Chapter 43: He was like a poison
Ashley tossed and turned in her large, soft bed, unable to fall back asleep after a nightmare about her daughter. Her encounter with Lorenzo yesterday had plagued her mind until sleep finally claimed her—only for her to jolt awake barely an hour later.
She groaned in frustration. Lately, her nights had been haunted by recurring dreams of her late parents and her child, leaving her drained before the day even began.
Her mind drifted back to Lorenzo’s offer, and fresh anger simmered within her. She hated him now more than ever—for daring to exploit her desperation.
She would go to any lengths to get her daughter back. But not this. Not him.
The mere thought of having a relationship with him sent a chill down her spine. Not entirely because of how he’d broken her heart in the past, or that she feared he would do it again. But because, as difficult and shameful as it was to admit, she knew the effect he still had on her. His smile still had the power to weaken her knees, just as thinking of him made her heart race. And worse, his presence didn’t just remind her how much she hated him—it reminded her how much she still wanted him.
To her, he was like a poison—the kind she had no immunity against. If she couldn’t get him out of her system no matter how much she tried, how then could she survive a relationship with him for eight months without being consumed?
No, she was never doing this.
Glancing at her phone, she exhaled in relief when she saw it was finally 7 AM.
The frustration from realizing she had run out of sleeping pills just when she needed one most last night still lingered.