Chapter 509: Chapter 509: Extra Mini Theater
Post-marriage snippets.
After giving birth to her daughter Nora Prescott, Ashley Shaw returned to work in less than two months.
Nora is an angelic daughter, very well-behaved and worry-free.
With Claudia Jennings, who dotes on her granddaughter, and Owen Sinclair, the grandfather, there’s no worry that Nora will lack care.
So, Ashley can focus on her own career quickly.
Thus, Ashley became the workaholic in her department once again.
Occasionally, Claudia Jennings would bring Nora to the hospital to deliver meals to Ashley Shaw.
Ariana Grant teased her, "I used to worry that your mother-in-law wouldn’t treat you well, but now it seems she adores you like her own daughter."
Ashley herself was quite surprised.
In her previous life, Claudia Jennings, her mother-in-law, often found fault with her—partly because Claudia had misunderstandings due to Ms. Shaw.
On the other hand, Warren Prescott was also "dismissive" of her.
But in this life, the misunderstanding was resolved early, and Warren loves her dearly, plus there’s the title of a movie-star daughter, so Claudia naturally extends her love to her.
Yet, she genuinely didn’t expect Claudia Jennings to be this good to her.
Almost better to her than to Warren Prescott.
Sometimes when she returns from a night shift, she sees a bowl of soup brought out from the kitchen, saying it was supervised by Claudia herself, and she knows Claudia is genuinely sincere.
However, while Claudia doesn’t mind her career passion, certain people are almost worried sick.
During the day, Ashley Shaw works at the hospital. Busy and hard to find, it’s understandable, but when she gets home at night, the first thing she does is see her daughter.
Yet, she seems to leave no time for her husband.
So one day, when Ashley Shaw worked overtime and returned home, she saw Warren Prescott sitting on the bed in their bedroom, seemingly lost in thought.
"What’s wrong? Did something happen at the company?"
Warren shook his head and said, "The company’s fine, it’s me who has a problem. Ashley, I feel terrible..."
Ashley walked over, out of professional reflex, and reached out to feel his forehead.
"It’s not hot, you don’t have a fever."
"I’m not feverish..."
"Then where else do you feel unwell?"
Before Warren could reply, Ashley said, "How about this, I’ll schedule a check-up for you tomorrow, and you can come to the hospital for an examination."
Warren looked at her with a troubled expression.
"Ashley, it’s not my body; it’s my heart that’s hurting."
Ashley was puzzled, "Are you feeling down? Why? Is it because of Grandpa Prescott?"
At this point in time, Elder Prescott’s health indeed wasn’t as vigorous as before.
Without saying more, things he used to love, like chess, he plays rarely now. Instead, he prefers sipping tea by the window, daydreaming in the warm sun.
It’s a common issue with the elderly: reluctance to move.
Though both knew the old man’s fate, they didn’t speak of it.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death are inevitable.
If Elder Prescott were simply ill, they could try to find the best doctors and medical environment.
But in the previous life, the old man passed away peacefully.
The doctors said it wasn’t an illness, just old age.
Aging is a topic no one can avoid.
They were mentally prepared.
Yet Warren still shook his head.
"It’s not because of that..."
"Then what is it?"
Suddenly, Warren reached out and wrapped his arm around Ashley Shaw’s waist, who was standing by the bed.
"Ashley, in your heart, what rank am I?"
Ashley instantly understood.
She gently pushed Warren away and said, "Before we got together, I told you I didn’t want to repeat the past; in this life, I’d love myself more. You accepted that back then..."
"I know... You love yourself more; I see nothing wrong with that. But now, the problem is, I’m not even second in your heart anymore. You are first, Nia is second, your father is third, Grandpa is fourth, your work is fifth, and your friends sixth... See, Ashley, I’m ranked beyond sixth."
While saying this, Warren looked full of grievance.
He sometimes wondered if this was karma.
Ashley was amused.
"Then what rank do you want?"
Warren thought for a moment and said, "Fifth? At least put me in front of your work, okay?"
Ashley finally realized.
"So you’re jealous of my work?"
Warren didn’t answer directly but said, "I’ll have them hire more people recently, so you’re not always stressed with endless tasks... I’m not asking you to give up work, but I hope you can spare more time for me."
Ashley was silent for two seconds and said, okay.
"Tomorrow, when we go to the hospital, I’ll ask for annual leave, and our family of three will go to the beach?"
Warren’s eyes lit up, asking, "Really? You’re not lying to me?"
"Really. Why would I lie to you? I calculated it, counting annual leave and my unused leave days, it totals over twenty days. These twenty-some days, I’ll spend them with you and Nia?"
Warren hesitated for a moment and asked, "Can we not bring Nia? Just the two of us?"
"..."
"We can take her next time! She’s still little. Even if we take her out to play, she won’t remember it later. Better to let her stay at home; otherwise, if we’re gone for more than twenty days, Mom and your father, and Grandpa will all miss Nia."
Ashley finally relented, "Alright then."
The one who was previously sulking finally felt happy.
...
Jensen Hayes’ snippet.
After Ashley Shaw got married, although she spent every day with Jocelyn Hayes, she hardly ever saw Jensen Hayes.
Two years later, when Ashley went to buy coffee with colleagues across from the hospital, she happened to bump into Jensen Hayes.
He had become a shade darker than before.
Ashley had heard from Jocelyn that over the past two years, he’s been away on peacekeeping missions at the border.
Now that he’s back, he’s directly entered criminal investigation.
She watched Jensen receive two cups of coffee from the counter and turn to hand them to a pretty girl in a police uniform.
The girl had a face full of smugness.
"Getting you to buy me a coffee is truly difficult."
Jensen said earnestly, "Thank you for helping us complete the criminal sketch ahead of time, allowing us to catch the person so quickly."
The girl shrugged, "The case is over now, so let’s not talk about work. Didn’t you say if I cooperated with your work, you’d agree to spend a day with me?"
"Half a day. I have to take another case tomorrow."
The girl pursed her lips, about to say something, and then saw Jensen looking in a certain direction.
It was a pretty girl wearing a white coat.
It’s often said that doctors and nurses are angels in white, but at that moment, the girl really felt she had seen an angel.
Such a beautiful woman.
The woman seemed to know Jensen and nodded slightly to him.
Jensen also nodded in return.
Just when the girl thought Jensen would walk over and speak to that woman, he hurriedly pulled her away.
The girl noticed something wrong and asked him, "Someone you like?"
Jensen lightly shook his head, "No, it’s my sister’s friend."
Some love, you can’t even speak of it.
She already has a family, so he should no longer disturb her.
But occasionally, at night when he wakes up from a dream and sits in bed, looking at the quiet surroundings, he suddenly feels very upset, very distressed...
But people always have to look forward, right?
Perhaps, in another parallel universe, she is his.
Nowadays, everyone is discussing the theory of parallel universes, and occasionally thinking about it brings happiness.
