At the close of school hours, Ashley's escort came to fetch her from school.
Mr. Andy rushed to talk to her before she could leave, but she made him pause and said, "We will talk tomorrow, Mr. Andy. My bodyguard isn't feeling too well; we have to go home soon."
"Bullocks." Andy said to himself.
Aha… he suddenly had an idea.
Andy quickly approached Hannah to ask for Ashley's phone number, but she informed him that her phone was taken away from her so she wouldn't be affected by the comments flying around social media about her.
Dang it!
At night, the two stayed up thinking about the competition, the conversation they had, and also the moments they encountered in the closet.
The next morning, Ashley was preparing for school and awaiting her bodyguard when one of the maids reported that he had fallen terribly ill.
Ashley and her parents went to the staff's health center at the back of the mansion to inquire what had happened to the bodyguard, as Mr. Whitmore couldn't shake off the feeling that Ashley was responsible due to her past experience.
Reaching there, they asked the doctor what caused his condition, and he informed them that he had consumed laced food, which had everyone confused as to who would have poisoned him.
Hearing that, Mr. Whitmore turned to Ashley and gave her a wary stare.
She immediately realised her father's glances and said, "Dad, I didn't do it. I know you suspect me, but I promise I am no longer like that. I didn't lace his food."
"I am not accusing you, Ashley, but we all know—in fact, this entire mansion knows your attitude and what you can do, so until we finish investigating, you won't leave this house," Mr. Whitmore replied.
"Dad, I'll be late for school, and why are you so worried? He has his private life, and he is just a bodyguard," Ashley said.
Mr. Whitmore refused to say anything more.
***
8:13 AM
The bodyguard was up… Mr. Whitmore immediately decided to investigate from the victim wha had happened.
Luckily, He was in a good state of mind.
"Water," The bodyguard cried out and a worker quickly gave him some to dink.
"What happened?" Mr. Whitmore asked. "Do you remember anything?"
"I… I…" The guard began.
"I remember clearly; a teacher gave me a drink, and after drinking it, I…. I felt drowsy, and since then, I've been running to the toilet," he said.
Hearing that, Ashley dropped her head, hoping her suspicion was wrong.
She quickly remembered Mr. Andy giving him a drink during his attempt to talk to her, and also the mischievous grin he had on his face, which made it clear to her that he had done something to the drink.
"And which teacher would do something like that?" Mr. Whitmore asked.
Ashley was certain that he would give off Mr. Andy's name, and he could end up being arrested for the silly prank he tried to pull off.
Her legs were shaking with fear, about to wet her pants after hearing her father's question, and she said the next thing that came to her head.
"I did it. I laced his drink," Ashley said, interrupting the bodyguard before he could say anything.
"What did you say, Ashley? I hope I misheard you. Ashley, were you really the one who laced his drink?" Mr. Whitmore asked, and Ashley nodded her head slowly in response.
To her surprise, her father marched back to the mansion in rage while her mother followed.
Thoughts sprang through Ashley's head as she wondered what her father would do to her.
A few minutes later, she walked into the house and was struck dumb to find the servants bringing down her musical instruments from her room.
"Stop it! Why are you taking them down? Who asked you to touch them? Leave them immediately!" Ashley said, pushing and yelling at the servants to drop her instruments, but they totally ignored her and continued their work.
One of the hefty servants brought out a big hammer, and upon seeing this, the thought of what they were up to crossed Ashley's mind.
She wanted to believe that her father wouldn't do it, and at the same time, he would go to lengths to teach her a lesson.
The man started smashing the instruments with the big hammer while Ashley's mother held onto her to stop her from interrupting their work.
Ashley screamed and begged for the men to stop, but they only pushed her away on her father's command.
The keys of the piano scattered to different parts of the living room, the guitar was shattered, and her musical notes were torn into many pieces.
It was terrifying and tormenting for Ashley.
She felt like her world was meaningless.
After they were done, Mrs. Amanda finally let Ashley go.
***
Ashley ran to the rumble, staring at the unrecognizable pieces of her instruments, watching the wind blow the pieces of her notes around the house.
Her kneels wobbled and she fell to her knees as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Her breath tightened, and her father's cruelty was unendurable.
"You must be happy now. I was the one who did wrong. Why did you go after my instruments? What did my music do to you that you could so heartlessly command the destruction of my instruments?" Ashley said as Mr. Whitmore was about to leave while the maids cleaned the mess created by the instruments.
He turned to Ashley and replied, "If I ground you, if I spank you, if I take away your phone, your credit card, and all the luxuries you have, you will still be the same, Ashley. This is how it feels when the things you love the most are being attacked, and that is how you constantly attack my reputation, which matters the most to me."
"So it is all about saving your reputation then… Not the life of your bodyguard???"
Ashley wasn't surprised.
Her father cared more about his reputation than anything.
She had lived under the agony of her father's tenaciousness towards his reputation in society for years, but this was one of the highest he had gone to punish her.
Mr. Whitmore left for work, and as always, Mrs. Amanda turned a blind eye to the battering between the father and daughter.
After a while, Ashley got up and left for school, regardless of the time already wasted on the commotion in the mansion.
Ashley arrived at school with a gloomy face.
Hannah spotted her during lunch and ran to meet her, but she just stood morose the whole day.
Hannah was saddened to see her friend in that condition.
She kept asking her what had happened, but she remained silent.
"Did Mr. Andy do something? Did they fight? Ever since he came to this school, Ashley has been facing one problem or another," Hannah thought to herself.