Ch. 786..790: Powerful Papa with Triplet Babies Chapter 786-790
Chapter 786
Ashlynn did not feel the need to answer her question and continued, “Do you feel like he’s acting differently toward you compared to five years ago?”
Meredith was surprised by the thought that they had known one another from five years ago. She had thought that Corentin was unlike other men, who would keep mistresses, and it seemed as though she had misjudged him.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s always been great to me. He’s never changed.” Frustrated, Meredith turned to leave.
“Are you leaving, Ms. Hilton?” The butler asked.
She turned to look at the butler. “This woman was here last night, right? Or has she been here for days? Your Mr. Lloyd is just an ordinary man, after all. It seems like I should be reconsidering our engagement!” She then turned to leave.
Ashlynn remained frozen in place, consumed by her thoughts.
Meredith said that she knew Corentin from a young age and that he had not changed at all, which simply meant that Salvatore was far too good at hiding himself, to the point that he might have fooled himself.
Apart from the looks, Salvatore appeared to be a completely different person, he had even stopped smoking.
Ashlynn noticed that she no longer smelt the scent of cigarette oozing from him when they kissed.
How was it possible for him to act like a completely different man to the point that even his scent had changed?
Overwhelmed, she saw stars and stumbled outside.
“Are you alright, Ms. Thompson?”
She shook her head and left, her head still spinning.
If Corentin refused to admit that he was Salvatore, she would have thought that she had been overthinking it, but Corentin himself had admitted to it.
She had even started wondering if anything supernatural was involved, and could not help but mock herself for it.
By the time she came to, she realized she was walking toward the river filled with alligators. She wanted to turn and leave, but could not control the unknown urge to approach it. Through the trail, she arrived at the cliff.
The area was quiet and under the dawning sun, the branches surrounding the river turned
into a beautiful golden yellow. The scenery was breath–taking, but soon, the head of an alligator appeared on the surface of the river.
Though it was the second time she had seen it, she was still frightened as though the alligators would attack her. She stumbled backward and accidentally stepped on something, which she thought was a rock at first. She lowered her head to find that it was a hair tie with a black bead on it.
She remembered that it belonged to Amy.
‘Why is this here?’ She thought. ‘By the cliff, with alligators waiting down there…after what happened, I haven’t seen Amy around and they said she quit…‘
À thought slowly formed in her head and she felt all strength draining from her legs. “Ahh!!!
” She screamed.
“Are you alright?” The maid that followed her asked.
She looked up with fear and tears in her eyes. “What do these alligators eat?”
“They are fed fresh meat every day.”
It was the same answer as Amy had given her, but Ashlynn could no longer trust them
Chapter 787
Her stomach turned and she immediately started vomiting. “Ugh…!”
“Ms. Thompson, are you okay? Ms. Thompson…”
Ashlynn shoved the maid away and stumbled forward, before collapsing on the ground.
When she slowly regained consciousness, she realized that there was a man sitting by her bed.
“The doctor has come by and said that you passed out because of over–exhaustion. Did I go overboard last night?” Corentin asked gently.
Noticing that he was holding her hand, she jolted away and sat up. “Where is Amy?” “Who?”
“The maid who tripped me yesterday.”
“I sent her on her way. How dare she hurt you, when even I couldn’t bring myself to do it?” He stared into her eyes obsessively.
“Did you send her on her way, or did you throw her into the river to feed the alligators?” She said with a lump in her throat. “Don’t even try to deny it. I found her hair tie next to the cliff. Why would she be there for no reason at all? Give me her house address. I won’t believe you until I see her alive with my own eyes!”
He shot her a dark look. “You need to rest.”
“Y–you are horrible. I want to leave. I want to leave!” She lifted the blanket on her, but Corentin pulled her backward and pinned her down against the bed with such force that it felt as though he was trying to trap her on the bed forever.
“Don’t forget who you are, Mrs. Lloyd.” He held out a paper and tears instantly started to gather in Ashlynn’s eyes.
She knew what it was. It was a marriage certificate that he had kept after forcing her to sign the paperwork.
“I don’t want to be your wife. I didn’t want to in the past, and I will never want that. Let me go!” She broke down and screamed. “Salvatore, you monster!”
