Chapter 42: Chapter 42: A Game Between Two
Ashley Shaw’s hand holding the chess piece froze.
With a "clatter," the white piece fell to the ground.
She snapped back to reality, apologized, and crouched down to find the chess piece.
Coincidentally, the white piece happened to roll towards the door.
Ashley, bent over, chased after it, only to see a foot stretch forward to stop the piece.
A hand calloused from years of basketball picked up the white piece a step ahead of her.
What Ashley saw were black leather shoes and neatly pressed black trousers; she straightened up, knowing without looking who it was.
Warren Prescott.
Wearing a suit instead of casual clothes, Warren didn’t look like a child in adult wear. Instead, he exuded a certain elite aura.
He now somewhat resembled the person she had seen when she visited the company in a past life.
Ashley’s breath caught involuntarily.
The teenage Warren, she could still consider him a stranger, but this Warren, inexplicably, made her feel confined.
As if the painful memories she had frozen over were suddenly unlocked and flooded in like a tide.
"Thank you." She worked hard to maintain normal breathing and thanked him calmly, then spread her palm open, waiting for Warren to place the white piece in her hand.
Just to avoid the touch between fingers.
But Warren stepped to the side, striding directly to the edge of the chessboard.
"The black piece is in a deadlock. Grandpa, you’ve already lost."
"None of your business! Why did you come back?" Elder Prescott’s voice was clearly displeased.
Warren gave a bitter smile: "Grandpa, have you forgotten I’m your own grandson?"
"I know you’re my grandson."
"..." Why did that sound strange?
"But didn’t you say you’d be at the company all day today and might be busy until late?"
Warren placed the white piece into the chess box, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
"Everyone was efficient, so we finished early."
To be precise, he heard Ashley was coming, so he sped up to finish his work and went straight home.
He only returned to check how her forehead injury was, with no other intentions.
But from that glance just now, her forehead still seemed swollen.
Did she not use an ice pack properly?
Warren turned his head, ignoring the disapproving look from his grandfather, and said to Ashley, "I remember we haven’t played a game together, shall we?"
Ashley looked at Grandpa Prescott.
But Grandpa Prescott had already stood up voluntarily to vacate the spot.
Ariana Grant also gestured a "good luck" sign to her, looking very enthusiastic.
Helpless, Ashley walked over and sat where Grandpa Prescott had been.
Grandpa Prescott loved playing chess, but lacking talent, he was often defeated by her with nothing left.
But Warren was different.
She remembered that during the summer of eighth grade, he had won a national championship for his age group.
It was probably around then that she started to take an interest in Go.
"Ladies first, you go first."
Ashley picked up a white piece and placed it at the center.
Half an hour later.
Ariana Grant was getting anxious beside them.
The pieces were nearly filling the board, why wasn’t it over yet?
Helpless, she couldn’t understand and had to whisper to Elder Prescott.
"Grandpa, who has a better chance of winning between them?"
Elder Prescott stroked his beard.
"Hard to say, really hard to say."
Ashley handled the white pieces, Warren the black. The white pieces seemed at a disadvantage at first, but halfway through, fortunes reversed suddenly, changing from passive defense to offense.
Now, the black and white were entangled, either could fall into the other’s trap at the next step, making it hard to tell the winner.
Elder Prescott was watching intensely, his brain almost overheating.
He just now realized that Ashley had been holding back when playing against him, and this was her true strength.
Listening to Elder Prescott’s words, Ariana was no longer anxious.
After all, being able to play against Warren for so long, Ashley was already impressive.
Just as Ariana was getting drowsy from boredom, suddenly Elder Prescott exclaimed.
"Won! Won!"
Ariana snapped awake.
"Won? Who won?"
Just then, Warren stood up and said, "I concede."
Oh, Ashley won!
But Ashley’s expression wasn’t very pleased.
If it were an official match, she would have been the loser.
Her play time had exceeded the single-player limit, while Warren seemed to make his moves without much thought.
She won this round, but it was a hard-fought and not-so-glorious win.
Just like in a past life; though marrying him wasn’t her schemed plan, it also wasn’t entirely forthright.
There was some selfishness after all.
"It’s I who should concede."
Ashley spoke and stood up to Elder Prescott, "Grandpa Prescott, we’ve troubled you long enough today, we should head back."
Grandpa Prescott asked, unwilling to let go, "Won’t you stay a little longer? You’ve only been with me for two hours."
"It’s getting dark, and I’m afraid it might rain again. I’ll come visit you next time."
Upon hearing this, Warren suspected that his presence was the reason she was in such a hurry to leave.
Did she really want to avoid him that badly?
He had indeed done many wrongs in the past, but he was reflecting now. Couldn’t she give him a chance to make amends?
"Goodbye, Grandpa," Ariana also bade farewell.
No matter how reluctant Grandpa Prescott was, he knew he couldn’t persuade them to stay, giving Warren a reproachful glare before saying, "Make sure to take your things. Warren, go help. Or maybe...you’re probably tired too."
"I didn’t have much work today, not tired. What needs moving?"
Grandpa Prescott glanced at Warren, surprised.
He felt like the lad was up to no good; otherwise, why would he be so enthusiastic about helping Ashley find a part-time job and moving things?
He hadn’t seen him this eager to help Ashley before!
But since Warren agreed, he was happy to see the children’s relationship improve.
After all, they’re like siblings, and if they stayed estranged, Ashley would be even less inclined to visit him.
"The stuff is in the living room, quite a bit, call a few more people."
Ashley wanted to refuse, but Grandpa Prescott’s enthusiasm was hard to resist.
She didn’t want to accept, but seeing Grandpa’s pleading eyes, she had to give in.
The gifts from Grandpa Prescott were mostly imported fruits, not very expensive but in large volume.
Ashley thought she could take some to the shop tomorrow, just right for making fruit cakes.
It wasn’t until the fruits were moved to the door that Ashley realized how much the "quite a bit" really meant.
It was no ordinary "quite a few."
The trunk of a car couldn’t fit; Elder Prescott actually called for a pickup truck to load all the fruits.
"If you can’t finish the fruits, share them with your friends and neighbors so they can look out for you more."
Ashley’s eyes turned misty.
Grandpa Prescott’s kindness was always so open, which made her feel even more guilty.
There was no way to repay him.
"Thank you, Grandpa."
"Silly child, thank me for what? Hurry and go back, it’s not safe after dark."
Just as Ashley was about to nod, Warren opened the pickup truck door, "I’ll go with you to drop off the stuff, otherwise who knows how long it’ll take to move them."
He closed the door with a "bang," cutting off any rejection Ashley might have voiced.