"He didn't come back with me."
Ashley explained dryly, "Brother Jacob happened to be coming to South Star, so he came along by the way. Then my brother drank, but he didn't drink, so he helped bring me back. "
Grace said casually, "You drank it, too."
Ashley scratched "a little bit" with her fingers. "
"Don't drink anymore."
Grace frowned and said, "Forget it this time. Your brother is here, but when you are outside, don't drink if you can. You have to be careful."
Ashley nodded obediently.
The two men got into the elevator.
After the elevator door closed, Grace mentioned again, "Ashley, mother called you once before. At that time, I heard you say that Jacob was sick and had an operation."
Ashley said blankly, and soon remembered, "Yes, what’s wrong?"
"Nothing."
Grace's voice was very soft, "Mom just asked."
Grace's reaction made Ashley a little uneasy.
She didn't know what to say, so she nodded again, pretending to be calm. "Oh."
The atmosphere was a little heavy in the narrow elevator.
Grace chatted with her normally, and there was nothing wrong with her emotionally. "You two often see each other in SL?"
"Only occasionally."
Ashley's tone was also very common, "We would go out for dinner or something."
"Why didn't I see him come to South Star before?" said Grace. "Why did he come here all of a sudden this time?"
Ashley was not a good liar and just wanted to muddle through. "I don't know, I didn't ask."
"Why didn’t you call us to pick you up?"
Grace spoke gently and whispered, "You didn’t have to trouble others to send you back. "
It just so happened that the elevator has arrived.
Ashley followed Grace out and said, "His hotel is nearby."
Grace, "Mm-hmm."
For some reason, Ashley always thought she was a little strange.
This strange atmosphere seemed to be exerting pressure, which made Ashley even have the impulse to confess.
Her heart pounded and said carefully, "Mom, what's the matter with you?"
"It’s nothing."
Grace smiled and opened the door with the key. "Go and take a bath."
After entering the house, Grace went into the kitchen and continued to pack her things.
Tim was taking a bath in the bathroom of master bedroom.
Ashley wanted to go to Grace for a favor. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she was kicked out and told to take a bath and get some sleep.
She thought there was nothing she could do, so she went back to her room to get her clothes and went into the bathroom.
Thinking about the conversation with Grace, Ashley was a little uneasy.
She always felt that her mother had found something, but it didn't seem to be, and her reaction was a little different from what Ashley had imagined.
Because she kept it a secret.
Ashley exhaled as if a stone had been pressed on her chest.
She hesitated to take advantage of these two days to politely mention the matter to Grace.
It didn't feel that hard to talk about.
Because she had a lot on her mind, Ashley didn't know how long she had taken a bath.
By the time she came out of the shower, the light in the living room had been turned off, and only the light outside the bathroom was still on.
With this light, Ashley went out and got a glass of water.
When she passed the master bedroom, she heard Grace and Tim seem to be saying something, but could not hear clearly through the door.
Ashley returned to her room.
She sat on the carpet beside the bed and picked up the cell phone on the table.
Seeing the message from Jacob, Ashley opened her eyes and replied that she was home and had just taken a bath.
After thinking about it, Ashley hesitantly typed:[my mother seemed to find out that we were in love.]
Before she could send it out, the door was knocked.
Ashley pressed the power button to turn off the screen, then raised her head, stood up, and sat on the bed, "What's the matter? Just come in."
The next moment, the door was opened from the outside.
It was Grace.
She came in and sat down by the bed, as if thinking for a moment, looking a little serious. “Ash, I will ask you something."
Ashley put the phone down. "Mm-hmm."
Grace asked, "Tell your mother the truth. You are seeing Jacob?"
Ashley licked the corners of her mouth, looking dazed.
The two looked at each other, deadlocked for a moment, and Ashley responded in a death struggle. "Ah"
"Ah, what?"
Grace said, "I know what you're thinking. You suddenly took out everything that's been there for years, smiling at your phone all day, and somehow wanted to go out for a barbecue with your brother."
Grace asked, "How long have you been dating?"
Ashley sat up straight before she knew it and whispered, "It didn't take long."
"That's why you didn't go home during the summer vacation?"
"No," Ashley said stubbornly, "Just after hearing my roommate, I just want to find an internship and find something to do for myself."
The smile on Grace's face gradually faded and she asked, "When you were on summer vacation, did you stay with him or live in the dormitory?"
