Chapter 24: Chapter 24: What Kind of Love Is That?
The corpulent figure unexpectedly fell backward, landing perfectly onto a neatly stacked pile of drinks.
"Thud thud thud..."
All sorts of beverages instantly rolled onto the floor.
The group at the door stood rooted to the spot like life-sized cutouts.
They came to watch the spectacle, but not this kind of spectacle.
Who knows if they might get caught up in the crossfire?
What exactly did Hector Alden do?
Before they entered, all they saw was Hector just walking over to greet Warren Prescott.
While everyone was lost in their thoughts, Warren finally spoke.
"Drag him away. I don’t want to see him again."
With that statement, it was akin to a death sentence for Hector Alden.
Even now, Hector didn’t understand which of Warren’s sensitive points he had hit.
It wasn’t until someone helped him to the door that he braved up to ask: "Warren, I don’t understand, I..."
"Get lost!"
He didn’t even bother to spare a single explanation for someone like Hector.
He knew Ashley Shaw’s character too well. Even though it was Ashley causing trouble according to Hector, he didn’t believe it.
Though he really disliked Ashley, he trusted her.
Hector was dragged away.
The rest who weren’t assigned the task of "dragging away Hector" were preparing to leave when Warren spoke again: "Pick up all those things and take them away."
Everyone was taken aback.
Someone couldn’t help but ask, "Where to?"
"Anywhere."
No one dared to ask further.
Once everything that rolled to the ground was picked up, Warren finally looked back at Ashley Shaw.
"Calculate the total from earlier, I’ll compensate you threefold."
He said this expressionlessly, as if he wasn’t explaining the meaning behind his actions earlier.
But Ashley wasn’t a fool; she could see that Warren had hit someone for her.
But why?
Ashley quickly dismissed the urge to ask and pragmatically calculated the amount.
"A total of ten boxes of drinks, five hundred... twenty bucks."
The number was a bit of a coincidence.
Her mind wandered briefly but quickly returned as she continued, "No need to compensate me threefold, I didn’t account for a discount, just give me five hundred twenty."
Warren rummaged through his wallet and only found seven hundred in cash.
At that time, mobile payments were just emerging, and the store hadn’t adopted it yet, so he simply handed over the full seven hundred.
A threefold compensation; he figured she wouldn’t accept it anyway.
"Besides those drinks, give me a pack of cigarettes. The rest will count as... compensation for the trouble my people caused."
Before Ashley could speak, he added, "I’m of age."
"..."
Ashley turned, took a pack of cigarettes from the back shelf, and placed eighty on the counter.
Warren looked up in confusion, his gaze landing on Ashley’s face.
"I... don’t smoke these."
Ashley paused her hand sharply.
The pack of cigarettes she took was what Warren habitually smoked after they got married in their past life.
Not the brand Warren preferred now.
"Sorry, took the wrong one."
She quickly went to remove the pack, but Warren placed a hand over hers.
"It’s fine, this one will do."
Ashley let go of the cigarettes and drew her hand back from Warren’s grip.
Warren then calmly said, "Regarding today’s incident, I apologize on his behalf; no one will trouble you in the future."
With that, he turned and left.
Ashley was stunned, doubting her ears were functioning properly.
It wasn’t until the glass door opened and closed with successive "ding dong" sounds that she confirmed her ears weren’t playing tricks on her.
But now she suspected there was something wrong with Warren’s mind.
Not long after, the glass door opened again.
Ashley’s demeanor tensed again as she watched Warren come back.
Was he about to reveal his true self?
Yet, Warren awkwardly spoke, "My phone’s dead, can you call Mr. Coleman for me?"
Mr. Coleman was their daily driver to and from school.
Ashley glanced at the change Warren didn’t take and handed the phone over anyway.
"Password."
"000514."
As soon as she said it, Ashley wanted to bite her tongue off.
Warren’s birthday was her phone’s password.
She was so used to it that she hadn’t changed it.
Warren gave her a meaningful glance before dialing Mr. Coleman’s number.
After asking Mr. Coleman to pick him up, he handed the phone back.
Just as Ashley was about to take it, Warren suddenly spoke: "You can move back, you don’t have to make things so hard for yourself."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Warren suddenly realized his heartbeat quickened.
Ashley’s hand paused, then swiftly retrieved the phone.
"If there’s nothing else, you can wait over there."
Her face was emotionless, blocking out Warren’s words.
"No need, I’ll wait outside."
He turned to exit, and the automatic door again made two "ding dong" sounds.
Ashley’s brows slowly furrowed.
She didn’t understand where Warren’s odd behavior was coming from.
Just like she didn’t understand why Warren acted against that fat guy today.
Clearly, the last person who wanted her appearing at the Prescott Family’s house was him. What was the point of offering her to stay now?
Before long, a car stopped at the convenience store’s entrance, and as it drove away, Ashley let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
Whatever Warren thought, she’d be leaving this city soon, never to return.
Trying to figure out why he was acting so weird was pointless.
Ashley’s drowsiness was completely gone, and she retrieved her anatomy book from below, slowly digesting its contents.
...
In the business car.
Warren held the unopened pack of cigarettes, slowly rubbing the words on the packaging with his thumb.
He was certain he’d never smoked this brand before; guys their age preferred foreign brands.
But at the moment, he clearly read a certain and natural expression on Ashley’s face.
As if he’d been smoking this brand for a long time, long enough for her to naturally choose it for him.
He trusted his ability to observe others; he hadn’t been wrong.
But... why?
Why was she so certain?
Didn’t she supposedly have a crush on him for years? He vaguely recalled the contents of a love letter she supposedly wrote him that was widely discussed.
But liking someone and not even knowing what brand of cigarettes they smoke?
What kind of liking is that?
He faintly felt there was something unusual about this.
"Young master, it’s charged enough now."
While awaiting a red light, Mr. Coleman passed the phone, now charged to ten percent, back to Warren.
His thoughts were interrupted as he took the phone.
With a casual glance, he noticed three missed calls.
Two from Rosalind Lynch, and one from a friend he sang with tonight.
He skipped over Rosalind’s calls and returned the call to the friend.
"Hey, Warren."
The other party spoke first: "About Hector’s issue..."
"Don’t mention him again."
"...Alright."
"That convenience store, help keep an eye on it, don’t let anyone cause trouble."
"...Okay."