Chapter 160: To Laugh
Thirty Minutes Ago...
Red, Rum, Gin, Vodka, and Tank were scattered lazily around their empty place.
Ever since they moved in, their already menial work at the back of the mansion had dwindled to nothing. Now, all they did all day was idle and watch their brains rot. They would try to train, but they couldn’t do that the whole day.
The only time they left was whenever Ashley left the house.
But she had been staying in.
"Didn’t she need to find an office for herself?" Rum grumbled lazily. "Why the heck is she just sitting at home?"
"Maybe she decided business isn’t for her," Gin remarked, scrolling through his phone. "The Black Market is still quiet. Such a massive influence the ghosts have."
Tank was seated with his legs crossed, eyes closed, meditating. Vodka lazily lay on his side, his head propped on his knuckles.
"Say, Gin," Vodka said, looking at the smartest guy in the room. "Who do you think that woman is?"
Gin paused and turned to Vodka, only to find that everyone had shifted their attention to him. Even Red, who had been lying flat on the floor waiting to evaporate like the rest, turned his head.
"I have no idea," said Gin. "I tried asking around, but nobody else did either."
He paused and shrugged. "But I’m sure she’s the young master’s mom."
"Really?"
"Who else could hug the master like that if not someone he had a child with?" Gin answered matter-of-factly. "Besides, she’s very pretty. Just looking at her, you can tell she comes from money."
A moment of silence fell over the room as they nodded, turning it over in their heads. As nosy neighbors with nothing better to do, they had all seen Emma enter the house across the street.
"Besides, if nobody in Dominion knows anything about that woman, doesn’t that mean the master is keeping her information from getting out? Even from us?" Gin continued, earning nods from around the room. "The real question is whether the master and that crazy witch will get a divorce."
Another wave of silence settled until Red snickered.
"Serves her right," Red smirked. "If they divorce, good for us! At least we won’t have to listen to that crazy woman anymore. How dare she turn us into bums like this?"
The other four nodded.
"Now that you mention it, the master and the young master haven’t been coming home," Vodka rubbed his chin. "And even when they do, it’s late."
"They only come back at all because the young master has early school," Red chimed in. "Otherwise, they’d disappear like last weekend."
"Ah... I hope the next madam is nicer," Rum hummed, sliding his arms underneath his head. "I can’t wait to go back to the mansion."
Vodka blinked and looked around at them. "Do you really think they’ll divorce?"
"Why not?" Red arched a brow. "First of all, that woman has made it clear she wants nothing to do with Dominion. If the master brought up divorce, I’d bet my limbs she’d agree in a heartbeat."
The rest nodded, then Rum raised a finger and wagged it.
"Vodka, why do you look so worried? Haven’t you noticed yet? This entire marriage is absurd! That woman doesn’t want to be here. Even though she hasn’t been trying to escape lately, she tried plenty of times before," Rum argued. "She’s not going to cry over this. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she threw a party the day they divorced."
"And honestly, it’s better if the master ends up with the young master’s mom," Gin added knowingly. "That way, they’d be a real family."
"Exactly!"
As those words hung in the air, a quiet knock at the door cut through the room. All five of them turned toward it, brows knitting together.
"Who the hell is it now?" Red clicked his tongue before Gin pushed himself up.
"I’ll get it."
Gin walked to the entrance while the others watched from where they lay. When he opened the door, his brows furrowed.
"Madam?" Gin called, loud enough for the others to scrunch their faces in dismay.
"Why does she keep showing up here?" Red whispered, his expression sour.
Ashley drew a deep breath as she raised her head, glancing past Gin at the guys on the floor.
"I want to laugh," she said, gently nudging Gin aside and letting herself in.
As if it were her own home, Ashley looked over their lazy figures before dropping onto the floor and sprawling out as if she had fallen from an eighteen-story building. Her knees bent at odd angles, her arms out on either side, her eyes fixed on the dark ceiling.
"Man..." she breathed, closing her eyes and joining them just like that. "I envy you guys. I should’ve just become a bum like you."
Everyone who had been idling on the floor sat up, staring at the woman who had crashed their space so casually.
"Hey, what the —" Red scoffed. "You can’t just barge in here and sprawl yourself like that!"
They all nodded.
"This is a guys’ dormitory!" Rum added, still bitter about the time he was punished with kitchen duty because she had told Lucian about him spreading fake news.
"Are you trying to get us in trouble by coming here at this hour?" he added.
Gin cleared his throat and approached her. "Madam, why are you here?"
"To laugh," she said flatly, still staring at the ceiling. "I’m not in a good mood, and I thought seeing you guys and trauma bonding might make me feel better."
Her answer only soured their moods further.
"You selfish —" Red nearly choked on his words when he caught a glimmer from the corner of her closed eyes. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he leaned in closer, narrowing his eyes.
"Hey," he said, his voice dropping. "Hey — are you crying?"
The moment a tear slipped from the corner of her eye, he jolted back. The rest looked at him, then back at Ashley.
"Madam, why are you —" Gin stuttered, panic creeping in. "Hey, Red! How could you — you made her cry!"
Vodka, the big guy, turned to Red with disgust. "Red, you went too far this time."
"Why are you all looking at me?!" Red gasped, pointing at Rum. "Rum said worse things!"
Rum clutched his head. "Shit," he hissed, quickly crawling over to Ashley. "Hey, come on. Why are you crying all of a sudden — that’s not like you! You’re supposed to say something back that riles us up!"
"Yeah!" Red moved closer too, careful, as if afraid he’d make it worse. "Are you really crying over something like that? Fine, fine — sorry, okay? Stop crying now."
But instead of stopping, Ashley snapped her eyes open and pushed herself upright. She ground her teeth, tears still brimming.
"Damn it," she hissed, kicking her feet against the floor. "This is so damn annoying!"
She grabbed fistfuls of her hair in frustration and sobbed loudly. The moment her quiet crying turned into full sobs, all four of them panicked, tripping over each other trying to calm her down.
"Hey, it’s okay! Stop crying — sorry if we went too far!" Red yelled, and Rum followed with,
"It’s because of Red’s face!"
Vodka shuffled closer, squatting beside her. "Madam, do you want ice cream? Candy?"
"Is she a kid?!" Gin glared at Vodka before thrusting his phone toward her. "Here — want to play a game? I’ve got some on here."
"Waaahh!" she sobbed harder, and they panicked more. "So damn annoying!"
Tank, the quietest of the group, watched his colleagues fall apart while the madam cried like a frustrated child. He quietly rose and walked over, standing beside her.
"Let’s get you out of here," he said, his voice calm against the backdrop of her sobs and everyone else’s chaos.
The room went still. Even Ashley paused, sniffling. Every jaw dropped at the realization that Tank had spoken twice in the same month.
Ashley sniffed and held his gaze.
She wiped her eyes and nodded. And as if to give the rest of them a collective heart attack, Tank held out his hand and said,
"Let’s go."