Frantic move

(ARIELLE'S POV)

Both Ashley and her mom looked up at me simultaneously, their eyes wide with surprise.

Mrs Thompson's expression was that of relief, her face relaxing as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Ashley, on the other hand, was more of confusion than surprise, her brows furrowed together.

"I promise, I'll see what I can do," I added, trying not to give them false hope. I didn't want to disappoint them, not after agreeing to help.

Mrs Thompson nodded, her warm smile returning to her face. "I'm so grateful, thank you, Arielle," she said, her voice filled with emotions. She was on the brink of tears.

And before I knew it, Mrs Thompson was pulling me into a hug. I reciprocated, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close, while trying to avoid meeting Ashley's eyes, which had a questioning look in them.

After disengaging from the hug, I declared my intention to leave. "I should get going," I said, glancing at my phone. "Maverick will be worried by now, he's alone with his temporary nanny."

"I'll see you off," Ashley quickly said, and before I could refute, rose to her feet. This action spoke volumes; she wanted to speak to me, and didn't want her Mom to follow.

Mrs Thompson nodded in understanding, and stayed back, watching as Ashley and I walked out of the house. "Thank you again, kid," she called out after us.

I turned to wave goodbye again, before following Ashley out to the porch. As soon as we were out of earshot, Ashley turned to me. "What did you do that for?"

I totally anticipated this, so I wasn't surprised.

Ashley, I have to help. Your mom's in

between you two now? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to do anything. It's not really your responsibility. I mean, yeah, worst case, I get kicked out of the Thompson family, but honestly, I've already given up on being a Thompson in

that, but what about your mother? Her situation is already very difficult. She can't divorce even if she wants to. Without any support, she'd just get crushed. And as much as you might think the Thompsons don't matter, your dad has a lot of enemies, and they're all watching every move

"Okay, no more. Go back inside. You need to be there for your mom right now. I'm

into a hug.

her close for a few minutes. We stayed

pulled away, I smiled. "Alright,

minutes later, the car pulled up. I gave her a final wave before

away,

********

I focused on expanding my

a careful thought, I decided that

try by

recipes and marketing strategies. I also made sure to be active on all my social media accounts, engaging with customers and promoting my

my efforts,

business world was fierce

stopped responding to my calls and messages, and I was starting to get worried. I picked up my phone and stared at the numerous unreturned calls and messages. I sighed and decided to try

you please get back to me? I'm

through, and I set the phone down with a sigh. If I didn't hear back today, I was going to visit Ashley's workplace or anywhere I knew she'd be.

work, trying to see I could make more sales and generate more money for my rescue mission. I spent the rest of the

rang. Seeing Dwayne's name pop up surprised me. We hadn't really spoken lately, both of us buried in our

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