Chapter 4: Carrying the Marriage Certificate
1345 Words
Ashlie had never expected Carlyle to publicly acknowledge their relationship under the current circumstances, even if it was just a marriage of convenience. It all felt so rushed.
Not only James, but Ashlie's father, Mr. Watson, was also wide-eyed in shock. He quickly grabbed Ashlie's arm and asked, "Ashlie, when did you and Carlyle get married, right after he returned to San Jose?"
Ashlie nervously tried to explain, but she saw Mr. Watson secretly give her a thumbs-up. "Well done, daughter. You gave that scoundrel James a good beating!"
Ashlie: "..."
It seemed that Mr. Watson, more than being involved in the situation, was surprisingly accepting of her and Carlyle's outrageous relationship.
James kept yelling, and Carlyle looked at Ashlie. "I want to talk to your ex-boyfriend alone."
Ashlie became even more anxious. "What can you talk about?"
Carlyle reassured her. His forest-green eyes wrapped around Ashlie's figure, transforming from a serious and icy surgeon into a tender and captivating gaze when he looked at his newlywed wife.
"Don't worry, at least I won't lay hands on my responsible patient in the hospital, even if he's my love rival."
Ashlie blushed. "Carlyle, please stop saying things that could be misunderstood. We're just... temporarily living together. The rest of the words remained unspoken because of the presence of an outsider.
The vibrant colors in Carlyle's deep green eyes gradually extinguished like scattered starlight. He returned to his cold and distant self, slightly tilting his head, his sharp jawline tensing as he spoke coldly, "You're right."
"Let's go outside quickly and not disturb Dr. Carlyle in treating his patients!"
Mr. Watson pulled Ashlie out of the room.
Once the door was closed, Mr. Watson said, "I don't oppose you being together, but you must quickly resolve the trouble with that guy James. We can't let the Lautner family look down on us."
Ashlie helplessly said, "Dad, Carlyle and I are not what you think."
"Don't lie to your dad. To tell the truth, I noticed that something was off between you and him when you were just a teenager..."
Ashlie quickly interrupted Watson, "Dad, where is Mom? Let's go find her."
As the two of them gradually moved away from the entrance, the atmosphere in the hospital room became unusually strange. James, lying on the bed, tried hard to appear fierce, but in front of the powerful presence of Carlyle, he still looked like a pitiful little quail.
James said angrily, "It's fake! It must be fake! Ashlie brought it here deliberately to insult me!"
Carlyle didn't want to waste time talking with James and directly took out the freshly issued marriage certificate to show him.
The little booklet felt like the greatest insult to James, and his eyes immediately turned red as he trembled in retort, "Hah? Don't think I don't know that it's not difficult to forge a fake certificate. Dream on!"
Carlyle raised an eyebrow. "If you insist on believing that."
"By the way, let me tell you. We just got married today, right after you were taken away in the ambulance."
"..."
James was overwhelmed with anger. He was about to cause a scene.
Carlyle pressed on his injured leg, and James shrank back in fear. His imposing demeanor vanished once again. "I'm a doctor, and at the very least, I have a high level of professional ethics. I won't let you die in my hospital."
"What do you want?"
James nervously looked at Carlyle's hand pressing on his leg. This terrifying man nonchalantly said, "You can fool Ashlie, but you can't fool me. Senator Logan was hospitalized yesterday due to a heart attack and won't have time to deal with you for a while."
James's expression changed. "What are you talking about? I don't understand!"
"If human language doesn't make sense to you, how about this?"
Carlyle curved his two fingers and took out a check from his pocket—a check worth millions of dollars that should have been on Senator Logan's desk, but now it was in the hands of this mysterious doctor, Carlyle.
Although James had a broken bone, he experienced a suffocating feeling in his heart.
How was this possible?!
Who exactly was Carlyle?
But at this moment, when James was filled with anxiety, Carlyle put away the check and raised his wrist to check the time in the gaze of James, who wanted to devour him.
"Half an hour later, we'll be draining the fluid. I hope Mr. James cooperates with the treatment."
After saying that, Carlyle walked out of the hospital room as if nothing had happened. He thought Ashlie and Mr. Watson had already left, but unexpectedly, he saw her sitting on a bench near the nurses' station.
"Waiting for me?"
Ashlie looked up and immediately stood up.
"My dad and mom went to help that jerk pay his medical bills. Ultimately, it's because of us that he broke his bones. At least in terms of medical expenses, we don't want to give him any ammunition."
Carlyle nodded. "You're right."
Ashlie had a worried expression on her face, and Carlyle noticed it. She suddenly said, "Can I talk to you?"
Carlyle glanced at her and nodded. "Sure, come to my office."
Inside the doctor's office.
"Coffee or water?"
Ashlie sat uneasily on the sofa. "There's a coffee machine in the office?"
"I always feel like having something to drink during breaks. Here, have a cup of coffee."
"Thank you." Ashlie took the coffee and looked around Carlyle's office. The gray curtains partially covered the windows, and sunlight flickered in the room. It was a bright day, but Ashlie inexplicably felt a shiver running through her, and she uncontrollably trembled.
Carlyle noticed Ashlie's condition and turned off the air conditioning.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" He pulled out the chair next to Ashlie and sat down.
Ashlie was slightly mesmerized by Carlyle's attentive details, but she quickly snapped out of it. He had matured a lot in the past ten years. Adults change a great deal, but his thoughtfulness remained unchanged.
"James, he was my boyfriend until today."
"I know."
"Yeah, you witnessed the messy breakup scene."
Ashlie bit her lip in confusion. She knew she was talking nonsense.
"Carlyle, although our contract is marriage, I must tell you the truth. James may be a coward who's afraid of strong people, but he's particularly good at causing trouble and bullying others."
Ashlie didn't want to bring up the past with James anymore, but Carlyle chose to get involved in this whirlpool, so there were some things she had to say. "I will handle my grievances with him. Don't expose our marriage certificate, or else he'll think you're my husband and find a way to make things difficult for you. It will undoubtedly affect your work."
"Is that the only concern?" Carlyle asked coldly.
Ashlie froze. She suddenly realized that she might not understand Carlyle's thoughts.
Carlyle frowned and asked again, "Do I have to pretend that I'm not your husband?"
"..."
Carlyle took out the marriage certificate and placed it in front of Ashlie. "Do you think this certificate is just a meaningless decoration?"
Ashlie's gaze swept over the marriage certificate, then moved upward, and it instantly locked onto Carlyle's mysterious green eyes.
"Why do you still carry the marriage certificate with you? Did you show it to James?"
Ashlie covered her chest, imagining James furious and defeated.
Carlyle suddenly fell silent. He put away the marriage certificate and said in a low voice, "Don't worry about involving me. Since you've chosen honesty, let me also tell you something. In fact, I've known about your relationship with James for a while."
Ashlie raised her voice, "What?!"
"There are some other reasons behind it. Your ex-boyfriend has been involved in a major financial case that implicates Senator Logan, who is currently running for governor. And as the legal representative of his company, you are also under a secret investigation."
Carlyle's tone was very serious, and the word "FBI" inevitably appeared in Ashlie's mind.
- Writer
