Ashley was worried about whether she needed to wake up early everyday from now on so that she
could have enough time to walk to the bakery shop, but it was quite far away from where she was
staying.
Upon thinking about that, she couldn't help but feel helpless.
But luckily, though this villa was a little bit isolated, she could find all she wanted here, such as fresh
vegetables and fruits in the fridge.
When night fell, Ashley still didn't know if Andrew would be back or not. Although she didn't know who
Andrew really was, she was able to guess that he was in charge of a company, as he was always busy
dealing with business-related things.
Being bored out of her wits, Ashley decided to make dinner despite not knowing if Andrew would even
come home.
Upon entering the kitchen, she became very impressed. It was very clean and everything was new. All
the essentials were also there.
Ashley prepared the rice first. She added some rice to the cooking pot, rinsed it, poured some water
into the pot and let it simmer in the rice cooker.
Since there were lots of meat and vegetables in the fridge, Ashley took out some pork ribs and Chinese
yams. "I'm gonna make a pork rib soup," Ashley happily whispered to herself.
In all fairness, she was enjoying herself.
After she finished cooking the soup, she took out some tomatoes, eggs and vegetables from the fridge
and got ready to make more dishes.
First, she washed the tomatoes and cut them into pieces. After that, she cracked the eggs into a bowl
and stirred them.
Patiently, she rinsed the vegetables to make sure they were clean.
Ashley was so concentrated on what she was doing that she didn't realize that Andrew was home
already.
It was said that when men were busy doing something, they were very charming, the same as women,
when they were concentrated on doing something, they seemed very attractive as well.
In order to be with his wife, Andrew drove at the highest speed allowable straight home from work. He
even ran a few red lights to lessen his travel time.
When he opened the door, though, silence welcomed him. For some weird reason, he thought that
Ashley had already left. But he still looked for her around the house and was so surprised when he
found her in the kitchen, cooking dinner.
Leaning by the kitchen door, Andrew couldn't keep his eyes off her. At that moment, he got a strange
feeling that he had never felt before.
He suddenly felt anxious, fearing that this thing might be out of his control one day. Such a feeling
worried him a lot, as he was so used to having everything under his control.
However, he wasn't antipathetic towards this feeling. Instead, he felt curious.
Before, he felt so alone every time he came back to this villa. He even preferred to stay in the office
rather than go home. But now, with Ashley in the house waiting for him and cooking him dinner, he
started looking forward to going home.
The home which belonged to the two of them. Oh, how much Andrew wished that he could freeze time
and make the moment last forever.
As Ashley was too focused on what she was doing, she unconsciously spilled some of the soup she
had in her ladle as she was taking a sip out of it.
The soup was very hot, and it immediately became apparent in Ashley's expression.
"Jesus!" Ashley screamed. She dropped the ladle, and her hand turned red and became swollen
immediately.
When Andrew saw what happened, he scurried to Ashley's side.
Quickly, he held her burned hand and put it under cold running water until the pain subsided.
Ashley was surprised. 'When did this guy come home?' she thought to herself.
Staring at her red and swollen hand, Andrew's face turned sullen.
"Andrew?"
Andrew looked at her, reproaching. "What is wrong with you? You're just making a simple meal, how
could you get yourself hurt!"
The reaction baffled Ashley.
'I am the one who got burned. Not him. Why is he the one so irritated?'
Feeling wronged, Ashley turned to Andrew with a glare.
"This is all on you! I felt you staring at me and it startled me!" she said in a pointed tone, tugging her
hand away from Andrew's grip. However, it was too strong. As much as she was annoyed at how
Andrew approached her, she became less angry when she saw his reprimanding look.
After some time under running water, Ashley's hand felt a lot better. It was still slightly swollen, but it
was already coming down. After making sure Ashley's hand was better, Andrew finally decided to let go
of her hand.
He then said to her, "Just stay out of here, I will handle the rest."
Ashley was astonished. She blurted out, "Do you know how to cook?"
At that, Andrew's expression suddenly became angrier.
After noticing that, Ashley couldn't help but just pout. 'But it's really hard to believe that he can cook!'
Ashley protested in her head. 'He looks like he was born in a wealthy family and everything has been
arranged and prepared for him all his life.'
Despite the visible disapproval in Andrew's face, Ashley was still in disbelief that he could cook.
"There's no need to bother you," she started. "I could take care of everything. Just go and rest."
If Ashley said this before Andrew saw her get hurt, he would be thrilled to oblige. But since she had
already been hurt, he could never agree.
"No, go and stay away from the kitchen," he commanded coldly.
The voice made Ashley tremble. As much as she didn't want to go, she felt like she had no choice but
to leave as commanded.
What happened wasn't a very nice encounter, but Ashley believed that Andrew reacted that way
because he cared about her.
Taking a deep breath, she headed towards the living room and sat on the couch. She took a look at her
burned hand and realized how red and badly swollen it was.
Her gaze examined the room for anything that she could put on it, but she couldn't see anything.
Though a bit nervous, she walked into the kitchen again and asked Andrew where the first aid kit was.
Andrew turned off the stove. Upon seeing Ashley's hand again, he frowned. Determination suddenly
colored his eyes and he dragged Ashley upstairs.
Somehow, Ashley felt his nervousness.
Upon reaching the bedroom, Andrew sat Ashley down on the bed. He then took out the first aid kit from
a bedside cupboard.
Andrew opened the kit. It was full and complete - antiseptics, bandages, thermometers, and such.
Everything necessary could be found in it.
Andrew rummaged through the kit and fished out the antiseptic and some bandages. After that, he
turned to Ashley and knelt in front of her. "Give me your hand."
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