Starting with A Divorce by Gloria Warren

Chapter 171 Getting Drunk

Lindsay came over and embraced Kaitlin tenderly. “Kaitlin, just say something. Otherwise, how can

Cason help you deal with it if you don’t say anything!”

Her eyes were red as she looked at Kaitlin. Kaitlin had been locking herself in the room. for the past two

days. She felt distressed too.

Kaitlin felt so powerless for the first time. The name of the Baldry family kept looming

over her.

“A video.”

The suffocating pressure made it impossible for her to breathe. She knew that even she didn’t say

anything now, it would probably be worse if it was revealed later.

“What video?” Cason looked at Kaitlin warily.

Lindsay also suddenly fell silent and loosened her hand around Kaitlin.

if

Kaitlin panicked and clenched her hand. “It is Ainsley! She gave a man ten million dollars

to make a video of me. Well, that kind of video.”

Cason immediately understood what the video was.

But did Ainsley really pay ten million dollars for someone to do this to Kaitlin?

He stared hard at Kaitlin with sharp eyes. “Did you do something again?”

“No, I didn’t!” Kaitlin didn’t dare to look him in the eye and cowered behind Lindsay.

Lindsay blocked Kaitlin’s body. “Cason! Your sister is so pathetic. That ***hurt your

sister. I can’t believe you’re helping her!”

“Find that ***! If that video gets out, your sister will be ruined!”

The Baldry family would become the laughingstock of the whole of Seattle, and even she

would be mocked.

“Cason! I didn’t do anything. Help me! I don’t want everyone to see that video. I’ll die, I’ll

really die!” She cried, tugging at Cason’s cuffs, unwilling to let him go.

Cason knew the pressure the Baldry family would be under if the video went viral. But now Ainsley had

the video.

He shook off Kaitlin’s hand. “What did you do? Tell me!”

“I… I had her kidnapped. But the guy was paid by her to kidnap me. Then…” She hugged Lindsay and

cried.

“***! You’re so ***!” Cason’s whole body trembled with anger.

Kaitlin cowered back in fear. “It’s my fault, Cason, help me. I really won’t make any more

trouble.”

“Kaitlin knows she’s wrong. Don’t scold her. She made a mistake in a moment of confusion. But that

****shouldn’t have done that to Kaitlin either!” Lindsay quickly

defended her daughter.

Cason reached out and pointed at Kaitlin, his fingertips trembling. “A moment of confusion? How many

times has she been confused? She’s the one who kidnapped Ainsley. If she hadn’t made a mistake,

could this have happened?”

He was distracted by Lindsay and Kaitlin crying. “I’ll go ask Ainsley.”

Cason went to the study and immediately closed the door. After thinking about it, he

called Ainsley.

No one answered it….

St. Nork

Ainsley was staring at the phone screen in disbelief. She’d checked Manuel’s social

media when she got back but found nothing.

From the moment she saw Manuel, she couldn’t be still.

The words they said in front of Pearl Hotel were still echoing in her mind. Since they. were breaking up,

she couldn’t bother him anymore.

She was determined to break up, so she didn’t want to pester him.

She didn’t know if Irene was there or not. She also didn’t know what Manuel really thought.

When she was tossing and turning in bed at night, she heard an unexpected knock on the door. It was

almost one o’clock, who would come to her at this hour?

She took a look through the peephole. It was him!

Ainsley turned her back and pursed her lips. Manuel was right outside her door, knocking. Suppressing

the violent heartbeat, she opened the door slowly.

“Mr. Gage…”

“What do you want!”

Before she could say anything, Manuel fell towards her. She was startled, but Manuel had already

pressed her shoulders.

The smell of alcohol was strong. He was drunk.

She helped him to sit up on the couch. Manuel’s hand gripping Ainsley’s arm tightly as he

muttered, “Aisy…”

“Why did you come to St. Nork? Why did you come to me?” She asked questions that would not be

answered.

Manuel’s brow furrowed slightly. He called her name as if he was having a nightmare.

“Don’t break up…”

wwwwwUNNAND

Ainsley looked away sadly. But the voice was like a thorn in her ear, and her heart ached.

Suddenly Manuel’s cell phone rang. She didn’t move. When it rang a second time, Ainsley

picked it up.

“Manuel, why aren’t you answering your phone?”

It was Irene!

She was frozen, not knowing whether to speak or not.

After a moment of hesitation, Irene sensed it.

“Who are you? Why are you taking Manuel’s phone?” Irene asked in a stern voice.

Ainsley spoke in a panic. “He’s drunk.” Immediately, she hung up the phone.

It seemed he hadn’t cleared it with Irene and wasn’t about to deal with it.

She threw a blanket over Manuel and then planned to go to sleep.

But it was hard for her to ignore Manuel’s mumbling. Particularly, he was calling her

name.

“Aisy, Aisy…”

The moonlight shone down. She pulled back the floor-to-ceiling curtains, unable to ignore the violent

heartbeat. The image of spending time with Manuel came to mind in a

flash.

“Manuel, Manuel, what are you hiding?”

Ainsley turned on her computer and started writing her paper. She would not be able to

sleep tonight.

At four in the morning, the moon was starting to fade and the sky was just getting bright.

“Aisy?”

Ainsley stiffened and froze for a long time before turning around. She controlled her

emotions. “Awake?”

Manuel stumbled to his feet and walked into Ainsley. He wanted to touch her but didn’t

dare. “I’m sorry.”

“Irene called you,” Ainsley said.

“Well, I was drunk.” Manuel was still a little unconscious.

Ainsley nodded. “You can leave if you’re sober.”

Manuel lowered his head in dismay. He walked out of the room but turned back. “Aisy.

don’t break up.”

He thought of a thousand words, but in the end, he only said that.

“Mr. Gage, don’t be ridiculous. Please get out.” Ainsley’s hand was trembling slightly. This

time it was she who pushed Manuel away.

His back faded away, disappearing from Ainsley’s sight.

She sat down on the couch. The strong smell of alcohol lingered in the air. But she could still smell the

cedar scent interspersed with it.

Ainsley hadn’t slept all night. She drank two cups of coffee. At dawn, she finally finished

her dissertation.

She walked wearily into the bathroom, haggard.

There was a knock at the door.

Gwendolyn comes over with buns. “Ainsley, look! I found them downstairs today.”

She put the buns on the table and was startled to see Ainsley’s face. “What’s the matter with you? So

haggard!”

“I didn’t sleep last night.”

“All night?”

Ainsley sat down and picked up a bun. “I was writing a paper.”

Gwendolyn looked at her incredulously. “Writing a paper all night? How are you doing

with your paper?”

“I finished the thesis proposal,” Ainsley said with a calm face.

Gwendolyn stood up sharply. “So fast?!”

She had just found her idea and had not figured out how to write it.