Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Ashley Shaw Is Just a Country Bumpkin
Mrs. Chase looked at her in surprise and said, "It’s your apartment complex. My son lives in your complex now, and in the same building, too. Last time I came over quickly to help you clean the bathroom because I happened to be off and staying at my son’s place."
Ashley Shaw’s eyes widened.
"You and your son live in this complex where my friend is staying?"
"Yes," Mrs. Chase said, intentionally mentioning the name of the complex and the apartment number.
It was indeed in her complex.
Ashley Shaw’s mind hadn’t wrapped around it yet when she heard Mrs. Chase say, "So the apartment wasn’t the one you found for us?"
"Of course... not. Why would you think that?"
"Because the young master said this is the complex where you live now, and he asked me to look out for you a bit."
Ashley looked up in shock, catching Ariana Grant giving her a meaningful smile from the corner of her eye.
Her mind couldn’t help but recall Ariana had previously told her, "He likes you."
And now, knowing Ariana as well as she does, she must be thinking those four words too.
Warren Prescott... likes her?
Don’t be ridiculous!
That’s an utterly terrifying joke.
She didn’t even want to consider the thought.
Ashley Shaw shook her head and said to the confused Mrs. Chase, "You can understand it as me introducing it; it’s about the same."
Mrs. Chase looked relieved.
"I thought so. Even though the call came from the young master, his personality isn’t that attentive."
"Hmm..." Ashley Shaw vaguely responded, shifting the topic to say to Ariana Grant, "Ariana, you must be hungry, right? Let’s hurry and go eat."
Mrs. Chase, upon hearing this, immediately lost interest in chatting and urged both of them to go in and eat.
Even though there were noticeably more people at the dinner table that night, everyone was as quiet as a chicken.
The air was so still that you could hear a pin drop.
The three women of the Lynch family didn’t dare to speak again.
When Mrs. Lynch sent Jillian Lynch to call Rosalind Lynch to the bathroom, Rosalind cursed them both out.
She even threatened to tell Mr. Lynch if they spoke again.
Terrified, the mother and daughter promised repeatedly not to utter a word.
As a result, at the dinner table, not a word was spoken by the three women.
Claudia Jennings focused only on eating.
Before dinner, Mrs. Lynch had said something negative about Warren Prescott, making her motherly heart uncomfortable, so she was in no mood to play nice.
Ashley Shaw and Ariana Grant were not the types to talk much in such situations, and Warren Prescott was even more unlikely to speak.
When he’s in a bad mood, not even ten prods could get a word out of him.
Of course, even when he’s in a good mood, his words aren’t exactly pleasant.
Only Elder Prescott occasionally chatted with Ashley Shaw about university admissions matters, and after that, no one spoke again.
The quiet dining table made the servants in charge of serving feel very constrained.
Even Ariana Grant, a renowned foodie, found herself with no appetite today, despite the table being laden with delicacies seldom available to her.
Finally, as the meal concluded, Mrs. Lynch hesitated whether to leave immediately to avoid creating more trouble when Rosalind Lynch took the initiative to say, "Aunt, Grandpa Prescott, sorry for the disturbance today. It’s getting late, and we’ll be heading back now."
Claudia Jennings was quite pleased with Rosalind Lynch.
Moreover, when Mrs. Lynch was criticizing Warren Prescott, Rosalind hadn’t said a word.
Thus, Claudia’s displeasure with Mrs. Lynch didn’t extend to Rosalind.
Hearing her say she was leaving, Claudia hurriedly said, "Why the rush? Besides inviting you over for dinner, I also wanted you to join me for a swim today. Since the pool was rebuilt, today is the first day we can swim. You can’t just leave like that."
Rosalind Lynch was eager to leave mainly because she was worried about her mother causing more trouble.
With Claudia warmly urging her to stay, she found herself uncertain.
Mrs. Lynch spoke up, "You young ones stay and have fun; I’m too old, and my health can’t keep up, so I’ll head back first."
Rosalind gave a signal with her eyes.
Her mother had some sense, realizing she could easily cause trouble and volunteering to leave.
Claudia already had some issues with Mrs. Lynch, so hearing her express a desire to leave, she merely smiled, "You need to exercise more and lay off the mahjong. I won’t see you out."
"Alright, no need to see me off. Rosalind, take care of your sister; I’ll go first."
Rosalind Lynch wished her mother would take her sister, Jillian, with her since the way she looked at Warren Prescott made Rosalind uncomfortable.
But being a child, she didn’t think too much of it.
However, since Jillian had already spoken improperly in front of Elder Prescott, staying would be shameful.
But she couldn’t say this directly, so she continued to signal frantically to Mrs. Lynch with her eyes.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Lynch’s limited intelligence couldn’t decipher Rosalind’s signals and mistook them for urging her to leave quickly.
Mrs. Lynch felt displeased but knew she couldn’t risk further offending the Prescott family, so she waved her hand and briskly left.
Rosalind felt speechless and angry but couldn’t show any dissatisfaction on her face.
"Oh, right, Rosalind," Claudia spoke up, "Your birthday is coming soon, isn’t it?"
Rosalind nodded.
"Yes, Aunt. My birthday is in three days."
As she spoke, her gaze subconsciously shifted toward Warren Prescott.
But Warren was merely looking down at his phone, not lifting his eyes even once.
Her heart felt suddenly hollow.
Even though she knew long ago that Warren held no more affection for her, this moment still left her feeling blocked and uncomfortable in her chest.
"That’s great. I have a bracelet my friend brought from abroad; its design is more suitable for your age, not really for me. Come with me, and I’ll give it to you."
Claudia’s words pulled her attention back.
"Thank you, Aunt," she said, offering an embarrassed smile, "You’re too generous."
"No thanks necessary. You’re practically family by now. Come on, I’ll take you upstairs."
Rosalind nodded and instructed Jillian, "Jillian, you stay here. I’ll be down soon."
Jillian, who initially wanted to follow them upstairs, felt displeased, wondering why her sister could go upstairs while she had to awkwardly remain downstairs.
But this was someone else’s home, and the Prescott household too—she couldn’t defy her sister’s words, so she stiffly nodded.
"Okay."
After Rosalind went upstairs, Jillian glanced around and fixed her gaze on Warren Prescott.
She wanted to speak with Warren Prescott.
Even though Grandpa Prescott had heard some unsavory things she said, Warren hadn’t.
Sher image in his mind should be the same as before, right?
However, before she could take a step, she watched Warren walk straight toward Ashley Shaw.
Seeing this unfold, Jillian frowned involuntarily.
Why does Warren keep going to that country girl?
Could it really be like her sister said, that Warren has fallen for that village girl?