At Golden Empire ~~~~~
Parking spot~~
"Thank you so much for dropping me off, Samuel...." Ariana said as she got off Samuel's car.
They'd met on her way back...her taxi had got stranded but he showed up unexpectedly.
Apparently, he was on his way to his work place too.
Was it just a coincidence or was he stalking her?
"You're my friend Ari, I'll do anything to help you" Samuel replied.
She rejected this man before, but he kept on coming back...and helping her.
"Should I also pick you up later?" He asked.
"No, I'm fine. Just focus on your work." Ariana replied.
"Alright, I'll go ahead" Samuel said before he drove off.
This incident was noticed by Ashton...who was seated in his car, not far from where they were. He was waiting for Ariana, but didn't expect she'd come in another man's car.
Samuel of all people!
It made him more furious than he already was. He got out of his car and walked towards her.
Ariana was unaware of Ashton's presence, seeing him surprised her.
"Come with me!" He grabbed her hand, dragging her back towards his car.
"Ashton, where are you taking me? Let me go!" Ariana desperately said, trying to remove her hand from his.
Ashton didn't listen to anything she said. He opened the door of the passenger seat and forced her to enter.
He then crossed over to the other side of the driver seat and started the car.
"Where are you taking me?" Ariana continued to ask, but he didn't answer any of her questions.
He drove off at a blazing speed.... he'd gone insane.
"Ashton stop the car! Stop! please" Ariana pleaded...
"It's fine for you to get in another man's car, but you have trouble in mine" he replied, anger evident in his voice.
"Ashton, we can talk about this..just stop the car" Ariana worriedly said.
Ashton finally stopped the car when they reached a certain familiar place.
He got out of the car and dragged her out as well.
"Ashton, what are we doing here?" Ariana asked.
"Don't you remember this place...our favorite place...this tree," Ashton replied in a calmer voice.
Flashback
4 Years Ago
Ashton blindfolded Ariana and brought her to that very same place.
"Ashton, this place is really beautiful" Ariana said.
"Not as beautiful as you Dawn.... let's do something together" Ashton replied.
"What should we do?" Ariana asked.
"Let's engrave our initials on this tree...and promise to never leave each other" Ashton replied.
"You know I'll never leave you, I love you...and only you" Ariana wrapped her arms around his neck.
She was so happy back then.
"And I love you the most...one day, I'll buy you a diamond ring and propose to you, in this very place" Ashton replied, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I'll look forward to that day...and happily say yes" Ariana said before they both shared a passionate kiss.
End of flashback
She knew this place very well, and the tree still had their initials on it.
The old memories made her eyes fill with unshed tears. It was clear, Ashton couldn't forget about their past...he was still holding on to it....he was still in love with her.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked sadly.
"Ariana,I don't know the reason why you left me four years ago...but I'm willing to forget everything and start over." Ashton replied.
He held both her hands.....he was very sincere and meant everything he said.
And he wasn't drunk like the last time.
"I don't care anymore, what I know...is that I can't move on, I can't let you go, I'm still in love with you...you won" Ashton's voice hinted sadness.
He couldn't take it any longer...he pulled her closer and kissed her.
Ariana didn't pull back either, she still loved this man...very much..but she couldn't just accept it.
Would he fight for her against his mom if she told him the truth about what happened?
"Ashton no...please" Ariana said after breaking the kiss.
"Ariana, let's get married... marry me" Ashton proposed for the second time.
"Don't break your promise again.... don't say no, please" Ashton pleaded before he got on his knees.
Ariana didn't know what to do.
"Ariana please, don't say no" Ashton hugged her knees... desperate to get an answer from her.
"Ashton I'm sorry" Ariana spoke through her sobbs. She was already crying.
She got on her knees as well and came face to face with him.
"I can't marry you" she rejected his proposal twice.
"Why, after everything I've done for you,you still choose to leave me heartbroken...are you so heartless?" Ashton couldn't understand why she kept on refusing yet she also still loved him.
"I can't tell you the reason..." Ariana stood up, ready to leave, but Ashton stopped her in her tracks.
"Tell me, is he the reason! That man!" He was furious again.
"Yes, he's the reason" she couldn't think of any other way to get him to stop harassing her.
"What does he have that I don't? Huh! Tell me!!" Ashton grabbed her shoulders tightly.
"He doesn't have a fianceé! Ashton, stop trying to get back together with me and focus on your upcoming marriage" Ariana replied...she was now angry too.
It was already hard for her to let him go again. The pain and things she went through in the past, she couldn't forget it all.....she lost not only one, but two loved ones...and one wasn't coming back.
"Ariana, you mark my words...this is not over until I say it's over.....I'll make you leave him and come crawling back to me..... remember this" those were his last words before he let her shoulders go and stormed off to his car, driving off at blazing speed again.
He reached somewhere and stopped the car, slamming his hands on the steering wheel.. crying.
Every time they met, she either left him confused, heartbroken or in pain. The pain they caused to each other was beyond repair....yet their bleeding hearts still yearned for each other.
