But Ashley Bowen and her friends didn’t notice a thing…
A short while later, Vivian Lee and Elise Tate came over carrying a dozen or so boxes of barbecue.
They had also specifically brought a few bottles of beer.
“Should we really be drinking?” Ashley Bowen pouted.
‘I’ll reek of alcohol after this.
That stone-faced guy is going to catch me red-handed when I get back!’
“Why not?
We drink every time we hang out.
Shay, you’re acting so weird today!
Do you have a boyfriend?
Does he not let you drink?” Vivian Lee leaned in slyly.
“No way…
A pathetic loser like me?
Who’d be into that?” Ashley Bowen deflected awkwardly.
To keep her friends from getting suspicious, she grabbed a beer, popped the cap off with her teeth, and took a huge swig straight from the bottle.
“Haha, that’s more like it.
Otherwise, we really would have thought something was up with you,” Vivian Lee said with a laugh.
After finishing the barbecue, Ashley snuck out to the parking lot outside the school’s main building.
By the time she returned to the villa, Ashley Bowen was feeling dizzy.
She stumbled her way up to the second floor, stripped off her clothes without even turning on the lights, and stepped into the bathroom…
But she felt like something was off.
The walk to her room seemed shorter than usual, and when she pushed the door open, the air inside carried a clean, fresh scent.
Ashley squinted as she turned on the bathroom light, climbing straight into the bathtub without a glance at her surroundings.
The beer had made her a little tipsy; her mind was fuzzy and her vision blurred.
She fumbled for the warm water faucet, only finding it after several attempts.
As the warm water ran over her, Ashley closed her eyes in comfort and leaned back against the wall of the tub.
The Sinclair family’s bathtubs were fully automatic.
The temperature regulated itself, the water stopped filling at a set level, and the tub itself had excellent heat retention.
Out of habit, Ashley reached for the bag of dried flower petals, but her hand met only empty air where they should have been.
‘I wonder who put away my dried flower petals.’ Annoyed and exhausted, Ashley tilted her head back and slowly drifted off to sleep right there in the tub.
The sound of a car pulling up came from downstairs, and a beam of light from the ground floor swept into the room on the second floor.
Fast asleep, Ashley remained completely oblivious.
“Welcome back, Your Highness.” Ryan Osborne seemed somewhat surprised to see Yuri Sinclair today.
According to royal protocol, unmarried princes were required to live in the palace.
The sovereign would only permit them to move out after they married.
Only the heir, the Crown Prince, retained the right to reside in the Imperial Palace.
Yuri Sinclair, seated in his wheelchair, couldn’t be bothered to explain. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
He simply glanced at Ryan Osborne and asked in a low voice, “Has the Imperial Concubine returned?”
“Not yet, Your Highness,” Ryan Osborne replied deferentially.
In truth, he had been slacking off and dozing, and had simply missed Ashley’s arrival.
Yuri Sinclair’s brow furrowed at the answer.
‘As my wife, she shouldn’t be staying out this late.’ He glanced up at the quartz clock on the wall.
It was already 11:00 PM.
For some reason, an inexplicable sense of irritation washed over him.
“Aaron, take me upstairs to rest.”
“All right, it’s getting late.
Everyone, go and get some rest.” Ryan Osborne turned to address the servants who were still waiting on standby.
“Sir, the Imperial Concubine is clearly back.
Why did you say she wasn’t?
Were you trying to make His Highness angry on purpose?” Holly Underwood whispered.
She kept her head down, afraid to move, terrified that she had just contradicted the head butler.
She didn’t realize how her blunt words drew the gazes of the other servants, all of whom looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and pity.
‘That foolish girl,’ they thought.
‘How dare she contradict the head butler?
It looks like her time in this house is over.’