Chapter 12

Ashton had no plan of continuing the entanglement with Claire. Thus, he made himself extremely clear. "I don't care who you love, or who you were trying to help. All I know is that I don't love you anymore, let alone want to marry you, Claire. From now on, stay out of my life." With that, he ended the call amid her pleas and tears, then blocked her number. Standing beside him, Jake gave him a satisfied thumbs-up. "Decisive—that's how you should be when dealing with a toxic woman. "Anyway, I need to drop by the company later. Giselle will be driving you to my place. If you need anything, just tell her—" Ashton's expression shifted at the familiar name. He cast a cautious look at Jake and asked, "Giselle, as in, Giselle Jacobson? Jake, why would you reconnect with her?" Jake had yet to notice his strange expression, instead casually explaining, "You know how I'd been studying abroad all this time, and I just opened a studio here in Novaport. "Since Giselle's doing pretty well arou