Secret Scion

Asher Crawford was smart enough to tell what Noelle Steward was thinking. Turning toward her and noting her distracted gaze and her nervous expression, he would be lying if he said that he did not find her embarrassment attractive. Unable to resist a sly grin, he asked, "Why don't we go to my place? There's only one bed here, or am I supposed to sleep on the couch?"

Even as he spoke, he was walking up to Noelle as he ogled her delicate figure, his juices flowing right then.

As for Noelle, she was suddenly getting nervous when she met Asher's intruding gaze. As her heart began to race, she could not help biting her lip while slowly moving backward on her right foot.

"What, isn't one bed enough for you?" she asked softly.

"Where are you going to sleep, then?"

"I..." Noelle was caught off guard. She knew that Asher was asking when he knew the answer. Since he was playing cute when he already had the upper hand, she simply grumbled, "I'll get another room then."

She tried to leave as she spoke, but just as she brushed past Asher, he abruptly caught her waist with one hand. The disarming sensation stopped Noelle's dainty figure right then, and she fell into Asher's arms soon after...

***

Back at Crawford mansion.

Phoebe Webb still had yet to leave, and she felt a little insecure after checking the time. Soon, she went to Marguerite Davis to complain, saying that it was rare for her to spare time to visit Asher, only for him to evade her, which left her very upset.

Marguerite naturally knew what Asher had in mind, but with the engagement yet to be annulled and Phoebe being right here complaining, Marguerite was forced to call Asher for her provisional daughter-in-law.

[Ring...]

The abrupt jingle of Asher's phone startled Noelle, whom Asher had already pinned underneath himself. She quickly caught the warm palm underneath her clothes, saying, "You have to answer it..."

"No, I won't. No matter who it is," Asher said as he felt her softness with his fingers-stopping now was just going to ruin the whole mood.

Noelle snorted. "Answer it. Who knows if it's something important?"

Asher pushed himself off Noelle then, and she quickly pulled up her blanket to cover her chest. In spite of Asher's frustrations, there were times when being interrupted killed the mood entirely without a chance of continuation. He frowned when he saw that it was a call from his mother, and he said, "Mom?"

"Asher? Where are you?" Marguerite asked. "Phoebe has been waiting for you for the entire day -come home already if you're done working."

"Fine."

Putting away his phone, Asher said apologetically, "It's my mother. She told me to head home." There was a brief flash of disappointment over Noelle's face, but she soon smiled. "Just remember to come by tomorrow morning to pick me up."

Nodding, Asher took his jacket and left.

Phoebe had always been a bother to Asher, but unlike other women, he could not be dismissive toward her because she used to be his fiancee.

Once he had returned home, Asher spotted a figure beneath the streetlights, and he soon realized that it was Layla Knight.

"I thought you were staying out tonight..." she complained. "Phoebe was saying that Noelle Steward is here at the Alexandrius, and you left Phoebe for her right after she called you. Where's your common sense? Phoebe is still your fiancee what you did is out of line." "Where is she?"

"Aunt Marguerite's room. Phoebe insisted that she won't leave, and I know you understand why." Layla smiled faintly, as if gleeful of Asher's troubles.

"She wants to fuck me, is that it?"

"What..." Layla did a double take, before flushing in realization that Asher had never used profanity—she was his older cousin, and she was not supposed to suffer from his bluntness! Fortunately, it was dark and Asher might not have noticed her reaction, so she feigned composure and said, "If you don't want to be with Phoebe, it's best if you don't lay a finger on her. I can assure you, if you do, you're not escaping her for the rest of your life... By the way, what's this I hear about Griffin Quinn and Jeremiah Macquoid going on a race?"

"I have no idea. Ask Griffin yourself," Asher replied, and without waiting for Layla to say more, Asher headed to Marguerite's room.

"Hey, what's with that attitude?! Wait, stop! What the hell?!" Layla was left stamping her feet, her ample bosom heaving in frustration.

Nonetheless, Asher was soon knocking on his mother's door, and after entering, he found Phoebe sitting next to Marguerite and smiling faintly.

Marguerite, however, was frowning helplessly.

