Darling, only I can be your man novel Chapter 46

　　Ariana met with her father at 10 am the next day.

　　When she got to the café, Ashton was already there with a warm and welcoming smile.

　　“Cupcake, you’re here!” Ashton beamed.

　　Ariana fought the urge to roll her eyes. Obviously she is here.

　　“Sweetheart you can be seated. What do you want to order?” Ashton asked while motioning himself to call the waitress.

　　“I am good dad. I ate before I got here.” She just wanted him to state the reason for a meet up so she could be on her way. She had done fighting for his love.

　　“Are you sure?” he asked with concern.

　　Ariana nodded. She ate earlier in the morning but it wasn’t much. She did not have much of an appetite lately.

　　Ashton only ordered a coffee for himself. He just want to get this pretense over with as quickly as possible.

　　It was killing him to sit before Ariana.

　　Ariana swallowed and then looking directly into her father’s eyes as if she would bore through his soul, “What can you tell me about my mother?”

　　Ashton knew she only came because of her mother. It was always her weakness.

　　“Well!” he took a sip of his coffee to hide his nervousness.

　　He went into character soon after.

　　He looked at her with tears and shaky hands. “Ariana, I know you must think badly of me but I am not the bad one here.”

　　He stared at her to see if she was buying it but she was emotionless.

　　He continued a little more desperate and sad than before, “I loved your mother and I still do.”

　　Ariana didn’t know if he was faking the tears or not. He looked sincere but her gut feeling was telling her there is something off about everything.

　　“Since you loved her, why did you run her? Why did you separate her from her daughter?” She asked coldly.

　　“Cupcake, everything is not how it seems all the time.” He had silent tears running down his cheeks at this moment.

　　She gave him a questionably glare telling him to explain.

　　“I met your mother in a bar while on a road trip. We kicked it off as a one night stand. I really liked her when we met so we exchanged number. Few weeks passed by but she never contacted me and whenever I called her, she never picks up.” He let out a humorless chuckle as if he was remembering something that actually happen.

　　He continued after receiving silence from Ariana, “I was setting up my company and I was really busy so I didn’t let it bother me that much, but after three months, I started missing her.

　　I went back to the bar to see if I could find her. I did not see her but the bartender remembered me and I asked for help to find her. Turned out she was a regular there.

　　I found her in a shammed looking apartment. I swallowed my pride and went there. She was so frighten to see me.

　　Turns out she was pregnant with you. So I did what a gentleman would do.”

　　Ariana cut him off, “And what is that?”

　　Ashton wiped his tears, “I brought her home and marry her.”

　　“So where can I find her?” Ariana thought she could find her mother this way.

　　“I don’t know. If I knew, I would have went for her already. I don’t know much about your mother. I used to ask about her family and origins but she pretended to lose her memory. I brought the best doctors for her in the four years she was with me.”

　　Ariana remembered Michael mentioning a memory loss. Maybe her father is actually telling the truth. Maybe, maybe not but she will not jump to any conclusion as yet.

　　“Why did she leave? It feels like you are side stepping that question.” Ariana pointed out.

　　Ashton took another sip of the coffee, “It is like this. Your mother pretended to lose her memory because she did not want me to know anything about her. I heard from a good source that she was meeting up with another man whenever I am on business trips.

　　I did not want to believe it at first but then I stated to get pictures. I came back early from one of my business trips because I couldn’t focus knowing that my wife was probably sleeping with another man at the moment.

　　I really loved her and was willing to make it work but she decided to up and leave instead.”

　　Ashton sobbed while observing her reactions. He definitely got the reaction he wanted. Ariana was going through mixed emotions. She looked hurt and angry to learn that her mother decided to leave but never carried her along.

　　“Ariana, she left us. She decided to leave. I never traced her away. She should have been by my side right now.” Ariana held her head low playing with her fingers. Ashton smiled thinking he got Ariana where he wanted.

　　“See cupcake, this is why I don’t talk about her. It is not easy bringing up these memories.” Now it was time to get to the reason why he is wasting time on her but before he could say anything, Ariana spoke.

　　“Let me get this clear. You loved my mother and you met her at a bar?” Ariana asked with questionable eyes.

　　Ashton nodded.

　　“You fell in love with her then. She got pregnant through a one-night stand you had and you decided to take responsibility after three months of pregnancy?” It was more of a statement than a question.

　　He nodded again.

　　“You said she cheated on you but the last time I checked, Gina Fearon is six months younger than me. So who cheated first?” Ariana won’t lie. The lies he just fed her, she almost believed.

　　Ashton face went pale. He forgot he was talking to Ariana the smart one. Even though she allowed them to bully her over the years, she has always stand for what she believes in and she is not easily pressured into anything. She can easily analyze a situation without thinking too hard.