Chapter 171:
“You’re right. He can’t.”
“Then why won’t you marry me?” Nate pressed, his voice edged with frustration as his eyes bored into hers.
Corrine opened her mouth to reply, but the sharp trill of her phone interrupted. She glanced at the screen and sighed, flashing Nate an apologetic look.
“Sorry, need to take this.”
She picked up the call, and Karina’s animated voice filled her ear.
“Corrine, if you were a man, I’d have to marry you on the spot!”
“All right, spill it. What wild story have you uncovered this time?” Corrine asked, leaning back slightly, her lips curving in amusement. She knew Karina’s flair for exaggeration always preceded something juicy.
Without missing a beat, Karina launched into a detailed retelling of how the Ashton family had dared to humiliate Corrine, only for the tables to turn spectacularly, forcing Rita into a public apology.
“The Ashton family! A pack of self-righteous snobs who thought you had no backing whatsoever. And Rita? That vile little piece of work actually had the audacity to demand you kneel to her. She’s disgusting, Corrine! Beyond!” Karina said through clenched teeth.
Corrine, the heiress of the illustrious Ford family, had endured far more than this— even Carl, with all his authority, had never forced her to kneel, yet the Ashtons had dared. Their arrogance was utterly laughable.
Corrine exhaled quietly, her tone measured.
“Did the whole thing make it to the trending topics?”
Karina huffed, her excitement bubbling over.
“What do you think? Of course, it did! With the Ashton family’s current status, it wasn’t surprising that a few reporters snuck into the party. Leah and Bruce’s upcoming engagement was supposed to be the highlight, but instead, it’s all about the Ashton family’s humiliation. Now…”
“People are digging into your life story like it’s a mystery novel. There’s even a fan club demanding you debut as some kind of icon!”
Corrine smirked faintly, shaking her head.
“Let them waste their time. I’m not interested in the spotlight.”
𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧼ⅽ𝗼𝗺⧽
“Seriously, though, are you sure you don’t want to bring the entire Ashton family to their knees? They deserve it, Corrine,” Karina pressed, her voice taking on a serious tone.
Her inaction only deepened his curiosity.
With Corrine’s abilities, she held the power to either resurrect the Ashton family—or destroy them entirely in the blink of an eye.
Years ago, she had made a bold and irreversible decision: to stand by Bruce, even if it meant cutting all ties with the Ford family. Karina had never truly understood what Corrine had seen in him.
“Was it for money?” Karina once asked. But that didn’t add up. The Ford family’s fortune easily reached into the hundreds of billions.
“Was it for status?” The Fords stood at the pinnacle of Lyhaton’s elite—unrivaled, untouchable.
“Was it for Bruce himself?”
That seemed the least likely of all. At the time, the Ashton family was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Bruce was just a penniless nobody.
Corrine had pressed her lips into a thin line, remaining silent for a long while before finally murmuring, “Let’s just call it a debt I owe him.”
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