Chapter 481

If not for Summer’s return, I would never have cooked dinner. I looked into the kitchen, saw that dinner was not yet ready, and said, “Not yet!”

“Let’s go downtown to eat tonight. I’ll go over to pick you and Summer up later. Remember to dress warmly.” There were sounds of Ashton sorting out documents, which meant that he was still at work.

Having not gone out in a long while, I was worried, and asked, “Will going out suddenly attract unwanted attention?” After all, a storm had just passed.

“Don’t worry, I’ve booked a private room in the restaurant. It’ll be fine.” He paused for a while, then continued, “Jared’s back from W City. He wants to see Summer.”

I frowned at the thought of Summer interacting with Jared.

Ashton must have sensed something amiss in my silence. He suggested gently, “If you don’t want Jared to meet Summer, we can still go out. Just the three of us.”

“It’s fine!” No matter what, Summer was still Jared’s daughter.

Half an hour later, Ashton pulled up at the gates. Summer and I got into the back of the car.

Ashton frowned slightly as he turned around. He asked, “What’s the matter?”

Shaking my head, I then untied my scarf. The car was hot and getting quite stuffy.

Summer talked throughout most of the car ride, leaving me to my emotions. I remained quiet, feeling a little gloomy.

Jared was already inside the restaurant’s private room when we arrived. He was alone.

A smile appeared on his face when he saw Summer and he started to ask her various questions.

Ashton grabbed my hand as I moved to take a seat. He whispered, “In a bad mood?”

Pressing my lips together, I shook my head and whispered back, “I’m fine.”

A waiter soon arrived with the food. As Summer and Ashton chatted, Jared continuously glanced at her.

After a while, I turned to Jared. “Kristina should be giving birth soon. You…”

“She aborted the child,” Jared replied coldly. His face was expressionless as he kept his eyes on Summer.

Did I hear that wrong? I could not help but ask, ”What?”

He turned to me with a serious gaze. “The fetus was in an unstable condition. Even if she gave birth, the child would not live for very long.”

Ashton paused and looked over. He frowned as he asked, “What’s going on?”

Jared straightened his posture, then replied, “She didn’t tell me that she got pregnant and lost her child before. She also had to go to the hospital quite a few times due to her unstable emotions. She eventually had to abort it.”

He spoke in an indifferent tone. It was as if this matter was insignificant.

I composed myself, then asked, “So what are you going to do now?”

Instead of directly answering my question, Jared suddenly narrowed his eyes at me and asked coldly, “Does Kristina have anything to do with Macy’s death?”

The fork fell from my hands.

Stunned, I looked at Jared’s cold expression. “I’m not sure.”

I’d always thought Macy’s death was because of me. Cameron purposely got Macy to come to K City just to lure me out of the villa. If I hadn’t left the villa that night, maybe things would have been different.

The entire series of events afterward had all occurred because of that one incident.

I was unsure of how much Kristina’s words had affected Macy. Although Jackson was with Macy then, he did not fully hear their conversation either.

Jared sneered and turned to look at Summer. “I won’t marry Kristina. Summer’s a daughter of the Crest family. One day, she’ll have to return.”

I was taken aback. Never would I have expected him to speak so straightforwardly.

I looked at him helplessly, but could no longer suppress my emotions. “Jared, Summer won’t return to the Crest family. This is both Macy’s and my decision. I’ve grown to love her as my own these past four years. I’ll fight to the end if you want to take her away from me.”

Ashton was displeased as well. He said in a cold voice, “Summer will never go back to the Crest family. You agreed for her to live with us back then.”

Jared scoffed and looked at Ashton. “You’d also promised to take good care of Mia. Look what happened in the end.”

Mia? Who’s that?

Ashton grew serious. “You know exactly why things turned out like that back then. Do you really think that Macy’s and Mia’s deaths are both just accidents?”

Jared’s expression darkened. He turned to look at Ashton with hurtful eyes. “So? Are you trying to blame me for everything now?”

Ashton frowned and pinched between his eyebrows. They needed to have a proper talk. “Scarlett, take Summer out and wait for me downstairs.”