Chapter 134 134

Chapter 134 134
Ashley POV

I walked out of the room at six in the evening. His parents were supposed to arrive at half past eight, which technically meant I only had about ten minutes left, but Mom was already glaring at me intently as I came into the dining room.

"It's about time you behaved yourself," she told me, with a teasing glint in her eye. "With the way you were holding onto him earlier, I thought you were copying a monkey."

She was sitting alone at the head of the table with a glass of red wine in one hand and her mobile phone in the other. The blaring rock music had stopped, and I could hear my father's voice finishing something in the kitchen.

"Where's Jayden?" I asked, shrugging off her comment, though I could not help but feel my cheeks heating up.

My face felt burning again as I plopped down in one of the ten chairs surrounding the long dining table made of dark wood, metal, and glass.

"In the bathroom," she replied, taking a sip of her wine. "You have not had sex with him, have you?"

"Of course not!" I blurted out reflexively. "Why are you asking me that?"

She narrowed her eyes, shooting me a glare that only a mother could have. "Why not? You are my only child and a daughter. As a mother, it's my duty to protect you."

"And yet you're still betting with Dad about me," I muttered to myself as I tried to cool my heated face by fanning myself with a napkin.

"Hmm? What was that?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, Mom," I answered hastily.

She opened her mouth, obviously sensing I had something to hide, but before she could interrogate me further, the sound of the doorbell interrupted our conversation.

"They're coming!" Dad called from the kitchen.

My mom and I stood up and went into the hallway, where my dad was waiting, an apron still wrapped around his waist. Jayden was there too, but despite looking overjoyed in his caramel brown eyes, he also looked anxious. His skin was slightly paler than before, and the crooked smile he gave me was not quite reaching his eyes. For a second, I wondered if this had something to do with the incident earlier. What would he have said if my mom had not interrupted?

"Hello!"

The entrance was filled with a lively welcome as my father opened the front door to let his parents in. Waiting for my parents to greet and hug them first, I noticed him doing the same. Glancing at him, I tried to sense if he was uneasy at the sight of his father, but the look in his eyes was unreadable, which made me even more worried.

One of the biggest and most shameful secrets in my life was that I had never told anyone about the physical abuse and possibly emotional and psychological abuse perpetrated by his father when he was a child. I had not admitted that I knew all those things to him until he had amnesia, and he joked about Death. But since then, I have never broached the topic, and Jayden has never told me more about it. I have no real idea how he feels about his parents other than what he shows outwardly, which is not too obvious.

To be frank, I wanted to confront his parents about it right then and there. But I knew I could not. Not unless he wanted me to. Not unless he was ready.

Because in the end, this was his battle. I could only support him.

His mother, who looked sweet and meek and had a much shorter body than anyone else there, pulled me in for a hug as soon as she looked at me. 

"I swear," she started, her friendly, excited voice almost radiating out, "you're getting prettier every time I see you, Ashley."

Smiling sheepishly, I tried to break away from her embrace as quickly as possible, but in a discreet manner. "Thank you, Auntie," I said.

Her eyes, which were very similar to his, beamed at me before she hesitantly hugged Jayden, seemingly surprised by his presence. He returned the hug, but there was still a void in his eyes that worried me.

A void that turned into barely contained anger as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"How have you been, Ashley?"

While Jayden resembles her mother, there is a clear resemblance between Jared and her father. Neither of their sons had eyes like their father's, but though Jayden had rather soft features that clearly came from her mother, Jared's stony, contrasting features came from their father. His eyes were darker than either of his sons and though he had a friendly smile, I did not really trust him.

"Just fine, thank you," I said as I whirled around and saluted.

"I did not expect to see you here," his father said as he looked at me and Jayden. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to perform again?"

His father said it casually, but he had such a stern voice. I caught Jayden stiffening in the corner of my eye and gave him a comforting look. Once again, I felt the urge to blurt out something, but I had to bite the bullet at the last second.

There had always been tension between him and his father. Even my parents have probably sensed it over the years. Sure enough, it was something we never commented on since their family affairs were exactly that, family affairs. I knew Dad looked up to his father - even more so after he told me about his past filled with depression and suicidal thoughts.

"I'm free today," Jayden said nonchalantly.

"If you are, you should use your free time to practice more."

"Now, now," Dad said before Jayden could reply. He put his arm around his father and patted him on the back. "Don't talk about work."

"Where's Jared?" his mother asked, having first nervously watched the tense interaction between her husband and son.

"He could not make it," Mom said. "There's work piling up."

"Ah, he works very hard, my son." His mother sniffed the air, then smiled at my dad. "It smells so good."

"It's a recipe I got from my Italian business partner's wife," Dad said, his arm still draped around Jayden's father. "I have never made my own pasta, but it's surprisingly tasty."

"You'd better be right," his father said with a snort. "I skipped lunch today so I could have a nice meal here."

"I hope it tastes bad, then."

Jayden's father chuckled. "You're such a bad friend."

"We're friends?"