“You are going to share your bed with a monster every night from now on.” He pinned her wrists above her head and lowered his head to kiss her on the lips, before kissing away her tears in a sickeningly obsessive manner.
Feeling drained, Ashlynn stopped fighting him, but she had never been so determined to escape.
She had to leave.
When Corentin was at work, Cory called him over to the Lloyd family’s chateau for dinner.
As they took their seats, Cory asked, “How’s your older brother doing?”
“Same. Still in a vegetative state.”
“He’s not as fortunate as you, and neither is he as capable as you. I’m glad to have you inherit our family business, but I heard that you’ve been keeping a lover at your place?”
Corentin focused on his food expressionlessly. “News travels fast, huh?”
“Meredith complained to her grandfather about it and he is extremely upset about this. I do not want this to affect the engagement between our families,” Cory said.
“What’s there to fuss over? You are a man yourself. You should understand.”
“You shouldn’t have kept your lover at your own place,” Cory said, “relocate her to somewhere else and pay the Hiltons a visit with an apology and some gifts, then it will all pass with time.”
“I will handle it,” Corentin simply said.
“I heard that this woman is Anne’s assistant? Have you considered the possibility of her plotting something to leave her assistant behind so that her assistant can climb her way into your bed?” Cory asked.
“Anne is just still a wench. She isn’t capable of plotting anything and Anthony knows better than to interfere with matters in Athetin.”
“Anthony Marwood is an ambitious man and you should be careful, which is why we need to join hands with the Hiltons to strengthen our position here in Athetin. I hope that you can read into the situation. Remember, it’s not hard to stand on the very top of the food chain, but to stay there is what’s most important.”
Suppressing the impatience he felt, Corentin set his spoon down. “I’m done. Enjoy your meal.” He got up to leave.
The servants brought him his jacket and he headed toward the door, before stopping on his path to turn and look at Cory. “If Meredith Hilton is that jealous of a woman, we might want to consider finding me another wife!”
He turned to leave without further hesitation, and Cory instantly lost his appetite.
The butler came over and consoled him, “I think Mr. Corentin is just interested in that woman for the time being. Don’t worry. All men love what’s new and once he gets sick of her, this will pass.”
“I did not raise him to disobey me. Men love beautiful women by nature, but he should be focusing on advancing his position. I would like to see what this woman is made of to get him head over heels for her.”
Chapter 788
Ashlynn was in her room when the maid came and told her that Cory wanted to see her.
She hurried down the stairs and saw the man sitting in the living room. She instinctively knew that that had to be Anne’s grandfather and walked over politely.
“You are Anne’s assistant?” Cory asked.
“Yes. My name is Ashlynn Thompson.”
“I don’t care about your name. You should have focused on doing your job, instead of climbing into my son’s bed,” Cory said in contempt, “you shouldn’t be here.”
“If I’m given permission to leave, I will leave right away,” she said.
Confused, Cory asked, “Are you trying to say that Corentin forced himself on you? You must think highly of yourself.”
“Do you really know your son?” She asked. “Can’t you tell that your son has been replaced by someone else?”
“What?”
“The Corentin you see now isn’t the real one. The man you see now is Salvatore Yeager, my ex– husband. You’ve all been fooled by him.” Ashlynn felt that telling the truth was her only way to escape.
“What are you talking about?” He glared at her.
“I’m telling the truth! I don’t know what happened, but I can be certain that the Corentin you see now is actually Salvatore. He admitted it himself!” She was hanging by a thread when she told the truth.
However, Cory did not believe her and was provoked by her words. “What a load of nonsense!”
“I’m telling the truth! You can try looking into it. There has to be something! Salvatore was supposed to die in the prison and if you’ll just look into it, you should be able to find evidence!”
Cory stood up. “I don’t know what you’ve been through here, but it’s best that you don’t run your mouth like that. You don’t need Corentin’s approval. I will let you go now. Do not appear in Athetin or in front of my son again!”
She wanted to argue, but was thrown out of the mansion before she could say another word.
News of what happened soon traveled to Corentin at work.
He was in the middle of a meeting when his secretary came over to whisper something in
his ear. His expression darkened and he immediately got up to walk out of the meeting room, leaving the other managers in the meeting room behind.