Ashley felt nervous and stumbled." In the dormitory. My brother knows that I don't live with him. He saw it the last time when he went to SL. "
"Mom is not trying to interfere with you."
Grace sighed, "I just hope you can protect yourself. After all, it is true that girls are more vulnerable, and you are much younger than him. "
Ashley's voice whispered, "I know."
"Did you...?"
"No."
Ashley was a little embarrassed and could not say it very much. "We didn’t have that thing."
Grace raised her eyes and stared at her, hesitating to speak.
"Mom, haven't you seen Brother Jacob many times?" Ashley helped Jacob say nice things. "You know, he's not a bad guy. He's very kind to me. Don't worry."
"Ash,"
Grace reached out and touched her hair and said seriously, "I just mentioned this to your father. To tell you the truth, both of us don't quite approve of you being together. "
Ashley was so surprised by this remark that she looked up and was a little at a loss. "Why?"
Grace, "Did he tell you about his family?"
Ashley nodded. "What's wrong?"
"I also mentioned to you earlier that when your brother was a freshman, he borrowed 30,000 bucks from your brother. How can your brother get so much money? He can only find your father. But this money is not a small amount of money, so we asked why. "
"So I probably know what's going on in his family."
Grace said, "Mom has no intention of paying too much attention to family circumstances. I have seen that child and know that he is a good child. Because of the 30,000 thing, he has always been very kind to our family. When he came to give you a tutor, he gave back the money on the last day he came. "
Ashley was stupefied for a moment and didn't know what to say.
"When you were young, he took good care of you, too. I know that. I have no problem with your brother having a good time with him, or if you think of him as a brother. "
Grace sighed again and said slowly, "But if you want him to be your partner, mom really ..."
Ashley was in a bit of a hurry and interrupted her, "Mom, you can't think like that."
"I don't know what's going on with him. But I heard before that his father is now a vegetable, isn't he? "Grace said," and the relatives of the victim are always looking for trouble. "
Ashley said honestly, "Not always."
"You have met them?"
Ashley was silent for a few seconds. "No."
Grace instantly understood her reaction.
She took a deep breath and calmly said, "Ash, I know that such a thing in his family has nothing to do with him, and he is really pitiful. Maybe it's a little selfish of me to say that, but I really don't want my daughter to live such a life with him. "
Ashley had a lump in her throat and said very seriously," I don't feel hard. He has always been very kind to me. I am very happy with him. "
"You're still young, and you haven't been together for long."
Grace said, "You are still in college, he has been out to work for several years. The people and things you come into contact with are different, and you don't have anything in common. "
"But"
"Ash, I don’t want to say these words to make you unhappy."
Grace stood up and said, "Mom just doesn't agree, but I won't stop it. You have to think about it yourself. It may be quite a long time for you to think about this now. after all, it is only a relationship now. "
Ashley whispered, "I'm thinking about it."
"I'm not asking you to find someone with a lot of money."
Grace said, "I just hope you can find someone who is good to you, who you like, and who is suitable."
Ashley really didn't think that Tim and Grace would disagree.
They always spoiled her, and no matter what she asked, as long as she didn't go too far, they basically didn't have any opinions.
Including going to SL to go to college, and not going home during the summer vacation.
Moreover, they also knew Jacob, knew his family situation, also knew what kind of person he was.
Ashley didn't quite understand Grace's concerns.
‘Is it because of the affairs of his family and the current economic conditions?’
But she really didn't think it was a big deal.
Feeling a little fidgety, Ashley got up and turned off the light.
She got back into the quilt, picked up the cell phone that she had left out for a long time, and found that Jacob had replied to her several messages.
Jacob:[are you available tomorrow?]
[Are you asleep?]
Seeing the emoji he sent, Ashley felt better.
She deleted the line from the input box, thought about it, put her head in the quilt, put on headphones, and called him.
Jacob immediately picked up, "Still up."
Ashley said a hum, wondering whether to tell him what had just happened.
Jacob said with a low smile, "What were you doing just now? You didn’t even reply to me."
"I talked to my mother for a while."
Ashley's voice was very low as if whispering to him, "I didn't look at my cell phone."
"Then are you ready to go to bed?" Jacob said. "I think young people nowadays can stay up late. Why do you live like an old man?"
Ashley frowned. "Early to bed and early to rise is good for your health."
