Chapter 1583
When There Is Nothing Left But Love
âYep,â I said with a forced smile. Of course, I swallowed down what was supposed to come after it; that
his skin was just as thick.
Holden caught sight of my expression and immediately figured out I was mocking him. His eyes
narrowed and he whined, âScar! Why are you mocking me again-â
Suddenly, a pair of hands roughly shoved a piece of fruit into Holdenâs mouth.
Holden frowned and chewed. âWhat is this?â
âDragon fruit,â Ashton said coldly.
âSh*t! I have trypophobia!â
After that, he made a beeline for the bathroom.
After a series of loud retches, the sound of the toilet flushing rang out.
Ashton glanced at me and shrugged innocently. âI had no clue.â
Holden walked out of the bathroom. âSh*t. Ashton, are you a proper man or not? That was below the
belt!â
Ashton leaned against the sofa wordlessly.
I burst out laughing. âWell, as the saying goes, do stupid things, win stupid prizes. Godâs teaching you a
lesson.â
Holden suddenly started babbling even more. âGod? I fought God a long time ago and Iâm only
standing here because I won! If not, Iâd probably have been chopped up and fed to the fishes. No one
can teach me a lesson now unless I want to be taught.â
As he spoke, he returned to his comfortable perch on the sofa and lay down casually, completely
making this place his home.
He almost seemed as if he were dozing off for a second before he bounced back up like a spring. After
he sat up straight, he suddenly stared at me intensely, looking almost like a wolf staring at its prey.
âJust to remind you, if you keep staring at me like that, the man behind you is going to teach you
another lesson.â
Holden was staring at me like a predator staking out its prey, and Ashton was like the hunter right
behind him with his rifle pointed straight at Holdenâs head. As for me, the poor deer stuck in between, I
felt goosebumps beginning to rise on my arms.
It was already hard enough to hold back my laughter at the mere sight of Holden, so I really couldnât
find it in me to actually be serious on top of that.
Holden looked back and waved Ashton away. âIâm talking business here. Donât butt in, buddy.â
He placed a hand on the armrest of my armchair and leaned over. His sentimental gaze was still
staring into my soul. âYouâre pretty good at keeping secrets, huh? Iâve known you for so long, and yet
Iâve never known that you were such an artist.â
Ashton reached out and pulled him back. âHey, watch it. Havenât you heard that you should never go
after your friendâs wife?â
âBut-â
âNo exceptions.â
Holden was speechless and sighed heavily in response. âAll right, I see what youâre doing. I canât
believe Iâve spent the last six years helping you find your wife and this is how you treat me! What
happened to us being friends?â
The two of them stared each other down, as stubborn as bulls. For some reason, the whole scene
looked strangely comedic.
âHey, hey, youâve been friends for so long! Is it really worth it to fight right now?â I quickly decided to
become the mediator. âIt was just a joke! Just be the bigger person and step down, both of you. Letâs
get back to business. Why were you talking about art just now?â
Holden was clearly still in a huffy mood and he said impatiently, âThereâs an organization in Eastern
Epea whoâs been selling art pieces under your name. Itâs really made a huge change to our currency!â
When we heard the word âcurrency,â Ashton and I exchanged glances. Clearly, we had arrived at the
same conclusion.
Suddenly, a familiar male voice called out from the doorway, âOh, do you guys have a visitor? Maybe
we should have come another day.â
I turned to see Nick and Rose walk in.
Nick was holding Roseâs hand and she was holding onto his arm affectionately. Every few steps, they
would glance at each other as if making sure the other person was still there. It definitely seemed like
they were on great terms.
I could tell from just Roseâs gaze alone. She was smiling so hard her eyes shone and crinkled at the
corners.
Because of our past issues with Jackson, Nick and I werenât exactly close anymore and we chose not
to interact with each other if possible. All I heard about him was whatever I got from Cameron, and I
was happy to hear that he was on good terms with Rose again. I was also glad to hear that he had
managed to expand the company through the Walker familyâs help and was extremely successful now.
Apart from being happy for him as an older sister, I was also relieved to see that the two of them were
so lovey-dovey.