After they were sorted again, Jake expressed how different Ashley was that day.
"I am just excited about our engagement tomorrow. That is all," she lied.
"We will be under the spotlight. The entire city will be there. Our families, friends, well-wishers. Senators, the Mayor, judges, movie stars, ambassadors, competitors. Watching us. Judging us. Being jealous of us. Wishing us dead."
"I thought you enjoyed being in the spotlight? A beauty like you- I cannot help but show off to the world. And heck yeah, they will be jealous! Even so, Jake Grayson will set fire to the entire world before he lets anybody harm Ashley Palmer."
Ashley loved it when he talked about them as a third person. It made her feel as if she were in a movie or a romantic novel.
The beauty cheered up.
"Enough of your tacky lines," she said, slapping the collar of his blazer. "Now tell me where Tessa is. I have some important sister-in-law business with her."
"Fine! Fine!" Jake replied. "She was invited for an interview with a YouTube channel, 'Teen-Billionaires'. They want to feature her in this month's edition. She has booked a suite in Hotel Marigold for the interview. You had plans to meet her later, right?"
"Yeah, but something else has come up. Can you drop me off at the Marigold, please? I will join you in an hour. Please, it is very important," she pleaded, making duck lips.
"Umm, okay, but don't be long. I'll take my business calls at the restaurant for now."
Ashley got down in front of the Marigold Hotel. However, that was after Jake had made out with her for over a minute. It had been his condition for letting her escape. He had also retained her panties, calling them 'My trophy won in battle'.
Ashley had rolled her eyes at his adolescence. It was not the first time she was to go commando for an afternoon.
The Marigold was a 19th-century mansion turned hotel, sporting eighty-nine rooms and seven suites with sumptuous Georgian-era furnishings, gilded mirrors, and chandeliers. It had two hectares of landscaped gardens all around, two clay tennis courts, a Sisley spa, and a grand pool. The hotel had different points of entry. The Graysons and the Palmers were gracious patrons of the Marigold.
Ashley called Tessa on her cell, but there was no response.
'Am I too late?'
She rushed to the reception. The receptionist recognized her.
"Miss Palmer. How can I be of service?"
"In which room is Tessa Grayson staying?"
"Miss Grayson is in Suite No. 4. I will send word to her right away that you have arrived."
Ashley took the standard elevator.
On the way up, she tried to put things together in her head. The masked men who abducted her must be behind Tessa's kidnapping and murder.
The back panel of the elevator was a mirror, and Ashley observed her reflection as the cabin moved. She had missed looking like that. Nevertheless, the gorgeous looks had spoiled her and made her blind to the apparent dangers.
'Have I changed?' she wondered. 'My mysterious return to the past- is it another chance to redeem my life?'
The Ashley of three years back was vain, overconfident, with no direction. She was spoiled by her father, her boyfriend, and her social circle. Now she had a purpose.
The elevator door opened into a long corridor that looked like an endless vista. The walls on both sides were ten-foot-tall, five thousand-gallon aquariums. Dollar fish, tank mates, angelfish, and a few catfish swam around in the conservative lighting. Ashley walked up to Suite No. 4 and rang the bell.
Tessa, a petite eighteen-year-old, threw open the door, much alive, and greeted her to-be sister-in-law with a hug.
Even though they were not in-laws officially, they were already as close as sisters. The duo had hit off from the very first time Jake had introduced them. Most of what Tessa knew about fashion and other trends she had learned from Ashley.
The girls went shopping together at Gucci, Hermes, and Chanel. Ashley had introduced her to the Chris Chase salon she frequented. She had also helped the teen to seduce her school crush. They were best friends already. The irony of being accused of her murder was almost comical.
"Ashley, is everything all right? Why are you spaced out? We were supposed to meet in the afternoon if I recall correctly."
"Tessa, you need to come with me."
"Come, with you, where?"
"Your life is in danger. There is no time. They are coming."
"Who is coming? What danger?"
"The masked men. They want to kill you."
"Are you drunk, Ashley? No, wait, is this a prank?"
A man exited the service lift. He was burly and severe-looking. 'There is no way the hotel hired such a hulk for housekeeping. He has to be one of Scarlet's men,' Ashley figured.
"Get inside now!" she raised her voice.
Tessa obeyed this time, and they locked the door behind them.
"Ashley, what is going on?"
"I don't have time to explain. Tell me, is there any other way into the suite?"
Tessa shook her head, thinking.
"Oh, there is a fire escape from the balcony!"
"God, dammit!"
Ashley picked up a sharp paper spindle from the desk and headed to the gallery. As soon as she entered the balcony, she saw a masked man climbing the fire escape. He quickened his pace after being spotted.
As he ascended and his head surfaced, Ashley swung her arm like a bowler and impaled his head with the spindle. It went straight through an eye and stayed there. The man grabbed his face and tumbled down the fire escape.
Tessa looked at the spectacle in horror and was about to scream when Ashley covered her mouth. "Shh! There are more of them!"
A loud banging from inside the suite rattled them. The henchmen were trying to knock down the door!
"Let's go down the fire escape," Ashley instructed.
They were halfway down when another masked man appeared on the upper floor balcony, climbing down the fire escape.
Ashley and Tessa had reached the landing below when the man pulled out a gun and aimed at them, one arm supporting him as he backed down the stairs.
"Stop, or I will shoot!"
Ashley had no weapon with her. Even if she did, it would be impossible for her to fight an experienced goon without the element of surprise. Tessa tugged at her, panicking.
Ashley needed a weapon. A weapon that would work on a guy like him?
'Anything at all!'
'Think, Ashley! Think!'
'Yes!'
The man was backing down the fire escape with the gun trained on them.
Ashley abruptly pulled at the lace of her top and took it off. Shocked by the sudden exposure, the masked man lost his balance and tripped back head first down the building. It was a thirty feet fall. There was a dull thud and a crunch as he landed. He lay there like a sack of potatoes, likely dead.
Tessa looked like she had seen a ghost. The most dreadful crime movies she had seen had come alive in front of her eyes. She helped Ashley tie up her top.
The hotel staff had started to bustle upstairs, attracted by the noises.
The girls left the hotel unharmed and took a taxi from the nearest street.
Ashley looked back at the hotel from the rear window and determined right then and there- she would be more than ready the next time.
Some miracle of nature had given her a second chance. She was going to use it to bring retribution to those who deserved it.
It was going to be Ashley's story of revenge.