Chapter 12

Ashley's cheeks flushed red in an instant. She clutched her chest and shot Edwin a glare—though with those wide eyes and pouty lips, it looked more like a flirtatious tease than any real threat.

Edwin chuckled lowly, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"You're in my room, using my tub, dressed like that, and sitting on my lap... and now you're shy? Don't you think it's a bit too late for that? Or..." His eyes drifted to her nudely pale, creamy-white thigh. "Are you playing hard to get?"

Hard to get, your face!

Ashley practically leapt to her feet, fuming. If looks could kill, Edwin would be six feet under by now.

He just laughed harder, completely enjoying himself.

Watching her drop the polite act and show her real self—it was oddly satisfying.

Just then, a panicked voice came from outside.

"Mr. Edwin, Mrs. Ashley! Mrs. Eleanor's not feeling well, you should hurry and check on her!"

What, again?

Ashley frowned slightly. That didn't add up—she had just checked Eleanor's pulse earlier tonight, everything had seemed fine.

Edwin's expression turned cold as he narrowed his eyes at her. "This is how you ‘take care' of my grandmother?"

Ashley didn't have time to argue. She quickly followed him to Eleanor's room.

But once they opened the door to the bedroom, Eleanor was nowhere in sight.

Instead, the room was filled with a strange fragrance. Familiar somehow, but Ashley couldn't quite place it.

"Little Edwin, you and Ashley can just spend the night here!" Eleanor's voice came from outside the room.

Edwin's face darkened in an instant.

He walked up to the door—but it had already been locked tight from the outside.

Drawing a sharp breath, he tried to stay calm. "Grandma, seriously? Quit messing around. Open the door."

But she just yawned dramatically from the other side.

"Oh dear, I'm so sleepy. I'm heading to bed now. You two should get some rest too. And Edwin—take real good care of my darling granddaughter-in-law tonight."

She really emphasized the words "take care."

Her grandson was seriously dense—like solid-wood-level dense. If she didn't push things along a bit, who knew how many years it would take to finally get a great-grandchild?

Ashley finally figured out what that strange scent was... It was from a herb called Lovevine—it's used in incense and acts as an aphrodisiac.

The burner was sitting right there on the coffee table. She rushed over to put it out.

But before she could, the giant TV across the room suddenly flicked on by itself.

Just as she instinctively looked up, Edwin's large hand quickly covered her eyes.

"Don't look."

She couldn't see, but she could definitely hear...

The heavy breathing and moaning coming from the TV were way too explicit—loud, shameless, and... right in her ears.

Ashley froze on the spot, stiff as a board. She'd never listened to this kind of thing before.

Even Edwin was caught off guard. He never expected his grandma to go this far.

He normally had zero interest in this stuff. But between the incense and the audio-visual ambush, his body was having a reaction whether he liked it or not.

Trying to stay composed, Edwin breathed in slowly, still keeping Ashley's eyes covered as he turned her to face him.

Her wide, clear eyes stared up at him—nervous, confused, and totally innocent.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

She didn't have to do anything... just looking at him like that was almost too much for him to handle.

"Don't turn around," he said hoarsely. Then he walked straight to the TV and yanked out the plug.

Thank god, the sounds finally stopped. Ashley let out a silent sigh of relief.

She'd brought her acupuncture kit with her—thank goodness for that.

Pulling out the longest, thickest needle, she walked quickly to the door, intending to pick the lock.

But just as she poked the needle into the keyhole, she was suddenly lifted off the ground.

Before she could even react, Edwin had thrown her straight onto the bed.

"Make some noise."

His tall, lean figure loomed over her like a mountain, and those usually cool, deep eyes were now dark and intense.

From his angle, Edwin could make out Grandma Eleanor's silhouette behind the curtains—clearly eavesdropping.

She wouldn't leave until she heard what she wanted to hear.

Ashley bit her lip in embarrassment, refusing to say anything.

But then, a startled yelp escaped her mouth.

Her eyes flew wide open as she quickly grabbed Edwin's hand—he'd slipped it under her skirt out of nowhere.