When There Is Nothing Left But Love

Ashton tends to do things this way too. I hung my head low at the sudden, intrusive thought about him while my nose wrinkled in discomfort.

Marcus did not notice my minute reaction. He merely grinned. “It’s not a waste. See, we’re using it now, aren’t we?”

We took a spin around the house. It didn’t look like we need to buy or replace anything, but the kitchen looked quite empty. Perhaps Marcus, assuming that I was not much of a cook, did not bother too much with the layout.

“Is there anything missing?” He said, changing the house key and fingerprint code to mine.

I nodded in response. “Since you’re free tonight, why don’t we cook at home? I can give Macy and Jackson a call later, invite them to join in. I should let them know I’m safe anyway. Ever since I left, it’s like I’ve been cut off from the outside world.”

Marcus nodded. He did not look too good, but I paid little mind to that.

We left the residence together and headed to the supermarket. There, we stocked up on basic cooking necessities, including rice, cooking oil, sugar, and salt. Marcus turned to me with a look of surprise. “You can cook?”

It was so embarrassing to have that question thrown at me. Impatiently, I rebutted, “Don’t underestimate me, alright? What makes you think I can’t cook?”

I picked a few seasonings and added bluntly, “Just you wait, I’ll show you what I’m capable of tonight!”

Laughter escaped him. He raised a hand, patted me on the head, and said, “Alright then. I’ll wait!”

upon an item on the shelf behind him, so I asked for a favor, “Marcus, can you help me get that seasoning bag? I

solemn. I froze, faintly wary of an icy

but Marcus

was in a stern tone, “It’s getting late. Let’s

could figure out what was going on, someone forcibly grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me out

In short, the emotions reflected in his eyes

my heart began to ache, and the dense pain began

I broke off eye contact and stopped looking at him

to tell him what happened to the baby. I was not ready to give him any sort of

voice suddenly rang, and it

belly had already begun to show. She was standing next to a shopping cart stacked with lots of baby supplies fit

before. They were more or

 Staring at Rebecca with a pair of reddened eyes, I was on the brink of emotional collapse. In that instant, I lost control. I shoved Ashton’s arm away with all my

then I launched myself almost frantically at Rebecca. No one expected I would turn out like

tore at her delicately styled hair, yelling in a frenzy, “Rebecca, a life for

Rebecca, scared out of her wits, kept screaming.

me tightly secured in their arms. A low, gruff voice rang in my ear, “Scarlett, it’s me! I’m Ashton! I’m your

strength dwindling, my eyes still maddening red. I broke