Ron sat down and took the drink from Peggy's hand. Although he already had an inkling about
something from Ashley, he acted as if nothing had happened.
He cast a quick glance around the room and asked, "Where is Ashley? I didn't see her."
Peggy, who had been smiling delightfully before, immediately frowned upon hearing Ashley's name.
Given that Ron just returned and didn't know anything, she kept her anger in check and replied coolly,
"Come on, she is not a kid. Do we have to be by her side all the time? I don't know where she is!
I wonder why you care about someone so insignificant instead of your own sister."
Peggy was upset because she felt that Ron valued Ashley more than his own sister.
Ron furrowed his brows.
If just a casual question caused his mother to overreact this way, he couldn't imagine how Ashley must
have been treated when he was not home. He understood why Ashley chose to sever ties with this
family.
Lena looked at the two of them sitting on the sofa and decided to leave, since she had nothing to do
and was getting bored sitting around. Ron had liked Ashley since childhood, while he was indifferent
towards Lena. In turn, Lena had a negative impression of Ron.
Although he was her brother, they were not close. This was largely because of Ashley.
Lena was just about to leave. Perhaps it was because she made a noise that Peggy stopped talking
with Ron and looked at her.
"Hey. Where are you going? Your brother is here. Don't you see him? Oh, girl. Come over here. Say
hello to him," Peggy said to Lena.
Lena had no inclination to do that. Actually, she hated Ron, so she rejected her mother. "Sorry, I have
something to deal with. You guys continue chatting. I'm off," she replied shortly and went upstairs.
Watching Lena's back as she walked away, Peggy frowned and muttered, "God knows what's going
on."
Anyway, she was happy that Ron was back. So she turned her attention to her son.
"So when did you come back?" she asked.
Ron turned his gaze away from Lena, and replied, "Well, this morning. I wanted to give you a surprise,
so I didn't tell you."
"Whatever. As long as you're back. There's nothing better than this. Oh, does your father know that you
are back?" she asked.
"I haven't told him so far. But I plan to go to his office later."
"You just take a break. I'll tell him."
So Ron chatted with Peggy for a while. Seeing his tired eyes with dark circles, Peggy asked him to go
upstairs for a rest before dinner time.
Ron's arrival pleased Peggy. She, obviously, had been always satisfied with her son.
After Ron went upstairs, she couldn't wait to go out.
She planned to buy some food and make a big meal for him.
Ron went back to his room and put away his suitcase. Then he went to Ashley's room.
Her room was the same as it was when he left. It was still empty. When Ashley was a child, Ron's
family was good to her. But as she grew older, their attitude towards her became worse and worse. So
they hardly ever bought her anything.
Ashley didn't take anything with her the day she left.
On the desk, there was a photo.
In it, there was a boy and a girl whose faces were still puerile and youthful. Although the photo was a
little dusty, the people in it were still clear. It was Ashley and Ron from a few years ago.
The photo was taken five years ago before Ron went abroad.
Back then, they stood shoulder to shoulder, with big smiles on their faces.
He was about to take the precious photo when there was a sound outside the door.
"Who's there?" Ron asked, turning towards the door.
"It's me," a voice came from the doorway.
It was Lena. She hesitated for a moment before entering the room.
She was actually planning to go out and look for Ashley. She didn't expect to see Ron in Ashley's room.
Seeing him in there, she stood at the door for a while.
But Ron had discovered her.
Seeing that Lena was wearing makeup and carrying a bag, Ron asked, "Going out?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Are you in a hurry?" he asked, "I want to ask you something."
"Humph," Lena snorted contemptuously. "It's about Ashley, right?"
Ron frowned and replied angrily, "She is your sister."
Lena walked in slowly and folded her arms across her chest. "I have no sister.
What do you want to know. I tell you. All right?"
"Did she cut ties with us?" he asked.
Lena nodded. She wasn't surprised by his question. On the contrary, she had expected it from him. "So
you have met her."
Ron looked at her with disappointment. "Why can't you just talk nicely like other polite girls?" he asked
irritably.
Lena turned her head. "It's none of your business," she replied haughtily.
She resented her brother. She couldn't understand why he treated Ashley well when he was her
brother—her biological elder brother! She hated that he always criticized her behavior; it made her feel
like she had nothing but shortcomings and that there were no good qualities in her.
"What else do you want to know? Be quick. I have no time to waste with you," she said curtly. Lena felt
uncomfortable under Ron's piercing gaze. So she turned sideways so that she didn't have to look into
his eyes.
In the living room, Ron had overheard some discussion on the topic of marriage. So he wanted to
confirm whether he misheard it or not.
"You were talking about someone's marriage, right? Who got married?" he asked.
Lena looked at Ron and smiled wickedly. "You really want to know?"
When Lena was a child, she didn't know why Ron was so good to Ashley. As time went by, she began
to understand why.
Ron had fallen for Ashley and he didn't know that himself. But as an onlooker, Lena knew everything.
In a manner of speaking, Lena was the first one to read Ron's mind. So she used to violently dislike
Ashley at the time. She blamed Ashley for taking her brother's heart away.
It was for this reason that she used to pick on Ashley all the time. Ron, on the other hand, never dared
to tell Ashley that he had a crush on her.
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