A Love Trap

Chapter 176 Feeling Anxious

Brown and Laura had lived in L City most of their lives. Living there was totally different than living in J City. Understandably, they were not used to the lifestyle here.

They had developed dark circles under their eyes, obviously from lacking of sleep.

Ashley knew Ellie was struggling. So, she said, "Brown, Laura, it's getting late now. Why not go to sleep? Give Ellie sometime to think about it. She has her own concerns. I will talk to her."

"Okay! We will go to sleep," agreed Laura. "But don't stay up talking too late. It's not good for your health."

"We won't. Goodnight Laura!" said Ashley.

Laura and Brown walked to their room. Ashley looked at Ellie and asked, "What do you think, Ellie? Should we keep them here or let them go back?"

Ellie looked confused. "I don't know. I want to keep them here so that I can take good care of them," she replied. "But they are not used to the life here. I really don't know what to do."

Ashley thought for a moment, and said, "I think it's the best to let them go back to L City.

They have a life there, and they love it. But they will not leave this place if you don't agree because they love you.

At the same, it's tough for them to adjust to their life here, too. We can't stay with them all the time. We have to go to work, which means they would have to navigate the city by themselves, and J City is huge! They don't know where to go and how to get around.

Of course, you can run all the errands for them. But they are still healthy and wouldn't want to be fully dependent on you. They care about you and don't want to burden you. I think they will be happier in L

City.

If you want, we can go visit them more often."

Ellie agreed, "I guess I don't have much of a choice."

Ashley was glad that Ellie finally agreed. She asked, "When do you plan to send them home?"

Ellie responded, "Maybe in a couple of days. I want to spend a little more time with them."

Ashley hugged her and said, "Okay! Don't think about it too much. All good things must come to an end."

All of the sudden, Ashley's phone rang. She answered it quickly as she didn't want to wake up Brown and Laura. She walked to the kitchen. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"Hello?" she said in a low voice.

"Come down," Andrew commanded in his usual stern voice.

Ashley was surprised to hear from him. "I already told you! I am going to stay here with Ellie tonight," she hissed.

She heard him sneering on the other end. "You only said that you would not need me to pick you up after work," he argued.

Confused, Ashley questioned, "Really? I'm pretty sure I told you I would be staying here tonight."

"I'm giving you one minute to come out," he said calmly but firmly.

He didn't want to sleep without Ashley in his arms. He had a hard time falling asleep without her by his side.

"Hey! You can't be so—" Andrew hung up. She didn't even have the chance to finish berating him.

She wanted to tell him off for being bossy!

She stomped her foot. 'A minute? Screw it! It will take at least three minutes to get to the first floor!' she thought to herself.

Ashley was frustrated. She walked back into the living room. "Ellie, I have to go. Let me know when you are taking Brown and Laura back. I will go with you," she told her friend.

Seeing Ashley's glum face, Ellie guessed what had happened. She teased her, "You are leaving, because your friend is here to pick you up. Am I right? You are going to stay at your friend's house again, aren't you?"

"Ellie!" Ashley cried a little loudly and ran to grab her friend to teach her a lesson.

But her phone rang again before she could get to Ellie.

Ashley didn't answer it this time. She grabbed her purse and said, "I will let you off the hook this time!"

Ashley walked out and got into the car. She realized Andrew was in the driver's seat. She glance at him. "Why are you here? You told me you would ask Johnny to pick me up," she asked.

His face was hard, revealing no emotion whatsoever. "So what? Do you prefer Johnny to drive you instead of me?" he asked.

There was no expression on Andrew's face. However, he already made a decision.

His subsidiaries in Africa still needed someone to help manage the business.

Johnny was a good choice.

Meanwhile, Johnny, who was still at work, sneezed. He rubbed his nose wondering who was thinking about him at that moment.

He didn't have an inkling that it was his boss, who was currently planning to transfer him to Africa.

Johnny would start wailing if he knew his boss was jealous of him because of a simple question posed by Ashley.

Ashley could read Andrew very well by now even though his face was expressionless. She could tell something was off with him.

But she wasn't entirely sure.

So, she turned to him and asked, "Are you jealous?"

Andrew snorted arrogantly. He stared outside and responded, "No. I don't even know what jealousy is. So how could I feel that emotion?"

Ashley was trying really hard not to laugh out loud. "Alright, you are not!" she replied with a smirk.

She suddenly found him really cute at that moment!

But she just realized something. Ashley sighed.

It was quite loud and drew Andrew's attention. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Ellie's grandparents are going to leave, and she is a little upset. She needs me! I want to spend more time with her," she explained.

Andrew sneered and thought to himself, 'No, she doesn't. You just want to stay with her!'

He frowned. "Are you sure she really needs you?" he asked.

Ashley responded, "I am telling you. Before I met you, Ellie and I would spend every day together. Brown and Laura are going to leave soon, and she is going to be all by herself. Of course, she needs me!"

Andrew pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

She kept trying to explain herself and was talking for a long time. Suddenly, she realized Andrew hadn't respond to any of it. So she turned to look at him.

She was shocked! Beads of sweat had collected on his forehead, and his face was pale. He was clearly not okay. He was biting his lips to hold himself together.

Ashley panicked. "Andrew, are you okay?" she asked.

He looked at her casually. "I am okay. No worries," he assured her.

Ashley bit her lower lip. She was really worried about him. "How can you be okay? You don't look good at all," she said looking concerned.