Meanwhile...

Ashley sat in the backseat with Red behind the wheel, Vodka in the front passenger seat, and Rum right beside her in the back.

Rum narrowed his eyes, tilting his head, studying her expression.

"Hey," he called, making Red glance in the rearview mirror while Vodka looked back.

Rum raised a finger and poked her shoulder. "Hey. Are you there?"

Ashley ignored him, even as he pressed his finger into her shoulder again. She kept her eyes on the road outside, smiling.

"No, I’m not here," she hummed, cupping her cheek, eyes still on the window. "I’m currently on Cloud Nine. The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."

"The fuck...?" Rum scrunched up his nose, though the curiosity in his eyes remained.

Since the abduction, Rum and the guys hadn’t had the chance to ask her anything. Even though she seemed to be doing better, they were quietly worried about how it had affected her.

Ashley was a pushover, after all.

She was the type to cry her heart out just because she thought Emma and Lucian would get back together. And instead of fighting for what was rightfully hers, she would simply let herself get pushed aside.

So an abduction that big should have been traumatizing.

Yet here she was, gazing out the window with a smile on her face. All she needed was to roll it down, inhale the city pollution, a soft background music, and treat it like a dramatic movie scene.

"Gosh... you forever-single dogs will never understand," she hummed out of nowhere, finally turning to Rum, whose face twisted in disbelief. "I feel sorry for you."

"Excuse me?" Rum scoffed. "I’m just asking if you hit your head that night or something. You’re smiling for no damn reason — that’s concerning."

"Worried about me? That’s so sweet."

He opened and closed his mouth, scoffing again, and looked at the guys up front. "You’re hearing this? Wow! Worried — me? Over my dead body!"

"Haha. It’s okay to admit that you care, Rum," Ashley hummed sweetly. "You don’t have to hide it. I know you actually care about me. We can set aside our differences for now."

She smacked her lips and leaned back. "I’m fine, if that’s what you wanted to ask. The injury on my back? Easy peasy. Lucian treats me very, very well. He even kisses it better."

"Shut up!" they roared in unison — even Red and Vodka couldn’t help it.

Red glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "If you’re fine, then you’re fine! No need to rub it in our faces."

"We’re not interested in the details," Vodka said, looking back at her. "Please." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Heard them?" Rum leaned toward her slightly. "Shut it. You and your nonsense."

"Gosh. You guys are so fickle," she clicked her tongue, frowning. "Hey, I am the Madam of Dominion, okay? How can you act so comfortable around me? Are we friends?"

She puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms, leaning back, only to wince. "Ah — my back."

"See?!" Rum harrumphed. "You’re spouting nonsense, and you can’t even remember the stitches on your back. Are you dumb?"

Ashley pursed her lips. Rum reached out with a single finger and gently pulled her forward from the seat. Then he kept his arm extended, finger pointed outward. So that if she leaned back again, it would poke her side first and remind her about the wound.

"Heh," she giggled. "It’s fine. I’ll be careful."

Rum’s frown deepened as he stared at her in disbelief. But he didn’t lower his finger, awkward as it was.

Vodka and Red just shook their heads.

"Anyway, did you hear that the White Serpent is at the company?" She changed the subject, swatting Rum’s hand lightly, earning only a hiss from him, telling her to cut it out.

In the end, she gave up and stayed slightly forward, careful not to lean back into his outstretched finger.

Vodka glanced back at Ashley. "Madam, we heard."

"Oh..." She nodded, lips forming a small o. "I see. So it’s not that big of a secret, huh?"

"Damn it," Red muttered under his breath, eyes on the road. "If it were a big enough secret, that would be even more reason not to tell us."

Vodka and Rum nodded while Red glanced at her through the rearview mirror again.

"You — if you’re going to claim to be the Madam of Dominion, you should really watch what you say," Red clicked his tongue. "You can’t just tell people things simply because you feel like it."

Ashley blinked. "Why not?"

"Are you really this stubborn?" Rum replied, finally pulling his finger away from her back. "We told you this before — when you told us about the Young Master. Information like this doesn’t fail to reach us for no reason."

"Information is just as crucial as anything else in Dominion," Vodka explained, calmer than Rum. He turned to face her fully, meeting her eyes. "You cannot just trust anyone with it. And even if we tell you we won’t leak it, you should still be more cautious."

"Ahh..." She nodded, though it wasn’t as if she hadn’t understood the first time they lectured her.

"But still..." She snapped her eyes back at them. "Why not?"

This time, Vodka’s frown matched Red’s and Rum’s.

"Just what is it you don’t understand —" Rum stopped short as she cut him off.

"You are the Madam’s unit, entrusted by Lucian with my safety," she said, looking at them with an almost innocent expression. "My husband trusts my life in your hands, which means I can trust you with this."

She paused, easing carefully back against the seat to avoid aggravating her injury. "As for Primo’s parentage, does it truly matter?"

"Lucian kept this to himself, so much so that even those closest to him don’t know," she continued, her voice steady and unhesitating. "He entrusted me with that information to clear up a misunderstanding between us, and I entrust it to the people closest to me."

"Was it truly reckless of me to do so, when we all know that one day, someone will question my son’s parentage and rights? That they might try to prove he isn’t biologically my husband’s?" She tilted her head. "If that happened, who would protect my son?"

The car went completely silent; so quiet it felt like even the engine had stopped.

"You will hear about it one way or another. Maybe not now, or tomorrow, but things like this have a way of surfacing," she added. "So isn’t it better for my people to already know — and to know that regardless of the secrets behind it, Primo is my son and Lucian’s son."

"He’s mine to protect. And yours too." She shrugged. "So, what’s so wrong with making sure you people will not change your tone, once you find that out in the future?"

Her brows rose, then her eyes glided to the window. She smiled.

"Oh, we’re here!" she intoned as she faced them. "Let’s get inside."