Chapter 194 - 193: Asher is Like a Preening Peacock

Chapter 194: Chapter 193: Asher is Like a Preening Peacock

Stella was barking frantically in the backyard. Someone had clearly jumped the wall.

Stella is very sharp; she can sense disturbances that people can’t.

Asher sold his shares in the Lancaster Group to Astraeus. Astraeus suddenly got involved with the Lancaster Group, and its senior management began to take over. This had undoubtedly infuriated the people in the Lancaster Family, led by Master Lancaster.

I pushed the door open in a panic, and the heart that was in my throat finally dropped back into place.

Leaning against the doorframe, I was breathing heavily. My rush had left me short of breath, my heart pounding a little faster.

In that moment, I had to admit it. Regardless of my past memories, right now, I was worried about Asher.

I was very worried about him.

"Cece..." Asher seemed really drunk. He was curled up at the foot of the bed, hugging his knees, looking utterly lost the moment he saw me.

I let out a sigh of relief. Seeing the person lying on the floor, I cautiously approached.

"Are you hurt?" I crouched in front of Asher and asked softly.

There were a few drops of blood on his pale face, making him look dangerously beautiful.

On impulse, I raised my hand to wipe the blood from his face, but he caught my hand, his gaze scorching.

His gaze was hot and intense, as if it could burn me. "Cece... it’s not my blood."

My back tensed. Asher’s eyes looked as if they could swallow me whole.

Just as I thought he was about to kiss me in a setting like this, his head suddenly drooped, and he threw his arms around me, slurring drunkenly, "Cece... what happened? I’m so scared. My head is spinning..."

Smelling the alcohol on him, I sighed helplessly. "Owen, take care of this. Hand him over to the police."

Owen Foster smiled, seemingly relieved as well...

’He was probably thinking that I’d finally stopped checking if the other person was dead the moment Asher laid hands on someone, and instead checked if Asher was hurt first.’

’So when Asher was looking at me so intently just now, was he also thinking that I was finally putting him first?’

’That idiot...’

"I’ll send him to the station." Owen Foster checked the pulse of the man on the floor. He was just knocked out by Asher, not dead.

I saw both Owen Foster and myself let out a sigh of relief.

Asher was draped over me drunkenly. I couldn’t tell if he was really drunk or just pretending. He was covered in the other man’s blood, filthy, and his hair was a mess...

And yet, that face of his was incomparably handsome.

"Cece..." Asher was probably truly drunk, as he kept calling my name.

"Wife... Cece..." He sounded like he was whining, clinging to me and refusing to let go.

I sighed. ’So he’s stopped playing dumb and started playing drunk now?’

I didn’t know if he was really drunk or just faking it, but either way, he needed a good bath.

"Get up. Go take a shower. You’re filthy..." I said in disgust, dragging him to the bathroom.

Asher followed me obediently and raised his hands as soon as we entered the bathroom.

"..." He wanted me to take off his sweatshirt for him.

I had to stand on my tiptoes just to pull it over his head. Our eyes met, and for a second, my heart skipped a beat.

My breath hitched. The next second, Asher had used the sweatshirt still looped around his arms to trap me in his embrace, and he kissed me, his eyes hazy as if veiled in mist.

’How was I supposed to refuse this?’

’He was like a captivating demon.’

’If animals could become spirits, Asher would definitely be a fox.’

"Pants..." The man had kissed me until I was breathless, and now he had the gall to shamelessly ask me to help him with his pants?!

’I wanted to run. My heart was racing, my cheeks were hot, but I was trapped by his sweatshirt and couldn’t escape.’

"Cece... you’re blushing." Asher whispered, as if he’d discovered a wondrous new continent. "Cece, quick, feel your pulse."

I looked at Asher, bewildered. "Why should I feel my pulse?"

"You used to say that liking someone is the excitement of the sympathetic nervous system, an increase in hormone secretion, the transmission of dopamine, a racing heart... If your heart rate is higher than your resting rate when we kiss, it means you like me," Asher explained very seriously.

I froze for a moment. ’Was I really that cringey in the past? Did I really need a formula to define love?’

"Ahem... You talk too much." I looked down and tugged at the drawstring of his sweatpants, then a thought struck me. My eyes narrowed. "Take off your own pants and get in the tub! You’re drunk, not disabled!"

Asher put on a pitiful act and pretended to be faint again. "Cece... I don’t feel good... That alcohol made my body so hot, I think... I’m in heat."

"..." I gritted my teeth. "I have a pair of scissors over there. How about I neuter you?"

Asher immediately stood up straight, obediently took off his own clothes, and got into the bathtub, stripping off his pants without treating me like a stranger at all.

I rubbed my temples. ’This guy really has no shame at all!’

’Although... we are a legally married couple.’

"Cece... my hands hurt." Asher held out his hands, and only then did I notice the wounds on his palms!

"Why didn’t you say so earlier!" I hurried to get the first-aid kit, muttering and worrying myself sick.

Asher rested on the edge of the tub with a pitiful expression, watching me treat his wounds. His gaze was a little unfocused and hazy; he was probably genuinely drunk.

Steam filled the bathroom. The man leaning on the edge of the tub... was as beautiful as a figure from Greek mythology...

"Cece..." Asher whispered my name, his eyelashes fluttering.

’So alluring.’

"Cece..." He seemed to be in genuine discomfort, slumping in the tub with only half his head showing.

’It’s over... His bathroom is too big, the tub is too big. I have the distinct impression this guy is a siren, luring people to their doom.’

"What are you doing?" I watched him warily.

"Cece... I’m uncomfortable." His hands were still resting on the edge of the tub. "My hands can’t get wet. Can you help me...?"

I felt he was pushing his luck, so I stood up to leave.

"Cece," he called my name, sounding pitiful.

But this time, I wasn’t going to spoil him.

"Cece, you like me. Don’t trust Julian Fletcher, he’s shameless," Asher muttered, not forgetting to badmouth Julian even at a time like this.

I scoffed and looked at Asher. "You’re pretty shameless yourself."

"Cece, we’re legally married. Everything I have is yours. My face, my body, they’re yours too. I don’t want them, they’re all for you."

Asher said this with utmost seriousness.

I had the sudden urge to watch the world burn. I slammed the door shut, and my racing heart only slowed down after I breathed in the fresh air outside.

’It must have been the temperature in the bathroom. Yes, that’s definitely it.’

Asher was bathing by himself, but I was afraid he was so drunk he might drown. So I opened the bathroom door, lay on the bed, and watched him from an angle where I could see him with a glance, just in case he started to drown.

Asher wriggled pitifully in the tub a couple of times, then tried to dip his injured hands into the water.

"If those hands touch the water, I’ll break them for you," I said in a low voice.

Asher excitedly lifted his head out of the water and put his hands, which he had raised but hadn’t managed to submerge yet, meekly back on the edge of the tub.

Once he seemed to confirm I was still watching him, he started his little performance. Like a peacock fanning its tail, he began grabbing one thing after another, never stopping for a moment.

I sighed helplessly. Seeing that he wasn’t that drunk after all, I decided to ignore him and took out my phone to read my parents’ journal.