Charmed by the Billionaire CEO
Chapter 189: He is the mastermind

Chapter 189: He is the mastermind

Karl’s apartment

"That day I almost got caught" Gwen was currently sitting between Karl’s legs with her back resting on his chest, stated turning her attention on him.

Karl stopped playing with her fingers and creased in confusion. He had no clue what she was talking about which only made Gwen sigh in frustration.

Flicking his forehead, she entirely turned to face him and rephrase her words again," Don’t you remember you gave me a hickey that day"

Gwen didn’t want to say it that loud but this man was acting all dumb when he was the main culprit here. If not for Ashley’s quick action, her mother would’ve noticed the mark on her neck.

When she said the word hickey, the memories of their sweet lovemaking flashed across his mind and his lips curled into a mischievous smile. But soon his smile dropped when he saw her frown.

"Do you think it’s funny" Gwen wasn’t expecting this reaction from him. Instead of being apologetic, he was shamelessly smiling reminiscing about their past actions.

Karl cursed for being a pervert, but what was he supposed to do when that moment left a mark on his heart, making him fall for this girl damn... hard.

Scratching the back of his neck, Karl smiled cheekily before pulling her puffed angry cheeks," Don’t get mad" he tried to change her mood and asked," How did you escape then?"

Gwen’s frown slowly resolve when she heard Karl being serious about her words earlier and she answered," It was sister-in-law who saved me, or else mom would’ve caught me in action" heaving a sigh of relief Gwen turned, resting his back on his chest and leaned down her head resting on his shoulder.

"Now even she knows that I am no longer a virgin" Gwen was still feeling shy to get exposed by Ashley but then her way of handling the situation gave her contentment.

Instead of making her embarrassed, she told her the fact about strong relationships in a friendly way.

Karl smiled circling his arms around her stomach and kissed her head," Good that now you have a friend whom you can talk with" his words made her roll her eyes up at him, passing a smile.

Karl knew Gwen had no friends and now he was happy that she had Ashley who would guide her like an elder sister.

Sitting still for some time Gwen asked," Do you think brother must’ve succeeded in gaining sister-in-law’s forgiveness" even if she wanted Tristan to suffer the consequences of hurting Ashley, she still didn’t want them to prolong their fight. It was too difficult to see them ignoring each other.

Her words made Karl fall into deep thought. He too had no idea if Tristan had managed to mend his mistake. Knowing how desperate Tristan was to return to Ashley showed how much he regretted his action earlier.

"I hope so" he could only guess.

*****

Brown mansion

While Ashley was busy with her work, Tristan decided to visit Richard in his study.

"Can I come in?" Tristan asked knocking on the door.

Richard was busy reviewing some documents, raised his head when he heard a familiar voice.

"Tristan... Come in" Richard smiled asking him to get in.

"I hope, I am not disturbing you," he said stepping inside the room and shutting the door before walking deeper.

"Oh, not at all. I was about to wrap up everything" removing his glasses, Richard got up from his chair and walked to the couch asking Tristan to sit.

Once they both settled down, Richard spoke," I hope you are liking the stay here"

Since it was Tristan’s first time visiting the Brown Mansion, Richard wanted to know if he was comfortable with the hospitality there.

"Yes, it’s homely here" Tristan genuinely answered.

It had been only a few hours since he came here but he was already loving his stay there.

"I am glad you liked it here. I hope Ashley is taking care of you" Richard said with a playful grin making Tristan clear his throat.

He didn’t want to poke his nose into their matters but after he left the breakfast table, he returned back to take his specs when he saw the couple quarrel.

But he was glad that they sorted their problems in no time.

Tristan scratched his head while pursing his lips in embarrassment. But thankfully he didn’t get scolded by him for making his daughter cry.

Finding Tristan embarrassed, Richard didn’t bother to pull his leg and changed the topic.

" You don’t have to get flustered. It’s normal to have fights when you both don’t agree with each other and I am glad you both didn’t take it far and sorted it out in no time"

Richard didn’t know the reason for their quarrel because he was too far from them. But the way his daughter kept neglecting Tristan, he was sure that Ashley was the one who was upset with him.

Remembering their banter, Richard recalled his moment with Raven. Even she was just like Ashley would never like to take a step back unless he gave in. Though he knew she was right always because he was too proud to let his guard down.

Finding Richard smile on his own, Tristan couldn’t stop asking," What’s with that smile"

He was excited to know what Richard was thinking. Maybe he was recalling something related to Ashley. If yes, then he was eager to know.

Taking a deep breath Richard looked at Tristan. The smile on his lips only broaden even more than before and he said," Ashley is just like her mother. Stubborn, always standing up for herself"

His eyes shine remembering his late wife who passed her every trait to their daughter. Watching Ashley made him reminiscence Raven who was just like her.

A smile appeared on Tristan’s lips as he watch the old man talk about his late beloved. He had heard from Grace that Raven was a very kind lady with a strong mindset. The way Grace described Raven he saw Ashley’s reflection in her words.

There was no doubt Ashley was so dear to Richard. Her presence made him keep his wife’s memories alive.

Curious he fully indulged, listening to Richard’s never-ending love for his wife. By the time he finished praising his beloved Tristan felt his heart swell for the man who never stopped loving his wife even now.

His limitless love reminded him of his feeling toward Ashley. Just like Richard, even Tristan was one woman man. He fell in love with the girl who fluttered his stone-like heart bringing it back to life and now he wanted to protect that one person with all his life.

His heart tighten thinking if somehow his enemy managed to take Ashley away from him, then what would he do?

’No... I will never let anyone take Ashley away from me’ Tristan promised himself knowing how Gabriel was trying his best to break his relationship with Ashley just to avenge him to the person.

After spending some time with Richard, Tristan excused himself, walking out of the house, and headed to the garden area. Once he reached there, Tristan pulled out his phone and called Noah.

It had been weak and yet there was no sign of Gabriel. The man whom his men failed to captive, vanished as if he never existed.

After a few rings, Noah finally answered his call," Did you find anything?" Tristan didn’t greet him but came straight to the point.

"I am fine" Noah’s wrong response made Tristan frown and he pulled away his phone confirming if he called the right person. And when he saw it was Noah, he again brought his phone close to his ear and spoke coldly.

"I never asked you how you are" Tristan rolled his eyes when he sense Noah was teasing him.

"But don’t we greet the person you called? These are basic manners Tristan, did you forget" Noah was ready to annoy Tristan, knowing how badly he would get irked when left hanging.

Tristan wanted to get out of the phone and smack Noah’s head for irritating him. When was he going to grow up?

"Noah... If you don’t want me to come there and punch you then answer my damn question" Tristan was slowly losing his cool, gritted his teeth suppressing his anger, and warned him.

Chuckling happily, Noah finally decided to stop teasing him ad answered," I have changed my plan. Instead of following Natalie, it’s better if I keep my eyes on Lucan. I just found him transferring a huge amount of money investing for a cosmetic brand ad"

Noah was currently sitting inside his office and running some checks on Lucas Scott who happened to invest his money in a commercial ad. And when he looked deeper into it, he found Ashley’s name as the model and the face who would be representing the brand.

"And what’s more shocking, Ashley’s name is also mentioned as the brand face"

Tristan frowned when he heard Ashley’s name. Does it mean Lucan invested his money into Ashley’s first commercial ad as an actress? But why...

When he ran his brain only one thing popped into his mind and it was Gabriel.

"It’s Gabriel, not Lucan. He is the mastermind behind Lucan’s every action"