Jacob obediently replied, "Well, I see."
Recalling what Grace said just now, Ashley was a little uneasy.
She didn't listen to what he said later and went along absent-mindedly.
Sensing that something was wrong with her, Jacob quickly said, "Are you sleepy?"
Ashley returned to her mind. "Ah."
"If you're sleepy, hang up."
Jacob said, "I will go to pick you up tomorrow."
Ashley was really sleepy, so she subconsciously followed his words and shouted, "Brother, let me ask you something."
Jacob was stupefied for a moment and laughed out, "Mm-hmm".
"When I was young," after staying in the quilt for a long time, Ashley was a little out of breath and popped her head out. "when we first met, you were very kind to me. Why?"
Jacob didn't seem to remember, "Was I good to you at that time?"
"Yes."
Ashley thought very seriously and murmured.
"I guess you were nice to me when you were a kid." Following the current, his voice was a little more magnetic, half-joking, "or maybe I was already nice."
Thinking about the fact that he didn't get the part-time tutor pay, Ashley was silent for a few seconds.
Jacob paused, "I don't seem to have told you about this. My mother was sick before, and your family lent me 30,000 bucks."
"I think your parents are good people."
Jacob didn't seem to feel embarrassed to say it, with a smile, "so I have to be nice to you."
As a result, Ashley still failed to say it.
Failed to tell Jacob that her parents did not approve of the two of them together.
But after thinking about it all night, Ashley actually felt that it was not a big problem. As long as she said more good words about him in front of Grace and Tim a few more times, it was probably over.
The next morning, Tim said something to Ashley, but never mentioned it again.
Grace really didn't stop it. Ashley proposed to go out. Although she didn't say clearly that she was going to find Jacob, Grace didn't stop her, just told her to go home early as usual.
Ashley has not mentioned this matter in front of Jacob.
Jacob once mentioned whether he would like to come to the door and say hello to her parents.
But Grace just said that, Ashley felt that now was not the best time, afraid that he would not be happy to know, or refused.
This holiday went by like this.
She thought it was troublesome to come and go, and Ashley didn't have any luggage, so she didn't ask Liam to send her.
At noon on the 7th, the two took an airport bus nearby and went directly to the airport.
After passing the security check, they went to the terminal and waited.
Ashley did not take a nap, at this time she was a little sleepy, bored to open the previously downloaded Chamber of Secrets to escape the game to play.
She was not very good at playing games, and sometimes she can get stuck for half a day.
Jacob watched her play, saying a few words to remind her from time to time.
For a checkpoint, he had to remind her several times before Ashley could pass.
After playing some time, she suddenly put down her phone and lost her temper. "I don't play anymore."
Jacob thought it was funny, "What's wrong?"
"Have you ever played?" Ashley threw her cell phone on his lap and said, "This is so strange. You know where the clue is before I click on the next scene."
Jacob picked up her mobile phone and said, "This game was developed by my company."
Ashley didn't know anything about it, but he didn't even know what games he had created, and she was a little guilty.
She glanced at him and silently took her phone back. "Then don't talk."
Jacob said nothing more.
After a few minutes, Jacob spoke, but this time it was not about the game, carelessly, "By the way, your brother called me yesterday."
Ashley looked up. "What did he want?"
"Only five words were said."
Jacob put his hand on the back of Ashley's chair and said, "I ruined my sister's life."
"And then he hung up."
Ashley was inexplicable. "Leave him alone."
Jacob chuckled, bowed her head, and continued to look at the progress of her game, "Did you play the game before?"
"Not very much."
Ashley said honestly, "I'm not interested."
"Then the netizen you knew," Jacob said thoughtfully, "how did you know each other?"
Jacob turned around and looked at her as if with a smile. "Married couple in the game?"
Ashley could not think of any way to get to know people, so she could only respond vaguely, "Mm-hmm."
Jacob, "Which game?"
With his perseverance, he had to get to the bottom of everything.
Ashley reluctantly mentioned a game she had played, "Adventure Island."
"Oh."
Silence.
Ashley continued to play the game in her hand, and it wasn't long before she heard the sound of boarding the plane.
At the same time, she heard Jacob say, “Some day,”
Ashley stood up and looked at him, "Ah"
He pulled up the corners of his lips, changed his usual indecent appearance, and finished saying, "log in the game and divorce him. "