Chapter 118: Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Upon hearing his words, Ashley’s mind went blank, thinking, ‘Who could call me that?”

A realization flashed through her mind, and she pondered, ‘Could Valentin be referring to Jaden?’

Only then did Ashley grasp the situation. She immediately opened her phone to search online. Sure enough, there was a video of her and Jaden shopping, secretly recorded by a sales assistant.

She thought in annoyance, ‘Of all things, the way Jaden called me ‘dear’ got recorded too!’

Ashley was at a loss for words.

Feeling mentally exhausted, she put down her phone, and when she looked up, she was met with Valentin’s emotionless gaze.

Ashley’s temple throbbed suddenly, like someone caught cheating by their spouse, and a sense of guilt surged up. She then blurted out a cliché from the cheater’s playbook, “Listen to my explanation! This is really a misunderstanding!”

Valentin responded indifferently, “Explain then.”

Ashley pondered, ‘I thought he would say he wouldn’t listen to me.”

She cleared her throat and hurriedly explained, “Jaden just talks like that. When he says ‘dear,’ it’s like calling someone by their name. It has no other meaning!”

Valentin asked in a seemingly casual tone, “So, you’re close to him?”

Ashley felt as if she was being interrogated but didn’t dare to hide. anything. She nodded. “Yes, we’re quite close. After all, I’ve known him. for a long time.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Valentin’s eyes narrowed, his voice deep. and heavy as he asked, “And what about us?”

“Our relationship is, of course…” Ashley started to say but suddenly stopped.

“Of course what, hmm?” His expression grew slightly cold, hinting at a subtle danger.

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Chapter 117

Ashley thought carefully, ‘My relationship with Valentin is really complex. It is hard to describe in specific terms. If I had to put it into words, it would be…

Ashley pressed her l*ps together and looked at Valentin with deep affection. “My relationship with you is such that if you fell into a rive would immediately jump in to save you and give you CPR.”

Valentin was momentarily taken aback, a warm intensity simmering in his deep eyes.

The next second, Ashley smiled mischievously, her eyes crinkling, “But I know you’ve been able to swim since you were young, Valentin, so there’s no need for me to save you, right?”

Valentin was momentarily at a loss for words, caught off guard by her playful tone.

He then couldn’t help but laugh at her remark.

After Ashley finished speaking, she excitedly pulled out a small, deep blue square box from her pocket.

Inside the box were the cufflinks she had bought.

Ashley grabbed Valentin’s hand and pushed the box into his palm, saying, “Here’s a little gift for you.”

After saying this, she ran off to get a drink.

Valentin was surprised. He then raised his eyebrows and opened the box to find a pair of obsidian cufflinks inside.

After a few seconds, he chuckled softly, looking at Ashley, who was drinking water. Warm and teasing, his laid-back voice carried over. “Thank you for the gift, my dear.”

Ashley, who was drinking water, almost choked.

Valentin playfully raised an eyebrow. “If you get choked, I’ll be there to give you CPR right away, Ashley.”

Ashley was left speechless.

She thought in annoyance, ‘He’s doing this on purpose! Absolutely on purpose!!

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Chapter 117

Recently, the Ramos family’s fashion brand suddenly launched several popular new haute couture designs, significantly increasing their popularity.

Ashley sat on the sofa at the villa while Jaden sat opposite her.

Jaden was studying the new designs released by the Ramos Group on tablet. As he browsed through the photos, his brows furrowed in confusion. “This is odd. Why does the style of these designs seem so similar to yours?”

Ashley, who was eating cherries, lifted her head and looked over upon hearing this.

After seeing the styles of the clothes, Ashley’s eyes paused briefly, and she then smiled mockingly with her red l*ps, “That’s because those are my designs.”

“I just knew it!” Jaden clicked his tongue and continued, “Then how can the Ramos family release these new designs and claim Jessica designed. them?

“And during the interview, Jessica revealed her deep concern for the family business’ struggles. Drawing upon her self-taught fashion design. skills, she stayed up a couple of nights to create new designs. To her surprise, they were incredibly well-received.”

Ashley wiped her delicate fingers with a tissue. Her expression was cold as she replied, “I sketched a dozen or so designs when I was at the Ramos Villa a couple of years ago. I forgot to take them with me when I left.”

After all, such designs were easy for her to create on a whim and weren’t considered important, so she forgot to take them when she left the Ramos Villa.

Jaden quickly put two and two together and exclaimed, “So Jessica stole your work and passed off your designs as her own. That’s shameless!”

People were already praising Jessica on the Internet as a talented designer while conveniently forgetting that she had plagiarized Attelia.

As Jaden spoke, his phone suddenly rang.

After the call, Jaden turned to Ashley, saying, “The association had expelled the Ramos family’s fashion brand a while ago, so they’ve lost the right to participate in major design competitions. But there’s a design symposium coming up, and Frankie wants to apply to join. As the

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Chapter 117

association’s president, will you allow it?”

Before Ashley could answer, Jaden said with a face full of disdain, “Why let these thieves participate? Just kick them out!”

Ashley glanced at him and chuckled softly, “Why not let them join? Le

them.”

Jaden looked puzzled and was about to ask why when he suddenly realized. “I get it! You have a habit of leaving your ‘A’ signature on your designs. We can use that to expose Jessica and Frankie’s theft and pin them to the wall of shame, right?”

Ashley raised her eyebrows subtly. “Not bad, you’ve finally had a smart moment.”

Jaden laughed with a snort. “Dear, I’ve always been smart, okay?”

In the blink of an eye, the day of the design symposium arrived.

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