Chapter 393: Chapter 393: She Is Like Me
"Annabelle Linton, you take one more step and see what happens! I’ll fucking end you!"
BANG!
Leona Grant’s roar echoed from behind her, but Annabelle Linton slammed the door, completely shutting out the sound.
Aaron Wyatt had Annabelle Linton’s location on his phone.
The last kidnapping attempt had left him shaken. He couldn’t rest easy leaving for his business trip, so he had set up location tracking on her phone.
That was how he’d been able to find the hotel so precisely.
He thought of her wherever he went. Before he left, he made sure everything was taken care of for her, and the moment he arrived, he came looking for her.
He’d surely meant to surprise her, arriving with roses in hand, but he never expected to see her "getting a room" with Leona Grant.
Annabelle Linton suddenly felt the urge to cry.
’When will I ever be able to stop hurting him?’
She ran downstairs to find Aaron Wyatt, but he was long gone.
She then rushed home, but Aaron Wyatt wasn’t there either.
Annabelle Linton called him frantically, but his phone was off. She drove around searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
He had vanished.
...
「Lynwood High School」
Ashley Grant was boarding at the school to hide her identity.
It was a day off, and Ryan Linton took her shopping, but she wasn’t happy at all.
Ryan Linton held her hand as he walked her back to her dorm.
They walked in silence, his hand simply holding hers as they moved forward.
The atmosphere was tense. They both knew what had happened, but neither of them broke the silence. And so it was, until they arrived at the foot of her dorm building.
Seeing her with her head bowed, Ryan Linton pressed his lips together and said in a low voice, "We’re here."
"Mm."
Ashley Grant responded faintly, letting go of his hand. She wasn’t her usual self, who would cling to him and chatter away before going upstairs. Instead, she headed up without even a single glance in his direction.
She didn’t give herself a moment to spare, heading straight up. She really couldn’t hold it together any longer.
Seeing her so aloof, distant, and sullen—not smiling or trying to kiss him like she usually would—made Ryan Linton’s heart sink.
He knew why she was acting this way.
While he was out buying clothes with Ashley Grant today, he had also bought an item for Kiera, which made Ashley very unhappy.
But there was nothing he could do. He owed Kiera.
Ryan Linton sighed, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into his embrace.
Buried in his arms, Ashley Grant immediately burst into tears.
They were supposed to have a happy day shopping.
Ryan Linton had held her hand the whole time, treating her so well. They went to the amusement park, had a meal, and went shopping for clothes.
But when they got to the mall, Ryan Linton had asked her which outfit she liked; he wanted to buy it for her.
She picked out an outfit she loved.
In the end, he bought two of them—one for her, and one for Kiera Keane.
He didn’t know her size, but he knew Kiera Keane’s perfectly.
’But I’m his girlfriend...’
Besides, this was the first time he’d ever bought clothes for her, yet the joy of it was diminished, shared with another girl.
Especially since his feelings for Kiera Keane were so... special.
With the inexplicable pride and sensitivity of adolescence, still a teenager not yet grown, Ashley Grant cried helplessly.
Her tears soaked the front of Ryan Linton’s shirt, and hearing her cries made his own heart ache.
He held her, cupped her face, and looked at her eyes, swollen like a little rabbit’s. A pang went through his heart. He gave her a soft kiss and held her tighter.
Ryan Linton sighed, a sad look in his eyes. "Ashley, Kiera and I grew up together, ever since kindergarten. Like me, she doesn’t have a mother. When we were little, we were both outcasts because of it. We were friends for so many years... but she lost her legs because of me..."
