Ashley didn't realize just how loud the world had gotten until she closed her parents' door behind her and the house put a hand on her shoulder.
The familiar smell hit first. Her mother was making her favourite dish, mac and cheese. The scent filled the air. Even though it wasn't Julian's mansion,with all the luxury that came with it, she was sincerely happy here, right now at the moment. This would always be her home, she thought.
"Hi, Mom." Ashley meant to sound breezy. The word came out tired and honest.
Her father stood from the head of the table, letters and different publications fanned around his coffee mug like he'd been reading, trying to pass the time. "Hi, kiddo." He said cheerfully, sincerely happy to see her. He looked better than a few weeks ago, his smile was brighter this time around.
"Rough day huh." Of course they had seen the gossip column.
"The whole internet is abuzz with silly stories about us, they all calling us Mr. & Mrs. Impulse?" she said. "I've had better."
The mother raised her hands as she kind of concurred, "Well, can't blame them, it was kinda impulsive if you ask me, but then again, what do i know" she said shrugging.
Ashley couldn't believe it was the same woman who was practically begging her to take the offer last week.
" Really? you're unbelievable Mum." was all she could manage to respond. Too tired to take on any fight.
"Some of them are calling you iconic," came a voice from the hallway. "I brought receipts."
Ashley turned. "Sophie?" Her little sister, who was supposed to be in Austin, designing a pop-up for a fashion brand that loved leathers a little too much, was kicking off her boots and hanging her jacket.
"Surprise." Sophie trotted in, held Ashley at arm's length, then hugged her like a tackle. "I had a red eye. You think I was going to let the algorithm bully my sister unsupervised?"
Their mother swatted Sophie's sleeve with a dish towel. "You didn't text when you got in at three a.m.," she scolded, purely for emphasis.
"I did! I texted Dad."
"Because you knew I wouldn't hear it," Mom said, but the soft curve at her mouth didn't flatten. "Tea? And hugs"
"I feel like that's your answer to everything" Sophie said affectionately, as they both hugged.
Their mother was already at the kettle, while Sophie proceeded to chat with their Dad at the Sofa.
Ashley dropped the bag she just realized she was holding unto needlessly. She let herself sink into the end chair at the table like a civilian, but the brief respite didn't last long.
Sophie slid her phone across the wood. "Your trending tab. Behold: #VegasVow and #TheVegasCouple."
Ashley braced. The feed rolled.
@FirflyFinch: Honestly? Kinda obsessed. Maybe they've been secret for years. The chemistry in that clip??fire #yougogirl
@LogicLaw: Impulsive marriages are not new, but undisclosed related-party risks are. #governance
@ShipsAndSequins: If my billionaire didn't put a ring on it after one night, I'd return him.
@AuntOfTwo: It's reckless. Don't glamorize recklessnes.marriage is not content.
@MarketMammal: Stock volatility pause? That's not love, that's leverage. But also…her shoes ate.
"Split jury," Sophie said. "Half the internet wants your babies. Half want an inquiry into your businesses, they suspect something is amiss ."
Ashley huffed. "This feels…personal."
"It's the tone," Mom said, bringing mugs like weapons. "When people don't know the facts, they borrow feelings."
Dad tapped his note pad, he looked like he was enjoying his early and sudden retirement, knowing the business he built from scratch was still a going concern.
"The Commission should have no business with your personal affairs," he said. "Nothing a good publicist can't handle. "
" Ashley, has Julian been able to locate the person who incorporated Stonehenge as a subsidiary? You don't want the public unraveling that, when he can't fully distance himself yet, the blow back would be bad."
Ashley's stomach tightened. She'd forgotten to ask him if there was any update as to uncovering the bigger picture at play. She was neck deep with him now, whatever affected his business, affected hers. The stakes were getting higher, as she realised with dread and panic.
"Tell Ashley what you uncovered," Mom said gently, eyes flicking toward Dad.
"Oh that, I don't know how helpful it is, but my contact at the county clerk's office owes me some favors. She pulled the access log for your marriage license."
Ashley straightened, surprised and impressed at her father at the same time "And?"
He slid a printout across the table. Time stamps. IP entries. A column that made her skin go cold.
"The license was searched three times before it hit the gossip sites," Dad said. "Anonymized IPs, except one."
Sophie leaned in, hair falling forward. "Who?"