He called Cory right away and questioned, “What do you think you are doing?”
“I’m supposed to be the one asking that question. That woman said that you are Salvatore Yeager and that she’s your ex–wife. You can’t keep someone like that here!”
“Leave her alone!”
“Don’t worry. I’m not about to bully someone that insignificant. I told her to leave Athetin. I don’t care where she goes, as long as she doesn’t show up in front of you again.”
Corentin hung up with a dark look in his eyes and cursed inwardly. ‘All these f*ckers dare to come around and tell me what to do!‘
Ashlynn returned to Luton and hurried to the office, fearing that someone might be chasing after her along the way.
Her colleague was shocked to see her. “Ms. Thompson, you are back!”
Ashlynn ignored everyone else and marched forward, turning around from time to time to check if she was being followed, because she could not shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
When she arrived at Anne’s office, she forgot to knock and barged in directly to find Anthony sitting on the couch inside, while Anne stood in a distance away from him.
Stunned by Ashlynn’s sudden appearance, Anne muttered, “Ms. Thompson?”
Ashlynn’s eyes traveled between Anthony and Anne frantically. She had not expected to see Anthony here and was at a loss of her words.
Sensing something was wrong, Anne walked up to her and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Suddenly, Ashlynn heard footsteps behind her and was startled into hiding behind Anne. Ms. Vallois, I don’t want to go back to Athetin. They’ve come to take me back…”
When she saw Ken walking in, she relaxed slightly.
Ken had come to discuss certain matters at work with Anne and was instantly overwhelmed by the odd atmosphere inside the room.
Chapter 789
“You can go outside for now. We will talk later,” Anne said.
“Yes.” Ken walked out and closed the door behind him.
Before Anne could ask Ashlynn about who had captured her, Ashlynn ignored Anthony and blurted out saying, “Ms. Vallois, we’ve all been fooled. The Corentin in the Lloyd Family at the moment is fake. He’s actually Salvatore!”
“Salvatore… who is that?” Anne asked in confusion.
With fear all over her face, Ashlynn explained, “He’s my ex–husband and was arrested for a certain crime. He was supposed to be sentenced to death five years ago, but…he’s shown up again, only this time as Corentin of the Lloyd Family. Something must have happened. Why didn’t Salvatore die? How did he become Corentin? I think that he might have murdered the real Corentin and replaced him!”
Shocked, Anne turned to look at Anthony and Anthony remained quiet with a dark expression.
It was no wonder that Ashlynn mentioned that she would never get married during her interview if something like that had happened before.
“But we performed a paternity test on him before and everything checks out, which means he is indeed a Lloyd. Maybe you’re mistaken?” Anne asked.
“He told me this himself. My wedding photo with Salvatore is in his room so there has to be an issue with the paternity test. Maybe he forged the results. Before marrying him, I didn’t know what kind of a person he was because he was nice to me and appeared to be normal. After getting married, I realized what a monster he was. He murdered his own parents and killed mine as well in the cruelest way
possible. I couldn’t change him, so I could only contact the police to arrest him. Half a year later, he was sentenced to death and I even carried his ashes for a burial. I didn’t expect…”
“What did Corentin do to you, then?” Anne asked. “I thought you called and told me that you wanted to stay.”
“That wasn’t me. Corentin found someone who had a similar voice as mine to call you. He locked me in his mansion, away from all telecommunication devices. I couldn’t escape and he forced me to do things that I didn’t want to…”
Anne came to a realization. “So, he didn’t agree to work with us for my dad’s sake, but for yours.”
“People like that do things for a reason,” Anthony said.
Anne had not imagined Corentin to be such a person as he seemed like a gentleman.
“Now that the business deal is sealed between the two companies, you need to be careful,”
Ashlynn said.
Just then, Anne’s phone on the desk started to ring,
Anne walked over to have a look and said, “It’s Corentin.”
Ashlynn held her breath nervously.
Anne noticed her reaction and turned to look at Anthony, silently asking for his opinion.
“Just listen to what he has to say,” Anthony said.
Anne answered the call. “Hello, Uncle.”
“Is Ashlynn with you?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say something to you?”