Resisting the impulse to throw a fit, Asher told Phoebe, "It's late. Let's get you home."

"I just called home saying that it's too late to head home-it's not safe." Phoebe retorted, before

turning toward Marguerite, "Mrs. Crawford, are there any unoccupied rooms here? I'm hoping I could stay the night."

It was a senseless question since the vast Crawford Mansion had all the empty rooms to accommodate dozens of people, let alone one woman. In fact, Phoebe asked just to not give Marguerite any chance of turning her down.

"There should be," Marguerite replied feebly.

"I'll stay the night then. I hear Griffin and Jeremiah are racing each other tomorrow, so I could go

with Asher to check it out." Phoebe added with a smile.

Asher frowned, but there was nothing he could do against her when she was being this enthusiastic.

Stepping out of Marguerite's room, Phoebe glanced at Asher and smiled. "I heard that the room next to yours is empty, I'll sleep next to your room."

Once again, Asher could not do anything but compromise to her whims.

***

Early next morning, Asher woke up early so that he could sneak out and pick up Noelle. However,

he was surprised to find that Phoebe was up as well when he stepped out of his room.

Seeing Asher dressed formally, she asked, "Are you usually an early riser?'

"Force of habit," Asher replied.

Phoebe turned outside the window, and seeing that it was barely dawn, she quickly caught up to Asher's plan. Heading toward the washroom, she said, "I don't think Noelle would be up this early. Give me ten minutes to wash-up. I'll come with you."

Meanwhile, Noelle had woken up early, but did not get out of bed immediately. In fact, she only did so when she received a call from Asher. However, when she stepped out of the hotel to find Phoebe with Asher, she did a double take, and hesitated for a moment before approaching them with a faint smile. "What an early surprise, Miss Webb."

Phoebe returned her smile. "I know Asher is coming to pick you up earlier, that's why we're up early. Are you used to Alexandrius yet, Miss Steward? Do tell us if there's anything you need- Asher and I are always at your service."

However, Phoebe's words were laced with malicious deception, and Noelle would have thought that they were living together if he did not trust Asher. However, having fallen for it once, Noelle was not going to fall for that again.

"You're too kind, Miss Crawford. I'll definitely go to Asher if I need help with anything," she replied.

Phoebe was actually left surprised that Noelle did not fall for her trick. It had just been a few days, but Noelle was already proving to be a difficult opponent now.

***

Jeremiah was convinced that he could outpace Griffin by miles, and he intended to use their race

to prove a point to the man. That was why he quickly sent his people to spread the word after

answering Griffin's challenge, drawing more people than usual to the race track.

After all, any performance without a crow was no different from a failure.

Early in the morning, Jeremiah himself led his lackeys to wait at the club, while a crowd started to build up around nine, including the youngsters of the three families. One must admit that despite just having enrolled in university this year, Jeremiah's position in Alexandrius was immovable.

Naturally, it was an incredible sight for Jeremiah's lackeys. Even if some of them held some degree of influence, they were insignificant when compared to Jeremiah.

"You're really something, Jeremiah! Every rich kid who is important in the city is here, and you're probably the only person who holds such influence."

"Are you kidding me? Jeremiah is a Macquoid. Who would have the guts to disrespect him?!" Jeremiah smiled in pleasure at the flattery, just as Juliette felt joy pleased that she had stood firm when they played table tennis the other day.

"You boys got it wrong the most respected youth of Alexandrius is my brother Kevin," Jeremiah said as he watched several young men and women approach them, with the beautiful Rose Schmidt standing in the center.

Pausing for a moment, Jeremiah walked up to them, something which left Juliette surprised. Many other youngsters of the rich and powerful had approached Jeremiah to greet him, and he barely grunted or nodded in response, making it clear that he did not care about them. With that being said, who was the eye-catching woman with that group? Why would someone as proud as Jeremiah be eager to greet them?"

"You could have called ahead, Rose-I'd have had someone come to get you." Jeremiah smiled then.

Juliette realized with a start at the mention of the woman's name just then. 'Sebastian and Rose' had always been a phrase in Alexandrius akin to Romeo and Juliet, and it turned out that the Rose in that phrase was this woman.