You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 104

Just then, her phone buzzed again. Sylvia instinctively answered it. Penelope's confused voice came through the speaker. "Did you get into the wrong car? We just pulled up."

An icy chill swept through Sylvia's veins. She sat frozen for two seconds before lunging for the door handle. She only managed to pop it open an inch.

Ashton grabbed her from behind, effortlessly slamming the door shut. He shot a look at Gideon Cole in the driver's seat. "Lock it."

He then snatched the phone right out of Sylvia's hand and spoke directly into the receiver.

"Stop looking for her. She's with me now."

With that, he ended the call and powered the phone off completely.

Sylvia was so furious at his sheer arrogance that she lost her voice. "Ashton, are you out of your mind? If you're sick, go see a doctor!"

In the driver's seat, Gideon shuddered. He had been working for Ashton for a while now, but he had never heard anyone dare speak to him like that.

Distracted, Gideon nearly rear-ended the car in front of them and slammed on the brakes. Sylvia pitched forward violently, but Ashton yanked her back into his chest, preventing her head from smashing into the dashboard.

Ashton shot Gideon a dark look. Gideon's hands were sweating profusely against the steering wheel.

Ashton didn't reprimand his driver. His sleeves were rolled up slightly, revealing the strong lines of his forearms. He looked down at Sylvia.

"You're going to behave, come have dinner with me, and I'll let you go after. Refuse, and I'll take you straight back to my apartment. Your choice."

His tone was laced with a ruthless edge.

That wasn't a choice at all. It was an ultimatum!

She bit her lip in fury, her eyes stinging with frustrated tears. But then she noticed Ashton's gaze trailing downward, his stare turning intensely explicit.

Before he could finish, Valerie slapped him hard on the back. "Don't you dare bring that up! If you hadn't squandered all that money, would we be begging for our lives right now?"

Hugo coughed from the impact, immediately getting defensive.

"Valerie, you're so narrow-minded. You're in a high-class place and you don't even know how to enjoy it. Think about the life Sylvia is living, and look at yours! She's making bank, but instead of bringing you to the city to live in luxury, she avoids us like the plague. Is that how a daughter is supposed to act?"

"And so what if I owe Ashton a little money? To rich people like them, it's a drop in the bucket. It's only poor people like us who treat it like the end of the world."

Valerie was so enraged she hit him again, harder this time. "What do you mean 'poor people'? I'm a regular person, and so are you! Stop acting like you're some high-society elite! I'll beat you to death!"

Realizing his mother was seriously angry, Hugo scrambled out of his chair and hid behind it. "Valerie, chill out! Don't I have any dignity left?"

He tried to reason with her. "Just look at Sylvia, looking all glamorous on TV every day. Do you know how much a single dress of hers costs? She makes all that cash but refuses to give me even a few million. The richer they get, the stingier they are. But she has plenty of money to hire people to keep me under house arrest. What a great sibling." By the end, his tone was completely spiteful.