While I Was Dying, He Watched Fireworks With Her

"I'm sorry, Ashley. The glass slipped from my hand," Leanne said carefully, as if she were afraid Ashley might punish her.

After all she had endured, Ashley could see through the act immediately.

"It's okay." She stepped toward the table, grabbed the pitcher of water, and poured the entire thing over Leanne's head. "Don't worry, Leanne. We're even now."

Leanne let out a sharp scream.

Water drenched her completely, leaving her looking much more miserable than Ashley, whose clothes were only wet in one spot.

Tears instantly filled Leanne's eyes as she rushed into Eileen's arms. "Mom, I was truly happy that Ashley came home. Why would she treat me like that?"

Standing between her two daughters, Eileen was at a loss. But after five years of raising Leanne, her instincts naturally made her take her side. "Ashley, don't be so hard on Leanne. She simply lost her hold on the glass. She meant well."

Steven also spoke up. "Leanne didn't mean to do it."

Seeing both of her parents immediately defend Leanne hurt Ashley deeply.

She had spent five years wasting her life on a man who was never worthy of her, while her parents had given the love that should have been hers to the daughter they had brought home in her absence.

The hurt was nearly unbearable.

She had only just returned and had no desire to quarrel with her parents, so she simply responded, "I'm tired. I'll go get some rest."

A hint of triumph flashed through Leanne's eyes, but she quickly covered it with a hurt expression. "Does Ashley despise me? Is that why she's upset with you too? This is all because of me. I shouldn't have taken her place."

Eileen's heart immediately softened. "Sweetheart, this isn't your fault. Ashley lost her memory and spent years living on her own. She must have gone through a lot, so it's normal for her to be more sensitive now. Once you spend more time together, she'll come to care about you."

Leanne obediently nodded. "I'll try my best to make Ashley like me."

Eileen reached out and gently stroked her hair.

Ashley said nothing else and walked into the guest room. By then, the pain inside her had turned into numbness. She pulled out her phone and called her closest friend, Mina Webb. "Mina, is your offer to open a gallery together still available?"

Mina's voice immediately brightened. "Ash, you finally agreed! I have passes for an auction at Diadem Auction House. We can go together and see if there's anything that would suit the gallery."

"Okay," Ashley said softly.

The following morning, Ashley was getting ready to leave for Diadem Auction House to meet Mina when Leanne called out to her.

"Ashley."

Ashley looked at her coldly. "What?"

Leanne smiled sweetly. "You probably feel like a stranger in this house now. But you should understand that, in Mom's and Dad's eyes, I'm the Edwards heiress. You were gone for years, and they've already come to regard me as their daughter. So don't think you can ever rival me."

Eileen and Steven had gone out early that morning to handle some matters at Edwards Group. With no one else present, Leanne no longer bothered pretending to be innocent.

Ashley was just about to answer when a man's cold voice came from outside. "Why would she have to rival you?"

Ashley turned around and saw a remarkably handsome man walking toward them. He wore a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses, and the calm authority he carried made him seem intimidating.

It was Colton Harrison, her fiancé and the boy who had been her greatest rival while they were growing up.

Why was he standing up for her?

Leanne's face lit up the moment she saw him. "Colton, what brings you here?"

She quickly walked over, slipped her arm around his, and looked back at Ashley with a proud smile. "You probably don't know this yet. After you disappeared, Mom and Dad agreed that I would marry Colton instead. I'm his fiancée now."

Ashley kept her expression calm, but Leanne's words still struck somewhere deep inside her.

Had Leanne taken everything that was supposed to be hers?

To Ashley's surprise, Colton withdrew his arm from Leanne's hold. His deep, lazy voice turned cold. "When did I ever agree to marry you, Leanne? Ashley is the woman I intend to marry."