CHAPTER 241: CHAPTER 233: MAKE A CLEAN BREAK, DISCUSSING BREAKUP

The fork fell to the ground, the sound it made was particularly jarring at this kind of dining table.

Bella Woods quickly apologized, "Sorry, Uncle and Aunt, I lost my composure."

She wanted to pick it up, but the aunt beside her had already helped and handed Bella a new fork.

"Don’t be nervous, it’s just a small thing. At your own home, dropping a fork is nothing," May Woods shrugged casually.

Calvin Marshall nodded frantically, "A friend’s home is your own home, a friend’s brother is your own brother, it’s right for a brother to take care of you."

Bella Woods just smiled.

After that, nothing else happened during breakfast.

It was only when Bella was about to leave Calvin Marshall’s residence that some incident occurred.

"Do you have a class later? I can take you on my motorcycle," Calvin said, dressed in leather, spinning the motorcycle key coolly.

Bella was about to respond when a familiar arm pulled her into its embrace.

Ashton Marshall bent down, with his chin resting on Bella’s shoulder, expressionless as he looked at Calvin, "She doesn’t need you to take her."

Calvin wanted to say something, but Ashton had no patience to wait and walked off with Bella in his arms.

"Hey, hey..." Calvin, powerless to resist, could only watch as Ashton pushed Bella into the car.

Bella wanted to resist, but Ashton was already sitting inside and slammed the door shut, "What more do you want?"

"I..." Bella paused before saying, "I just think, after all, this is Sixty’s house, it’s not quite right for you to take me away like this."

"What’s not right?" Ashton countered.

"Everything’s not right." Bella turned her head away, looking out of the window.

The driver, under Ashton’s command, started the car to leave Calvin’s home.

Bella felt Ashton move closer to her, the more she leaned against the car door, the more he approached.

In the end, Bella was nearly pressing against the car door.

Looking up, his breaths fell on her, almost trapping her between the car door and his embrace.

"Move over," Bella’s voice was small as she pushed Ashton.

The man remained unmoved, just looking at her deeply.

Bella glanced at him and then turned away, reminding him, "The car’s quite spacious, you’re crowding me."

"You know the car’s spacious, yet you’re sticking to the door?"

"I just..."

"Just what?" Ashton picked up where Bella left off, "Just don’t want to sit too close to me, just angry with me, don’t want to bother with me, hmm?"

"I’m not angry with you."

"Bella Woods," Ashton gripped Bella’s chin, forcing her to look at him, "I told you, express your displeasure. You can make any demands of me, hmm?"

"Would Third Young Master really take those words on the bed seriously?" Bella replied.

Their beginning was just a joke, a game, that she had been trying to forget over and over these days, the various things Ashton said to her in bed.

It was also that day at Cascade Court, seeing Ashton with Nina Sutton, neither breaking nor cutting ties, that made Bella finally wake up.

She was too eager to have a beautiful memory in Peace City before going abroad.

About family, about love.

But the reality was, in all her years living here, she had no good memories of love or family, yet she still hoped for a good result before leaving.

Too much of a pipe dream.

"Third Young Master Marshall, I think we should have a good talk about our relationship," Bella adjusted her posture and pushed Ashton away a bit.

She glanced at the world outside the car, they had already reached the city center.

"There’s a mall up ahead; should we get off and talk?" Bella inquired.

The driver glanced at Ashton through the rearview mirror, waiting for orders.

Ashton didn’t respond immediately, took his eyes off Bella’s face, glanced outside at the street, and finally instructed the driver, "Turn at the upcoming intersection; a hundred meters ahead, there’s a retro-style café."

"Yes, Third Young Master," the driver obeyed.

Ashton leaned over and told Bella, "You’ll like the desserts at that café. I haven’t had the chance to bring you there until now."

Bella didn’t respond.

For her, whether it was the mall or the café, it was all the same.

She had already made up her mind this time to sort things out with Ashton.

The car arrived at the café.

The driver got out and opened the door for Ashton, who then circled around to open Bella’s door and helped her out.

There weren’t many people inside the café, and the owner was a bit surprised by the scene at the counter.

"May I offer anything for the two of you?" the owner asked politely.

"Do you have private rooms?" Ashton asked.

"Yes, on the second floor," the owner said as he led Bella and Ashton upstairs.

Upon opening the private room door, it revealed a room for over ten people, with a vintage long table and uniquely arranged chairs.

The owner explained, "There is only this one private room here."

"It’s fine," Bella said, looking around and liking the room.

Ashton communicated with the owner to order two coffees and some desserts.

After the owner left, Bella touched the chair at the end of the long table, "Third Young Master, shall we sit?"

"You want me to sit there?" Ashton pointed to the seat at the center of the long table.

The two seats were far apart from each other.

"Yes, we need to have a good talk," Bella explained, feeling a bit of distance would help.

It would also help to maintain a business-like attitude.

However, Bella was worried Ashton wouldn’t agree and was quite nervous, gripping the chair beside her tightly.

Fortunately, Ashton didn’t make things difficult for her in this regard.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, placing his hands on the table and looking at Bella calmly.

Even in a casual pose, he couldn’t hide his commanding presence, especially now that Ashton was adopting a negotiating attitude with Bella, his aura even stronger.

Bella had been very tense but always disguised it well.

She pulled out a chair and sat down.

Starting from the car, she had prepared her lines, so she got straight to the point: "I want to talk to Third Young Master about ending our relationship."

"The reason," Ashton asked calmly, as if he had predicted Bella’s statement.

"First of all, the relationship between us was always a mutually consensual transactional relationship. I’ve said before, I’d only be with Third Young Master for a year," Bella clarified their relationship model.

"The year isn’t over yet," Ashton reminded her.

"Yes, but I also said before that although it’s for a year, and even though I’ve paid for it, I have the right to call it off at any time," she insisted.

Though, ever since she knew he was Ashton Marshall, their relationship became blurred, even forgotten by Bella, how it began with them.