“Did you do something to her, Uncle?”
“I suppose I’ve scared her. I’ll go over once I’m done with work here. There should be enough time for her to calm down.”
“How long?”
“Two days.”
“Sure. I’ll wait for you.” Anne ended the call and said, “I can’t tell if anything is wrong with him at all.”
Ashlynn panicked. “He’s coming?”
“He said he has something to take care of and will be here in two days. Ashlynn, if you want to resolve this, it’s best to talk it out when everyone is here. I want to know just how sincere he is with the deal between our companies. I wouldn’t have signed the contract with him if it wasn’t for my dad.” Anne felt tricked if Corentin had not agreed to work with them because they were family.
“I understand…” Ashlynn nodded blankly.
Anne walked over to her. “Just go home and rest for a while, Ashlynn. I will contact you when my uncle is here. Don’t think too much. You will have to face this at some point. Face it with courage. After all, if he wants to track you down, there’s no point in hiding.”
“Alright. I’ll go now.” Ashlynn bowed in Anthony’s direction, before leaving the office. “Speaking from experience?” Anthony questioned with a low, seductive voice.Chapter 790
Anne noticed his teasing tone and retorted, “Yeah. I spoke from my experience. Who do I have to thank for such experiences but the almighty Mr. Marwood?”
Anthony signaled for her to come closer.
Anne did not want to move, but weighed her choices as she met his eyes, before walking over.
He dragged her down to sit on his lap and she gasped. “We are still in the office. Control yourself.”
“What exactly do you think I’m about to do?” He stared at her pointedly.
She pursed her lips in silence.
“Whatever you want, I will satisfy you.”
Feeling chills down her spine, she said, “I don’t want to do anything! Just say what you need to say already!” She could not understand why they had to be so close for him to speak.
“What are you going to do?” Anthony asked.
Anne thought about it and said, “I will have to perform another paternity test on Corentin and if there’s an issue, we can only be careful since there’s a penalty for breaking the contract. If his target is Ashlynn, this won’t affect the company. If everything checks out, however…”
“Then you will stay out of it.”
Anne gaped at him. “Stay out of it? And just leave Ashlynn to handle this on her own?”
“That’s between the two of them.”
“No way!” She struggled to get up and insisted, “She’s my employee and this happened under my watch. I’m not going to stand idly by.”
She went to sit down on her chair with a dark, but determined look on her face.
Apart from the responsibility on her as Ashlynn’s employer, she reminded Anne of what had happened to herself and Anne could not say that Ashlynn had it any easier.
Anne still had people around to help her and even if it was all in vain in the end, she still had someone to talk to, whereas for Ashlynn, she stayed in Luton alone with no friends or family to support her. Without any help, she would be rendered helpless.
Anne could not imagine that Ashlynn would have a husband like that…
“Go back. I need to get back to work,” she said.
Anthony’s expression darkened as he glared at her. “Why are you upset?”
“I’m not. I just wasted an hour. You must be busy as well, so don’t just stay here…”
He grabbed her by the jaw and forced her to look up to face his sharp, dark eyes. “You think she’s going through the same thing as you?”
“So what if I do? Do you want to deny it?” Anne looked into his eyes fearlessly.
She was merely stating the facts, but she could sense Anthony’s hand on her jaw shaking and she realized it was the result of him suppressing the urge to crush her jaw.
“What? You can’t stand me mentioning something that you did? Or do you want to erase the past? Unless I lose all my memories, or that’s never going to happen. Are you capable of that?”
Anthony’s expression darkened further as he narrowed his eyes dangerously. “You are dredging stuff up from the past.”
“Anthony Marwood, if it wasn’t for the kids, I would have never allowed you to trap me in this city, even if it means death.” Anne shoved his hand away and lowered her head to stare at the documents on the desk.
Anthony tensed and withdrew his hand, before uttering coldly, “What a shame that there’s no ‘if‘!”
He turned to leave, slamming the door behind him.
Anne fell backward and thought to herself, ‘Yeah. There’s no ‘if‘, so what’s the point in talking about this? Just to fight him? How pointless!’
After Ashlynn returned home, she remembered that her dog was still at the pet store. She had left it there before her business trip and paid them to look after it for a week.