Chapter 7:Pain or Gain

Asher's Core~

It was just like the movies she watched—two men in her presence, ready to attack for her.

Normally, if she were still sixteen, she would have felt like the female lead in a romance movie. Maybe even pretended to stop the drama. But this… not like this.

Her head felt a splitting pain. Dizzy and fatigued, she saw a vision of Asher, obviously mocking Simeon.

"Both of you behave like adults," she used a dot of her energy to speak, maybe even wondering if she was dreaming.

"You heard the lady. Stop and go home," Simeon told Asher, and he knew it stung.

But considering Asher's loose tongue, he lashed:

"I will not be swooped left and right by a mommy's boy."

"You are eager to pick a fight with me," Simeon said, not wanting to fight but still couldn't be embarrassed in front of Emerald.

"Fight?" Asher smirked.

"Fighting with the likes of you will be a taboo. I don't want a weak blood on my hands."

"So you believe that because you are the heir of a mafia, I would be afraid of you?" Simeon asked, still showing no fear.

"You should be afraid. And at least I only deal with guns and violence… I will never force a lady to wed me against her will," Asher replied.

Simeon looked at Emerald, like she broke his trust. A thought came—that she had been leaking conversations they had to him.

"She is mine, Asher. She is to be my wife," Simeon said, trying so desperately not to be silenced.

"And yet she still comes to me… She isn't yours to claim. She isn't a book on a shelf waiting to be read. She is a collection worth studying—piece for piece, page for page, and plot for plot."

"And to think they see me as the villain. At least I am out here trying to earn her trust, not falsifying her emotions and trapping her into a bizarre wedding," Asher reminisced on his words with nothing but truth and honesty.

"Really, you want to earn her love? That's ironic, considering you were the one who took away her joy to live."

"Talk about being a hypocrite. You show the screen of a man who bleeds her heart… the perfect man, coming up with your silly, random—and do I say—reckless actions."

"You say you would protect her, yet you are the very person who murdered her from within," Simeon was pissed and kept on moving his tongue in circles.

"Asher, now ask yourself—how can she be safe from the very thing that broke her? The only person you and your manipulative father love is yourself… You are not made for love… you are made for torture."

Asher's eyes struck with anger. Rage flashed like thunder, and he acted out of that same anger to grab his collar.

"Never question my love or loyalty to her, or how I may seem to love her."

His eyes roamed unsteadily, and his hands folded tight in a fist to punch him.

"Enough, enough from the both of you!" Emerald screamed, hands on her ears like the noise was adding to her dizzy situation.

"I really don't want a word—give me silence!" she screamed again, like the noise echoed in her ears.

She was about to come closer to the two, then her power dropped, and she fainted right on the cold, hard floor.

Fast—without thinking—Asher rushed to hold her.

"Emerald, wake up!" he tapped on her face, and the only thing that electrified his face was fear.

"She's just weak… I will take her home," Simeon told Asher.

"You bluff," Asher said.

"Why would I trust the likes of you to do that?" Asher questioned, forgetting his situation.

"Oh, so you see it fit for you to take her? You—who is despised by her father? Or maybe you would like to explain to my family and the news why my soon-to-be wife is being carried by another male?" Simeon asked rhetorically. And even though Asher hated the idea, it was logical.

He bit his lips with a whisper, "You have a point…" but Simeon didn't hear—and he was glad he didn't.

"Today is the day you take her. Only for today. But bear this in mind—you may be the one that carried her, but I will always be the one she carries and tugs in her heart."

Asher backed off, letting Simeon carry her.

"At least I won, just for today," Simeon taunted, lifting her up to head straight to his mansion.

Asher watched them leave, and for a moment… he wished he could be someone normal, so he could be by her side.

Just like him.