You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 3

A collective gasp swept through the VIP suite. It wasn't about the amount, but rather the sheer audacity of her blunt demand.

Plenty of women tried to climb into Ashton's bed for fame and fortune, but most had the decency to mask their greed under the guise of love.-

Of course, Ashton possessed every quality a woman could desire.

Sylvia had loved him just like that. She thought of his endless nights of passion and tenderness, of how he used to pull her tight and make her call him hers, of the hidden softness buried beneath his ruthless exterior.

Even now, she couldn't entirely let him go.

But the moment she pictured him touching someone else, she felt physically sick.

"Why do you suddenly need that much cash?" Unexpectedly, Ashton didn't just agree. He arched a brow, pinching her chin to scrutinize her face.

Sylvia forced herself to hold his gaze, maintaining a flawless facade. "You dropped millions of dollars on drinks in a single night. Is writing me a check really that difficult?"

The love was dead. He refused to commit, so was he going to deny her the payout, too?

Just then, a derisive scoff echoed from the corner. "You and your brother really are cut from the same cloth."

Sylvia whipped her head around and realized her stepbrother, Hugo Logan, was crouching in the shadows of the room.

Catching her glare, Hugo offered a sheepish grin. "Sylvia, fancy seeing you here."

Hugo was the son of Sylvia's mother and her gambling-addict stepfather. Hugo had followed in his father's destructive footsteps, dropping out of high school to run with a bad crowd. Every dime Sylvia had ever sent home had been squandered by the two of them.

Eventually, Sylvia relocated her mother to another city and provided a strict monthly allowance, cutting all contact with Hugo and her stepfather entirely.

She had kept her relationship with Ashton a complete secret from them. She had only mentioned it briefly to her mother, strictly forbidding her from breathing a word to the men, terrified they would latch onto her like leeches.

Yet here Hugo was. He seemed entirely too comfortable with Ashton's inner circle, proving he had been hanging around for quite some time.

A cold dread settled in the pit of Sylvia's stomach.

"Who told you to come here?"

Hugo rubbed his hands together awkwardly. "Dad got locked up by some dangerous guys. I need cash to bail him out before they break his legs. Come on, Sylvia, you wouldn't just let him get hurt, right?"

The man who had mocked her earlier watched the drama unfold with immense amusement.

"Let me guess, his ransom is exactly thirty million?"

Sylvia stiffened. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense—this was exactly how Ashton's friends viewed her.

To them, she was nothing but a shameless gold digger who had clung to Ashton for years just to funnel cash to her pathetic family.

The irony made Sylvia want to laugh.

"I missed you," Sylvia said, looping her arms around his neck and blinking innocently.

I missed your money.

Ashton had always known she was madly in love with him, so he didn't doubt her words. His stoic lips curved into a genuine smile before he forced it down. He knew giving this woman an inch meant she would take a mile.

"You're sure you aren't here for your dad?" he challenged, raising a brow.

Sylvia stared at him with wide, innocent eyes. "I didn't even know about that." She resumed tracing circles on his bare chest, purposefully drawing the number three to drive her point home.

Just give me the thirty million.

Ashton caught her delicate, wandering hand, his dark gaze narrowing. "We're still in public."

She really was a seductive, irresistible little temptress.

He had just satisfied her, and she was already begging for more.

Sylvia gritted her teeth. "Thirty million..."

Ashton leaned back against the leather sofa, his tone lazy as he repeated the question, "What do you even need that much money for?"

She muttered under her breath, her bright eyes glinting. "Makeup, designer clothes, luxury bags... They all cost a fortune."