Chapter 12 

"You ... " Lily frowned when Ashton talked about the marriage proposal. "Forget it, I’m not divorced yet."

Although Darryl was a loser, he had worked hard in the past few years and fulfilled his housework duties. He received a telling-off every time he failed to do a good job, yet he never complained.

Even a dog would have feelings, let alone a human.

Darryl had recently loaned them five million and relieved the company of its woes. Aside from that, Darryl had to take out all the money he had saved over the years to avoid embarrassment when William suggested going Dutch in Oriental Pearl Hotel.

Ashton looked at her affectionately. "Lilybud, am I inferior to Darryl in any way? He’s a loser! Don't you worry, I’ll prepare a big gift for Grandma's birthday and wish her a happy birthday! She’ll be delighted with the gift. I’ll propose marriage when the time comes and I’m sure that Grandma would not refuse."

Lily casually sipped her coffee. The Lyndon family's rules were very strict, and Grandmother Lyndon had the final say. If she took a liking to Ashton, Lily might be instructed to divorce Darryl.

Lily genuinely regarded Darryl as a loser, but she was not completely apathetic toward him. After all, they had been married for three years, and she did not dare to say that she had no feelings for him.

"Let me ask you something," Lily suddenly said.

"What is it? Ask away, Lilybud."

"That pair of The Worship of Crystal. You didn’t give me the real one, did you?" Lily could not help but ask.

"Lilybud. I get angry when you mention that!" Ashton sighed and a fierce look flashed in his eyes. "The shoes I gave you were imitations, but they are still worth three hundred thousand bucks. Your loser husband threw them! When I went home and saw those shoes, I realized that he had destroyed them."

Lily listened to Ashton's grumbles and bit her lip tightly.

"I'm talking about the genuine pair of The Worship of Crystal. Weren’t you the one who gave them to me?" Lily asked softly.

What?!

Ashton was taken aback. His first instinct was to look below. Sure enough, Lily was wearing a pair of noble and elegant high heels. It was none other than The Worship of Crystal!

His mouth opened wide after glancing at those heels! That pair of The Worship of Crystal was on a whole other level compared to the high-grade imitation worth 300,000!

Ashton might be a man, but he knew that those shoes were genuine! They looked particularly elegant and complemented a noble look on any woman who wore them.

Gulp!

Ashton gulped fiercely. 30 million! A pair of genuine The Worship of Crystal cost 30 million!

That very pair was special in that it was limited to 99 pairs worldwide. Those without connections were unable to purchase them!

"Was this pair a gift from you?"

Lily pressed on.

She really could not think of anyone else who would give her something so expensive!

Indeed, many people wanted to pursue her, but deep down, Lily knew that most of her suitors were merely rich kids. They might be wealthy, but they could not spend 30 million just for a gift!

What about Ashton?

Despite being in dire straits after the Darby family cut off their funding, he still had an eye for detail. If his guesses were correct, then someone else had given those shoes to Lily, though she had absolutely no idea who the giver was!

‘Haha, did people like that still exist? Anonymous gift-givers? Hahaha! Well, if you don't want to take credit for it, then I’d be happy to!’

Ashton was overjoyed. He smiled cheekily and feigned coyness. "You got me, Lilybud. I’ll tell you the truth then. I gave it to you."

"Ah? Really?" Lily looked at him puzzlingly. "Why didn’t you admit it when I asked you before?"

Ashton scratched his head. "It’s not that I didn’t want to admit it, Lilybud. I’m just worried you’ll scold me."

"Why would I scold you?" Lily asked.

Ashton gazed lovingly at Lily. "Because I know in my heart that you love these shoes and you wanted them for a very long time. I wanted to buy them for you, Lilybud, but as you may know, our company only has thirty million. That’s why I bought you a pair of high-quality copies. Still, when I gave them to you, I had a feeling that you didn't like them that much."

He took out his cellphone, tapped the screen a few times, then said, "So I decided to sell the company and bought you this pair. I was worried you’ll scold me for being stupid. Lilybud, you know that you’re the most important person in my heart. I’m not stupid. I just love you too much! I’ll always find a way to get you the stuff you like because I love you.”

Ashton handed over his phone as he explained.

A photo was on display and it was that of Ashton's contract to leave the company.

