Ashley Bowen shot up like a spring. Taking a look around, she realized she was trapped in a luxury car, flanked on her left and right by several burly men in black.
The hulking men all had their faces hidden behind sunglasses, but Ashley Bowen could still feel the murderous aura radiating from them.
"Good morning, Miss Bowen. Please get yourself ready as soon as possible. His Highness is waiting for you at the Civil Affairs Bureau, and he needs to catch a noon flight," the stone-faced man said, his expression blank.
Ashley Bowen looked toward the voice and saw it was the same stone-faced man from yesterday. Her heart sank. 'Now that I'm in his clutches, it looks like I have no choice but to be forced into getting a marriage license at the Civil Affairs Bureau.'
"And how am I supposed to get ready? My hands and feet are tied up!" Ashley Bowen cried out, her mind already scheming.
The stone-faced man, however, remained completely unperturbed. He beckoned lightly with his hand and ordered, "Go to Miss Bowen's home and bring back a basin of water for her to wash her face."
His strangely detached tone grated on Ashley Bowen's nerves.
"Hey, uh, wouldn't it be easier if you just untied me and let me get ready myself? No need to trouble these... strapping gentlemen," Ashley Bowen said with a sycophantic chuckle. But when her eyes met the stone-faced man's, she lost some of her nerve.
"We wouldn't dare untie you on our own authority, Miss Bowen. We're afraid you might, shall we say, 'accidentally' run off," the stone-faced man replied in that same sarcastic tone.
Ashley Bowen rolled her eyes repeatedly.
"Am I that kind of person?" Ashley Bowen asked, tilting her head up and glancing at the burly men beside her.
The two men nodded in unison.
Ashley Bowen gritted her teeth. 'Fine, they saw right through me!'
"Then you can just help me get ready!"
It was Ashley Bowen's first time in a luxury car, but she was far from happy. Watching the forest of high-rises flash past the window, she couldn't help but sigh. 'Oh, what the hell. If I have to marry him, I'll marry him. So what if His Highness is a bit of a player? I'll just have fun spending his money, right?'
At that thought, her mood suddenly brightened. A wide grin spread across Ashley Bowen's face, and she began to jiggle her leg and whistle a tune.
The stone-faced man turned back, clearly displeased, but his reminder was polite. "Miss Bowen, His Highness dislikes whistling and any sort of flippant behavior."
"Er..." Ashley Bowen's lips twitched. She frowned. 'This Morgan Sinclair is way too controlling, isn't he? Does he want to micromanage how people use the bathroom, too?'
"Got it." Giving an "OK" sign, Ashley Bowen straightened her posture, sitting as still as a statue. 'There. Surely no one can find fault with this, right?'
The car finally came to a stop. The large words "Civil Affairs Bureau" loomed into view.
The stone-faced man opened the car door for Ashley Bowen.
He shielded her head as she got out. The first thing she saw was a tall man in a sharp black suit standing at the main entrance, his back to her.
'From the back, he looks pretty handsome.'
Ashley Bowen smacked her lips. 'So Morgan Sinclair is a bit of a player, but he's certainly got the looks. I guess I can reluctantly make do with that.'
"Your Highness." The stone-faced man strode up the stairs. Ashley Bowen put on a coy act and followed behind him. 'I fought it for so long, but things have already come to this. Might as well just roll with it. *Sob*.'
But then, the man in the suit turned around. He was pushing a wheelchair, and the man sitting in it turned around at the same time to face them.
"Your Highness, I've brought her," the stone-faced man said with the utmost respect to the man in the wheelchair.
'Your Highness?' Ashley Bowen froze on the spot. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the man before her.
"A crip... cripple?" Ashley Bowen blurted out.