The day Ashley was supposed to meet June quickly arrived. Meeting him in a restaurant she had booked just for the two of them, their conversation seemed endless.
"So, that's what happened, huh?" June, a young man with shiny golden hair styled beautifully to match his angelic face, nodded in understanding. "I heard you got married, but I didn't think there was more to it."
Ashley shrugged as she played with her drink, the straw between her fingertips.
"He's not abusive, is he?" June asked, making her snap her eyes up at him. "Is he hurting you? I heard a lot about him—actually, I did more research when I found out you got married. And from what I know, he's a very violent man."
"Not long ago, the news about Dominion setting an entire building on fire with people still inside was everywhere," he added. "They're really dangerous people."
Ashley gazed at June quietly, studying him as he spoke about how dangerous her husband was. And that was exactly how Lucian treated lives—as if they had never mattered.
Why is he talking about him like that when he knows what kind of man my father is?
Though June wasn't part of the underground world, he came from a family of corrupt politicians connected to Marshal Di Carpio. So for her, this was rather fascinating. But she didn't think much of it, knowing June—the golden boy of his family—was a little too… oblivious.
"He's going to kill you."
Ashley's brows twitched upward, snapping her out of her thoughts.
June let out a shallow breath as he leaned over the table, looking her directly in the eyes.
"Ash, I have a confession to make," he said. "Actually, I didn't reach out to you just because. It's true I was doing my research, but not long ago, I overheard my father and your father talking."
He huffed and moved closer, reaching for her hand on the table.
"You have to leave, Ash. Your father is going to attack Dominion, and this marriage is just to buy himself some time. You know what he's like, right? Dominion crossed him, and your father isn't someone who lets things go."
"There will be a war. And once your father starts something like that… who do you think will be the first one to die?" he added, his voice full of concern. "It'll be you."
And they wouldn't just kill Ashley—they would make her suffer first.
I freaking knew it, she thought. Marshal would never just agree to a marriage and call it peace.
She drew a deep breath, her eyes falling on his hand resting over hers. Ashley instinctively pulled her hand away, only for June to grip it and tug gently.
"I'll help you," he said. "I'll help you escape."
Ashley met his eyes. Her expression remained blank, but inside, she smirked.
"Okay," she whispered. "I have a plan. Will you listen?"
Determination flickered in June's eyes as he nodded, listening to the plan she had already prepared before this meeting.
Her plan was simple.
In two days, Ashley planned to follow her "usual routine." She would go to the mall she frequented, where there was a staff room where employees threw away their garbage. Beneath that basement was a tunnel connected to the sewage system.
If she used that route, she could leave the mall without being noticed.
June would wait for her there and drive her away.
If they did it right, Ashley would disappear before the guards following her around even realized it.
She had already prepared fake documents during the last two months she had been splurging. Once she escaped, she would buy plane tickets using the same card Lucian had given her. However, that would only serve to mislead anyone tracking her movements, because June would secretly buy her a separate train ticket with his own money. Then, from another city, she would take a plane and leave the country.
That was the plan.
It sounded easy, but Ashley knew it had to be perfect.
But there was one thing Ashley hadn't considered.
That was… Lucian coming back earlier than expected.
*****
Two Days Later
Ashley's plan began.
Leaving the mansion to splurge once again, she followed her usual routine that the bodyguards had already grown accustomed to. Once their guard dropped, she slipped into a changing room and changed into different clothes.
With a massive hat and a completely different outfit, she walked out of the boutique without the guards noticing.
Once she was far enough away, she ran toward the staff room and followed the escape route she had practiced several times during her shopping trips.
This wasn't the first time she had tried the route, after all.
Minutes later, Ashley stood beneath a manhole and looked up as June removed the cover.
"Let's go!" he shouted nervously.
But instead of hurrying, the corners of her lips curled into a smile. Seeing the light above her and the hand reaching down felt like the proof of her success.
Once I'm out of here… even Scott will never find me again. I won't make the same mistake I did before.
With that, Ashley climbed the ladder and grabbed June's hand, laughing off his complaints about how she smelled like garbage.
With his help, she escaped and he drove her toward the train station.
Ashley was very close.
She was almost there.
But again, almost… was never enough.
Because the moment she stepped out of the train station… he was there.
Lucian sat on the waiting bench, smoking a cigarette, his knuckles bloody as if he had just beaten someone, and looking straight in her direction.
The moment their eyes locked, her breath hitched.
That look in his eyes told her two things: She had angered him… and her hell had just begun.
That day, she was seized like a criminal and dragged back to the mansion.
The third and final mistake Ashley had made was… getting caught by him.
And with that final mistake, their marriage took a turn that was beyond saving.
Before she knew it, five years had already passed in the blink of an eye.