"Ash let me explain…"
Amy attempted to explain the situation to Ash but Henry wrapped his arm around her shoulder and dragged her away.
"You're mine and you don't have to explain anything to him," Henry knew who Ash was.
His company had some business deals with the company of Ash's father. But he learned more about Ash in Rei's background check on Amy.
He already knew that he was invited to the party, so when he saw that he was not in his seat when Amy went to the ladies' room, he immediately went after Amy.
Ash was about to run after them but Rei and his men stopped him.
"Asher, I suggest you pull yourself together, you don't want to make a scene here, do you?" Rei tried his best to convince him.
Ash then punched the wall beside him making his knuckles bleed.
"Fuck! Tell me Rei how come she's with him? Amy would never agree to be his girlfriend. Not in this lifetime, never!"
"But she did, she was not forced, she did this on her own," Rei sighed; looking at Ash's bleeding hand.
"Damn it! I will not allow this, Amy is mine, mine alone!" Ash blurted out.
Rei pitied him but he cannot do anything about it. They were schoolmates back in college and had few classes together. They were even in a few group projects; they became close at some point but lost contact after graduating.
"Let her go, Ash, it's different this time for Henry. He won't let her go. Do not cross his path, you know how he is," Rei then tapped Ash's back and walked away.
He sincerely hoped that his old friend would yield, and not fight Henry for his own good.
Henry brought Amy to a room upstairs, "Now explain, I was informed that you don't have a boyfriend."
Henry gave her a blank expression but she could feel her dark aura and extreme exasperation.
"He's not my boyfriend. His name is Asher Brighton and we grew up together, our dads were very close friends," she explained.
She was trembling, she was afraid that Henry might misinterpret her relationship with Ash.
"And he's in love with you huh…?" Henry already knows that but he wanted to see how Amy will react to it.
"H-He's just l-looking after me, a-after my family died h-he's always there f-for me," Amy started stuttering due to nervousness.
'He looks very mad, what if he decides to not push with the contract anymore? What will I do?!'
"Then why he didn't help you with your financial issues if he is your friend?" Henry tried to probe more.
"Because I declined, I don't want him to expect anything in return," Amy told him the truth.
"I see… for you to put up your defense like that around him, means you also know that he wants to get into your pants," he haughtily stated.
It is true, she knows that Ash wants her, and that's why she declined his help, she doesn't want to give him false hope by allowing him to help her.
He's been nothing but good to her and she doesn't want to break his heart. She thought that Henry seemed to be good at reading people for him to know the situation right away.
"I-Its not like that…" she objected but Henry thinks differently, of course.
"I don't care who he is in your life, you are mine alone and I want you to formalize that now. No man can claim you other than me. Sign the contract and be with me, you can add more conditions later if you want to."
Amy didn't want to let this opportunity pass, she was afraid that Henry might change his mind so she quickly agreed.
"Ok, let me just read it quickly then, before I sign it."
Henry smiled inwardly celebrating his success. He is fully aware of who Ash is in Amy's life and how he feels about her but he is using this situation to pretend to be angry to make Amy sign the contract right away.
"Fine. Stay here, this is my room. Do not go out until you're done signing the contract. Rei will escort you to me once you're done."
He then went out and strictly commanded Rei and his men to watch over her and not let anyone approach her.
Rei entered the room after getting the documents needed for her to sign.
She reviewed it carefully, looking for things that might be suspicious.
Amy then took note of the conditions that she had questions about and were not clear to her.
Some of the conditions were; that she had to live with him during the contract duration. Attend events with him. She's allowed to go home once a week if she wants to but it has to be on weekdays without events.
She will never leave the house without bodyguards. She will have at least 1 female bodyguard who will be with her everywhere she goes, especially in public bathrooms. She will have to work out with her trainer every day.
After seeing that all conditions were fair enough for her, she then signed the contract and gave it to Rei.
She wrote down all her questions on a separate paper, so he could ask him later. She then looked for a mirror to freshen up herself before going back to the party.
She looked around Henry's room and found a shelf dedicated to all his awards and pictures from when he was young till his adulthood.
She then saw the name on the award with Henry's picture and a man that he's familiar with 'Thomas Henry Welsh Jr.' Amy was shocked by what she saw.
He knows Thomas Welsh is a business magnate, even though she's not into news and current affairs, she always hears this name from her dad and he even has a book about him and his success in the business world.
"Oh my God, is Henry his son? Just who is the person I offered myself to? What have I done?"
She wanted to back out at that moment, she heard from her friends that the son of Thomas Welsh was a brutal man, who doesn't respect women and treats them like trash.
He was a notorious businessman who would do anything to get what he wanted.
He's known for making a lot of companies shut down if they refuse his offer or go against him. He was a heartless man from what she heard from others.
But, she already handed the contract over to Rei and he was not outside anymore when she went out of the room.
According to his men, he immediately went to the lawyer to process their contract.
'It's too late.'
There was a hint of regret in her heart but she disposed of that feeling thinking that this was the only way she could afford Jayson's operation.
Amy was then escorted back to the main ballroom. She looked for Henry but he was not there.
She spotted Ash by the bar and from the looks of it, Ash was planning to drown himself in alcohol tonight she wanted to go to him to explain the situation but Rei's men stopped her.
Since she didn't know anyone there she decided to get some fresh air, and luckily there was a balcony just across from her. From there she can see the vast garden of the mansion. She asks one of the bodyguards if she can go to the garden.
They did not stop her since the only place she was not allowed to go was near Ash. She's in deep thought while she walks toward the garden.
She didn't know that there were two eyes that were observing her.
She walked further found a gazebo and settled there. She looked up at the night sky and spoke to herself.
'Mom, Dad, I wish you were here to tell me that my decision is right. I miss you so much.'
She tried to contain her tears but they won't listen to her, and her eyes become blurry. She felt overwhelmed by everything that was happening to her.
She then heard footsteps coming in her direction, but she didn't care, she still didn't stop crying.
"Tsk tsk, the madam and the staff from the salon will get mad at me, you're make-up is now ruined."
She heard Rei speak as he gave her some tissue paper to wipe her tears away. She cackled, thinking that Rei could still think of her make-up even on times like this.
"Did Henry make you cry?" Rei questioned her.
"No, no, he did not. I'm just missing my parents, that's why I'm crying and I'm overwhelmed with everything right now."
She wanted to ask Rei if he was able to notarize the contract already and if she could still back out. Yet, she remembered the reason why she was doing all this.
She decided to ask him a different question.
"Tell me Rei, am I safe with Henry? I mean, will he hurt me physically? I heard a lot of bad things attached to his name, I didn't know he was the son of Thomas Welsh before I signed the contract."
She looked at Rei making sure that she would capture his reaction with her direct query.
"One thing I can assure you is that he doesn't hit women. He's a known womanizer, yes. But who knows? Maybe he's different this time. He's different towards you, perhaps he's-"
Rei's phone rang before he could finish. He moves away from Amy's spot to answer his phone before signaling to her that he will go back inside.
Amy stayed in the gazebo for a while enjoying the scent of the flowers and the stars in the sky.