how uneasy he was, her eyes dimmed with a flicker of disappointment.
She offered with a calm smile, “It’s getting late, so try to get some rest. If you need anything, I’ll go with you to get it tomorrow.”
As Giselle turned to leave, Ashton stared at her momentarily, then found the nerve to speak up.
“Giselle!”
