Priceless Treasure(66)

He had nothing to lose anymore. He would tell all to the reporters who loved gossip, and every one of them did. He didn’t give a damn if it put him in a bad light too. He’d lost the woman he loved, so what the hell did any of it matter? It didn’t.

“Your money isn’t worth this, Ashton.”

“There it is,” he said with the first smile he’d felt on his lips in months.

“Yeah, so what? That stupid little trollop you were with won’t get her hands on it either now,” she said, and her laugh sounded as if it were coming from a mad scientist. Or maybe from Mr. Hyde.

Damn, he’d been a fool to think he could marry for a pedigree instead of love. When the true colors came out, they really came out.

He picked up the phone and started punching in numbers. He was done.

“I’m going!” she said, and she ran out the door. He knew he wouldn’t see her again. It was over.

Ashton ended the call before it had ever started ringing. He didn’t want to waste another thought on such a greedy, worthless human being.

One who’d cost him everything that had any real value in life.

Ashton hung his head in sorrow. He’d tried getting ahold of Savvy, but she wasn’t enrolled at her university anymore. Had she given up on her degree? Her sister wouldn’t tell him where she was, and his whole life seemed to be lost now. And it was all because he’d felt he had to do the right thing.

But it had been three months since he’d last seen Savvy on Austin’s boat in the Pacific. She was gone. It was time for him to get on with his life.

No, Ashton didn’t want to face the world, but he couldn’t keep hiding away. He had a business to run and a family he loved, even though they’d recently been driving him crazy. Every single one of them seemed to be asking him at least once a week whether he’d seen Savvy. If not several times a week.#p#分页标题#e#

And yet he couldn’t help but gaze out the massive windows of his secluded house and wonder what Savvy was doing. Who she was with. Had she moved on? He could most likely get these answers with a little effort, but she’d made it more than clear that their relationship was over and done with, kaput, fini.

A small voice tried to tell him that the obstacle was no longer in their way. But he’d chosen to go back to Kalli, and he’d broken Savvy’s heart. She wouldn’t forgive him for that. And she shouldn’t.

It didn’t help, though, to know how much his father loved Savvy, how much his uncles, siblings, and cousins loved her too. From the moment he’d informed them that he was engaged to Kalli again, and told them why he’d made that choice, they hadn’t believed her story.

Their doubts had pushed Ashton to demand further testing — that hadn’t been easy — and it had proved that the woman had made the entire thing up. She wasn’t pregnant and she’d never been pregnant. She’d probably been planning to fake a miscarriage after she’d dragged him down the aisle. He had no idea how she’d managed to get an ultrasound photo.

But where there was a will, there was a way — especially when billions were involved. Kallista Blanche Huntington-Hart had destroyed his life. Not bad for a scheming bitch. Okay, so he had to take some responsibility here for taking himself down.

The clanging of the phone nearly made Ashton jump out of his skin. That was almost funny, and if he could have still found enjoyment in life, he might have done so then.

“Where have you been?”

His father wasn’t normally a man to yell, but Ashton had to yank the phone away to save his eardrum.

“I’ve been busy, Father. And how are you?”

“I’ve been worried about you — that’s how I am,” Richard told him.

“I’m sorry I’ve caused you any stress. I’m doing just fine.”

“That’s good, I suppose,” Richard said before letting out a long sigh on the other end of the line.

“What do you want to tell me, Dad?” The last thing Ashton wanted was to draw this out.

“Well, I don’t think I should gossip, or anything …”

Ashton knew instantly that his father was enjoying himself, but he also knew that he had to play along with the game if he wanted to get any information. And now the old man had made him curious.

“We both know that you’re going to tell me whatever it is, so just spit it out,” he said, his lips almost lifting.

“Well, it’s just that I ran into Savvy the other day …”

Ashton immediately sat up straight in his chair.

“You did? Where was she? How is she?” he blurted out.