Later that day~~~~
At Golden Empire
Ashton didn't return to the office, and Ariana felt relieved..she buried herself in work to forget about everything that had happened between the both of them.
Claris wasn't making it easy for her either.
"I wonder what you did this time to make Ashton angry like that!" Claris spoke to irritate her.
"It's none of your business" Ariana replied.
They'd come face to face again in the elevator....the conversation was unavoidable.
"It is my business, he's my fiancé, we'll soon be married, what's his will concern me too" Claris kept pushing it.
"Then why don't you go ask him yourself...and stop dragging me into your problems" Ariana replied.
The fued between them grew every single day... because of one person.
"You are the problem already... Ariana, why don't you do all of us a favour and just disappear from our lives...and never come back" Claris said, clearly she was mocking her.
Her words were not different from the words Ashton's mother told her four years ago.
"I wish I could, if only you could get your fiancé to let me go....I'll gladly walk away from this.... until then, you're stuck with me" Ariana replied and the elevator doors opened just on time for her to walk away.... confidently, leaving behind a fuming Claris.
She'd already tried to get away from this, but Ashton wouldn't let her....he wanted to keep her by his side, forever.
She went straight to her office with Ashton...it was rather peaceful without him around. She had a plan to complete the sky core project soon, and then leave Golden Empire...leave Ashton Kaur's life.
"Where could he be?" She couldn't stop herself from worrying about him.
Knowing Ashton, he could do something to himself because of her.
She dailed his phone number, but it wasn't reachable.... calling Tobe, he knew nothing about his whereabouts.
She didn't dwell much on the issue. She did all his work, cleared out his tight schedule, attended all the meetings Ashton had to attend in his place....as the Assistant CEO, Claris clearly knew nothing and would just ruin everything...even though she was the Vice CEO.
All the while, she kept glancing at her phone... checking it if Ashton called or texted, still there was nothing. His phone was switched off, the third time she tried to call.
"This isn't like Mr Ashton,he never abandons his work no matter how angry he is" Tobe said to Ariana.
"Have you tried calling all of his friends? He might be with one of them" Ariana was extremely worried about him.
"Every single one, but he's not with any of them, he's not at home either"Tobe replied.
Ashton had gone missing.
"Ms Ariana, with all due respect...I think that the only person who can find him right now, is no one else but you....please" Tobe pleaded with her.
"Please find him, I'll handle the remaining matters here" he continued to plead.
He'd noticed, the moment they got here... Ashton's attention was always on her, instead of Claris.....his attitude completely changed because of her, he figured it out that they had a past...and she was the woman he truly loved and cared about.
Ariana didn't waste any time, she grabbed her bag and rushed out to find Ashton. It was the least she could do, since it was all her fault that he'd gone missing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where could she even start?
The places they went to together, when they were still a couple, the places only she knew about.....he could be in one of them.
Their special place, he wasn't there...the small town restaurant..he wasn't there either, the sunset beach they used to spend their summer...he wasn't there.
She spent the rest of the day until it was night time, trying to find Ashton, she forgot to eat...least worried about her own health, just to find Ashton.
She checked every place, except for one. The place she took him one time, the place she wanted to build her dream house.
She went to that place immediately... hoping to find him.
Ashton was indeed there in that place. He lay still in the grass..with his eyes closed like he was asleep, under the moonlight.
Ariana dropped everything she was holding and ran to his side, thinking something bad had happened to him.
"Ashton...open your eyes" she called onto him... holding his hand tightly.
Ashton opened his eyes and thought he was having hallucinations again.
He couldn't believe she was actually there.
"Do you know how worried sick I was about you, if you're going to disappear like that, atleast tell Tobe" Ariana snapped at him.
"You came all the way here....for me" Ashton said softly.
"Who else would I come for? You had me worried...you switched off your phone and didn't say anything" Ariana almost cried.
"I'm sorry..I'm sorry for making you worried" Ashton calmly spoke..
He got up and hugged her, comforting her.
He needed time away from everything, away from Ariana...to think.
"Don't ever do that again!" Ariana escaped from his grasp and stood up to leave.
"You came all the way here looking for me..after rejecting me, now you want to leave again" Ashton said, and his words stopped her.
"Tobe asked me to find you, I was helping him" Ariana replied.
She couldn't admit that she cared more about him, that she was willing to do anything for him.
"Things would be easier if you stopped lying to yourself" Ashton said.
He did it on purpose, to test her. If he'd gone missing, what would she do? Would she come looking for him?
He'd set a trap and she fell for it.
He stood up and pulled her to face him and closer to himself.
"You came running to me, you still love me" he whispered in her ear.
"You wish" Ariana whispered back.
She actually enjoyed playing this kind of game with him. She didn't resist him holding her.
"Maybe...after we do it again, you'll come clean and tell me the truth" Ashton spoke in a seductive tone.
He didn't wait for her reply..and claimed her lips. If she didn't want an emotional relationship..then he'd gladly give her a physical relationship.
The next thing Ariana knew, she was caught in his grasp and couldn't escape the reality.
As long as it was him, she was willing to give in... everything she had.