"A request from a Blackwood corporate network two hours before the first article posted."
Silence stretched like pulled slime.
"Could it be Julian?" Mom asked, quiet.
Ashley's reflex was immediate, a muscle that shocked even her. "No." She forced breath through her lungs. "No. He was with me. Dinner. Then in the car. He didn't touch his phone most of the time and when he did, it was to call his cousin. Ava. Moreover, what could he possibly gain from destroying his own reputation and career?"
Sophie's brows shot up. "Ava is the smiling one with the media badge in the boardroom right? Her timeline is suspicious. She posted a coy 'love wins' thing right before the first leak."
Ashley couldn't believe Sophia even knew her contract in-laws, how much more winning and dining on their timelines.
" I don't even know their media handles Sophia, to what end? Are you stalking them now?" Sophia laughed like she didn't care and her next question even provoked Ashley more.
" When are you introducing us officially though?" They're part of our family right.
"For chrissakes, have some dignity" Ashley retorted.
This ain't Romeo and Juliet, do i have to explain what contract means to you?
Sophie only shrugged as she went to lay down.
Their mother set down a plate of tea biscuits that nobody wanted, "So," she said calmly, " Do we assume conspiracy and burn bridges? Wait, we can't afford to do that either, Or assume a mess and find the loose canon?"
Dad pushed his glasses up. "We don't assume. We ask good questions in the right rooms."
Ashley looked at her hands. Glitter still clung to one knuckle, defiant. "I hate that my marriage is content," she said. "I hate that strangers think my choices are their homework."
She swallowed, then added, quieter, "I hate that part of me wants to hide."
Her Mom's hand covered hers, warm, for the first time, since she came. "You can want to hide and still stand up. Both are allowed."
Sophie nudged her shoulder. "Also, hiding is horrible for your jawline. Cameras from above are kinder."
Ashley laughed, a little wrecked. "Thank you all, I and Julian will handle it from here on. You've been quite helpful, I love you guys."
"Anytime," Sophie said. "You be careful of the Blackwoods, they smell like my kind of trouble" she said laughing again not grasping the gravity of the whole situation.
Ashley wasn't surprised, Sophia behaved like an air head most times. Little wonder they were not as close as they were supposed to be.
Ashley was twenty six, just three years older than her sister who still behaved like an entitled teenager most times.
"You'll have to ask yourselves who benefits from making you both look foolish and guilty." Dad said finally.
Sophie's phone buzzed again. She checked it, grimaced. "The Vegas Couple stan accounts want you two to do a livestream."
She made a gagging face. "Please say no."
"I'll say no." Ashley rubbed her temple. "I'll say a lot of no for the next few days."
"You'll also say some yes," Mom said, and the look she gave Ashley was the one she used to give before school, on days with spelling bees and stomach aches. "Yes to sleep, yes to food, yes to letting people who love you be useful."
"Do you want him here?" Mom asked, suddenly in a soft maternal tone. "Julian."
Ashley's mind unconsciously drifted back to the car,the peaceful silence, the quiet way he'd said accord my wife the same respect you accord me.
The way he'd stood between her and a camera without making a declaration of it. The way his family's gaze slid over the word wife, like it meant pawn.
"No, he's probably busy with his own thing." She said.
"But I will be with him tomorrow. Tonight, I need to remember I'm more than a headline."
"As you should," Dad said. He patted the manila folder. "Don't forget to take this home, when you're going." As an after thought he quickly added, "I hope he knows you're here as well?"
Ashley almost retorted, she didn't need his permission to go home or see her parents. Instead she only said, "Yes he knows, Father."
Ashley caught the folder as it slid towards her, flipped the cover. The access log was a spreadsheet version of a heartbeat, once upon a time. The Blackwood network ping sat there like a dropped pin at a crime scene.
In the evening, when the front pouch light brightened automatically, Ashley didn't think anything of it. The house did that, sensitive sensors with more initiative than was necessary or needed.
The doorbell rang.
All three of them froze. Mom rose, Dad did, too, instinctively reaching for the cane he refused to admit he needed on bad days. Sophie peeked at the porch camera on her phone and went very still.
"What is it?" Ashley asked.
Sophie turned the screen. The image was grainy, but the shape was unmistakable, a woman. Sleek hair, navy coat, the kind of posture that turned doorways into stages.
She raised her head and the camera captured her clearly, it was Camilla Blackwood.