Ashton chuckled in his heart. While the contract was real, the reason he signed it was because the Darby family drove him away and no longer allowed him to remain in the company!

Ashton was still in the dark over who he had offended and why it caused the Darby family to chase him out all of a sudden.

On the other hand, Lily knew nothing about that. She truly believed that Ashton had sold off the company and bought her those shoes!

Although her affections for Ashton were not of the romantic kind, she felt slightly emotional at that moment and looked right at him.

"You... " Lily lips nearly bled due to her biting it. "Why are you so stupid."

"I'm not stupid!"

Ashton seized the chance and reached out to hold Lily's beautiful hand. "Lilybud, I’m willing to do anything for you."

Lily trembled. Even though she found it heart-warming, she still retracted her hand and looked at Ashton with mixed feelings. In the end, she picked up her bag and left.

Ashton ogled her slender, curvy figure from behind.

‘I’m going to get this woman.’

Ashton had a little smile as if he could already imagine Lily's captivating body.

Moonlit River Bar.

It was ages since Darryl last got drunk, and he had lost all self-control today.

"You can still tolerate a fair bit of alcohol, Second Young Master," Samson raised his glass and said.

"From now on, don't ever call me Second Young Master again." Darryl looked around and downed his glass. "I’m not keen on being addressed like that."

Three years ago, his sister-in-law led the charge to kick Darryl out of the family. From that point onward, he was especially averse to the title of Second Young Master.

The thought of what happened back then prompted Darryl to clench his fists.

Back then, he had used eight million to buy Southeast Petroleum’s shares, but no one ever believed that he could make money out of it. His sister-in-law alleged that it was an attempt to hollow out the clan funds, and under her instigation, the family kicked Darryl out of the clan.

However, the eight million from that time was his own pocket money, which he saved himself and formed his private funds!

Darryl was well aware that his sister-in-law did that for a reason. There were two candidates for the Darby family’s future patriarch. The first-in-line was Florian, Darryl's elder brother.

The second was none other than Darryl.

His sister-in-law wanted to get rid of him so there would be no one else vying with Florian for the patriarch’s position.

"Then is it okay if we call you Mister Darby from now on?" Wayne asked, snapping Darryl back to the present.

Darryl nodded. His mood had soured after reflecting on his past.

He then saw Emily approaching him from one side. She said softly, "Mister Darby, there’s something I want to tell you."

"What is it?" Darryl finished the drink in his hand and looked at her.

He had to admit that Emily looked much more charming then compared to when he first met her. In the present, her business had taken off and she had built her brand of cosmetics, making her look more alluring than before.

"It’s about your sister-in-law," Emily said in his ear.

"Let’s hear it."

Emily nodded and slowly began. "Just last year, your sister-in-law contacted someone to get in touch with me. She wanted to buy a piece of limited-edition cosmetics. After I bought it for her and chatted with her, I found out by accident that she’s very ambitious."

Darryl had a faint smile. He had long noticed how ruthlessly ambitious his sister-in-law was. Why else would she have chased him away if not for that characteristic of hers?

In a bustling area of Donghai City.

Lily, who had just parted ways with Ashton, was walking side-by-side with Phoebe.

"Why do you look so distracted, Lily?" Phoebe asked as they walked out of a store.

Lily shook her head. "It's nothing."

At that point, her mind was filled only with thoughts of Ashton. It was hard to imagine that the man had sold his company just to buy her a pair of heels.

"By the way, Lily, did you hear about the cosmetics brand that’s all the rage recently?" Phoebe asked excitedly.

The absent-minded Lily finally showed some interest. "Is it Poesia Eleganza’s Crown line?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The two of them giggled at the same time. There was a myriad of topics that women could talk about, but the ones that interested them most were stuff like cosmetics and clothes.

One particular brand of cosmetics was in the spotlight recently, and that brand was Poesia Eleganza!

Valentine's Day was coming soon, and Poesia Eleganza had launched another series called the Crown line!

It was limited to 520 sets worldwide!

Each set cost 520,000 bucks and was considered to be royalty among the cosmetics brands! Every woman desired it! Although 520,000 bucks were not too expensive a sum, plenty of rich people scrambled to get their hands on it, and those without any connections were downright unable to buy them.