Frank turned to Briar. “Briar, did you know about this?”
Briar shook her head. “I don’t know.”
They squeezed through the sea of people with great difficulty to finally make it inside the library. Without caring about their wrinkled clothes, Frank pulled Briar straight to the front desk. Then, they saw two strikingly handsome men, one standing and one sitting, surrounded by a pack of eager students.
Sitting was Ashton. He had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, exposing his arms. A computer sat beside his hand as he leaned forward lazily, expressionless, clearly busy with work.
The overhead lights cast shadows that highlighted his features. They were so stunning.
Putting aside his power and wealth, Ashton’s face alone was enough to send women swooning.
Of course, despite their excitement, the crowd remained rational and respectfully kept a distance from the cold and aloof Ashton, whose aura made it clear he wasn’t one for flirtation. Instead, their eyes were glued to the man standing at the desk. He was sharp–featured, crew cut, tanned skin, strong and muscular. He was Hamish, a top–tier hunk in his own right.
A roguish playboy with a charming air, Hamish had it all. He had a prestigious background, ex–special forces king status, and a natural charisma that had the crowd of students giggling and blushing all around.
If Frank and Briar didn’t know they were in a library, they’d have thought they’d walked into a male model nightclub!
Hamish, with his military instincts, immediately noticed Briar being pulled along by Frank.
He clapped Ashton’s shoulder. “Ashton, your girl’s here.”
Ashton looked up from the screen. As he caught sight of Briar and the hand Frank had on her wrist, a flicker of sharpness passed through his eyes. As she approached, he stood up, reached out, pushed Frank’s hand away, replaced it with his own, and pulled Briar inside the counter. “No more classes this afternoon?”
Briar nodded. “Yeah, just a couple of hours in the lab later for some small experiments.”
Ashton had eyes only for her. “When will that end? My shift here goes till 7 pm.”
Briar chuckled at how seriously he talked about his “job” as a library administrator. “You’re serious about this, Mr. Wade?”
Ashton gave her the chair he’d been sitting in and remained standing, not at all concerned that the company inbox of Wade Group was still open on the computer screen. “Of course. I really like this job.”
Briar shrugged, not taking a side. “Alright. Whatever makes you happy.”
In her mind, this bigshot wants to play librarian, but the one who would get a headache in the end was Marvin.
A good library had been turned into a public market.
“Mr. Wade, your smoothie’s here,” Brandon finally squeezed in through the crowd and handed over a cup.
Ashton took it, unwrapped the straw, inserted it, and handed it to Briar. “80% sugar, just the way you like it.”
Briar took it without hesitation and sipped.
1/3
Chapter 123
Their effortless and intimate interaction stunned everyone. The gasps from the surrounding students came in waves,
‘Ashton can actually be this easygoing? Guess all those rumors were true! He really is different from Briar, willing to have her back someone thought.
Hamish, who had been dragged in as backup, was seeing this side of his friend for the first time. The infamous cold and arrogant Action, acting like a soft, eager puppy. It shocked Hamish.
But he knew his place. Ashton’s mind and heart were all on this girl. There was no point trying to wedge in. Better focus on entertaining the others.
Finally, after a great effort, the crowd dispersed, and the area around the desk was quiet again.
Frank and Mason didn’t leave. They all surrounded Hamish. Frank whispered, “Hamish, what were you thinking? Why are you here, wasting. time at Shoneport University?”
Hamish sighed and nodded toward Ashton. “You think I came here willingly?”
Frank immediately got the point and made an OK gesture, laughing mercilessly.
Hamish kicked them all away. “Scram! Go study and stop being eyesores!”
They ran off laughing. None of them invited Briar along.
Briar went silent. Ashton opened the library’s terminal and handed it to Briar. “You can look up anything you need here. I have full access to digital archives.”
As a library admin, he had top–level access. She could search for anything.
Briar had come with a real purpose, so she put down her smoothies, dragged over the chair, and dove into research mode, ignoring Ashton
completely.
Soon enough, she was completely absorbed in her work, totally ignoring Ashton.
Hamish pulled Ashton aside. “Ashton, something’s off with you.”
Ashton asked, “What’s up?”
“I have a bold theory…” Hamish whispered, suspicious, “Did you seriously take this girl in as your future wife?”
Ashton slipped one hand into his pocket and shot Hamish a cool, lazy smirk. “Isn’t it obvious? Or do you think she’s not good enough?”
Hamish rolled his eyes. “Just say what you mean, man. Quit with the smooth talk.”
Sure, he was the famous flirt, but when Ashton turned it on, Hamish couldn’t compete.
Ashton dropped the teasing look. “The girl’s simple and well–behaved. If you run into her, keep an eye out for me.”
Hamish grimaced. “Got it. Like I could ignore her after the way you publicly doted on her today?”
After watching Ashton openly dote on the girl right in front of him, there was no way Hamish could just pretend not to know her if they bumped into each other later.
“But seriously, are you really all in on this?” Hamish still found it strange. “Will your family even let her marry into the Wade family?”
The other Wade family branches weren’t known for being kind. They only kept quiet because Ashton kept them in check.
2/3
Chapter 121
“I don’t need a political marriage to secure my datos Action wed
Hamish held up his hands. “Right, right. You’re so athering, Even year
No one knew the extent of Ashton’s assets. Just the revenue from as overseas
annual profit.
wealth court Buy our wide Groun
operations in the Spohoria could match half of War Games
“As long as the old man agrees, it’s enough,” Ashton added seriously, knowing exactly what Hamish was wordad about.
Hamish nodded slowly. “Then I’m relieved. But tell me honestly. Are you really not using yourself as bait to win over the dirt for your grandfather’s sake?”
He’d heard the rumors. Briar was the disciple of Tristan. Her skills had outshone military medics across the nation. She’d even cured Grillma mysterious recurring blackouts. Knowing how much Ashton valued his grandfather, Hamish seriously suspected this was all part of a mallar plan involving a “honey trap.”
C
