Chapter 341: Chapter 341: I Just Didn’t Want to Trouble You
Now that Lars Prescott has agreed to let her meet Grandpa Prescott outside, she certainly can’t accept this money.
"It’s fine if you don’t want to. Whenever you do, just come to me and get this card. But I hope our conversation doesn’t reach Warren, you understand."
"Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. As long as you keep your promise to let me meet Grandpa Prescott, I will keep my promise to you."
"Alright, I got it."
...
When she stepped out of Lars Prescott’s study, it was already past nine-thirty. The sky was pitch black, with a few stars faintly visible.
Ariana Grant’s message came through at this time.
[Ashley, why aren’t you home yet? I’ve been waiting for you at home for an hour.]
Ashley Shaw quickly replied while walking downstairs: [You just got home too?]
Ariana replied: [Got home an hour ago. I’ll tell you the details when you get back. What time will you be back?]
[Heading back now. Should be about forty minutes.]
[OK! I’ll wait for you at home, I brought you a lot of stuff.]
[Alright.]
Message sent, she happened to reach downstairs.
Warren Prescott was sitting on the couch in the living room waiting for her, holding a tablet and watching something.
It wasn’t until Ashley Shaw got closer that she realized he was watching a live broadcast of "Survival in the Wild."
Seeing her approach, Warren closed the tablet and asked, "Why are you so slow? Didn’t my mom go in to play cards a while ago?"
Ashley Shaw replied, "I chatted a bit with Grandpa Prescott."
Warren wasn’t suspicious and stood up from the couch.
"Let’s go, I’ll give you a ride back. I’m just heading over to the diner."
"No need." Ashley Shaw found an excuse and said, "Ariana is just around here, I’ll go back with her."
With that, she grabbed her small bag from the couch and headed out.
Warren frowned, but before he could say anything, Ashley had already left the living room.
She walked out of the community and headed towards the bus stop over two hundred meters ahead.
But when she reached the bus stop, she saw the notice posted on the platform.
Public buses in Westcroft had switched from daylight saving time to standard time, and the last bus had already left.
Ashley felt a part of the night chill and realized that midsummer had passed.
Helpless, she had to wait and see if any taxis might pass by.
Just as she looked in the direction she came from, two bright headlights shone over.
Ashley instinctively used her hand to block her eyes and felt the car stop in front of her.
After a brief sting, her eyes gradually adjusted to the light.
She removed her hand and saw the passenger window being rolled down, revealing Warren’s face in the driver’s seat.
His chiseled and handsome face exuded an indescribable chill, yet his lips curled into a teasing smile.
"Didn’t Lowkey say she’d be here? Where is she? Why can’t I see her?"
A vein pulsed on Ashley’s forehead; she wasn’t sure if it was awkwardness or annoyance.
She evasively said, "She has a name; she’s not called Lowkey."
"Alright," Warren followed up, "Where’s Ariana Grant? With her build, there’s no way I wouldn’t see her."
Ashley didn’t want to pretend anymore and directly said, "Ariana is already home. I just didn’t want to bother you."
"So, are you planning to walk home now?"
"I’m waiting for a car."
"There aren’t many taxis around here; you should know this better than I do."
High-end villa areas typically had drivers for each household, and taxis rarely came this way.
Ashley took a light breath, struggling internally.
She didn’t want to get in the car, not out of pretension, but because Lars had just sternly advised her, and she felt like getting into Warren’s car would be somewhat provocative.
She didn’t want to anger Lars over a car ride.
If Lars got furious and prevented her from seeing Elder Prescott even outside, that would be a loss.
But it’s indeed difficult to hail a cab here.
As she hesitated, Warren suddenly got out of the car and opened the passenger door, directly pushing her in.
"Hey...you..."
"If you want to walk until your legs are broken, just step out and try."
That shut Ashley up immediately.
She thought to herself that Lars shouldn’t be bothered by her just taking a ride in Warren’s car, right?
Or rather, he’s not idle enough to have someone follow her, right?
Because of her concerns, she was tense.
And because she was tense, she spoke little throughout the ride.
Warren couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy seeing Ashley’s unusual behavior.
Though Ashley often wasn’t willing to pay him much attention, today she was clearly different from when she arrived.
Plus, at lunch, she even came upstairs to apologize.
What could have changed so suddenly...
Could it be because of something Claudia Jennings said?
As they neared Ariana’s house, Warren finally couldn’t resist asking, "What did my mom say to you?"
Ashley had been cautiously observing the side mirror, checking if anyone was following her.
Hearing Warren suddenly speak startled her.
She steadied herself mentally and said, "Just as you guessed, she apologized to me. Oh, and gave me a red packet."
Warren silently wondered: Then you shouldn’t be this quiet.
He asked, "So, was it because the money she gave you was too little that you couldn’t even bear to take a free ride?"
Ashley hadn’t noticed she was keeping a stern face; she was just too tense.
Hearing Warren say this, she subconsciously touched her face.
Was her face really that stern?
"Was it?"
"What do you think?"
"..."
Warren, seeing her reaction, knew she wasn’t acting unusual because of him specifically.
He felt marginally relieved, though his face stayed stern as he said, "You still haven’t answered my question—did she not give you enough?"
Truthfully, Ashley hadn’t checked how much Claudia Jennings gave.
The red packet from Claudia was the hard cardboard type, unlike the card Lars gave, where you could tell by touch.
Ashley truthfully said, "I haven’t looked yet."
"Have a look."
She cast a sideways glance, "Why?"
"Don’t worry, I’m not going to take it. Just want to know how stingy she was to make you look so grim."
Though he said this, he was really trying to figure out the cause of her abnormal demeanor.
"I already said, I wasn’t grim."
"Then what was up with you?"
Ashley’s expression slightly tightened, then she laughed, "What, I’m naturally born with a sullen face, can’t I? Don’t you want to see how much is in the red packet? I’ll take a look..."
She said this while taking out the red packet Claudia gave her from her bag.
Opening the red packet, Ashley was momentarily shocked, almost unable to believe her eyes.
Did Claudia really give her this?
Was there a mistake?
Catching a glimpse of her reaction, Warren actually became curious about how much was in the red packet.
"What’s up?" he asked. "Was it too much or too little?"
Ashley came back to her senses and slowly pulled the money out of the red packet.