My Sickness

Ashton

He woke up this morning with determination in his eyes to confront Emma on his son's. He's been trying to calm himself since he saw the pictures of the children. If he chooses to follow his heart, he won't wait too long to look for Emma and sort out this issue with her. 

He doesn't care about losing his face in front of her. He doesn't want to waste his time thinking about his ego.

As soon as he woke up, he made a call to his PA: "Joshua, cancel all my appointments for the morning session today; we are going to Appleton. Bring Emma's investigation file with you."

Joshua wasn't saying much on the other end of the line.

"Boss, we are here." Joshua announces to his boss, who is busy looking at his phone screen, that they have reached Holderin's office.

"Alright, let's go.".

Ashton and his PA reached the HR office, and he directly looked for Emma's office. He knows the team must be shocked looking at him, who suddenly appeared without notice in their office.

The HR Assistant Manager, who is stationed exactly opposite his manager's office, quickly stood up and greeted them, "Mr. Greene, what can we do to assist you, sir?" 

"I'm looking for your manager, thank you." Ashton looks at him.

He looked up at Emma inside her office; she was glued to her laptop screen and didn't focus on what happened outside of her office room.

"Joshua, give me the file and stay here. No one will enter the room until I finish my meeting with her." Ashton instructed his PA with a serious tone.

Upon finishing his instruction and having a file in his hand, without knocking on the door, he entered Emma's office.

"Knock the door...." She stopped for a moment when she saw Ashton, who had entered her office.

"Mr. Greene..?" She stood up.

"You still want me to knock on the door when you clearly see me outside your office just now?" Ashton looked at her without a trace of friendliness at all.

"What can I do to help you, Mr. Greene?"

"Pull down your office blinds." Ashton, with his usual bossy attitude, was still standing up, looking at her.

"Why should I have to pull down the blinds? You are here for work purposes..." Before she can finish her words, Ashton throws the file in his hand on her table. A picture of her and the triplet came out without hesitation from the file due to the impact.

'This woman is stubborn. Let's see what you will do when you see what's inside the file.' Ashton speaks inwardly.

Looking at her facial expression, he was confident that she must be surprised that I caught her red-handed. 

Ashton still maintains his standing position in front of her. "You want your staff to see those reactions of yours?"

He observed her when she slowly walked past him to pull down her office blinds.

"Sit down." Ashton asked her to sit down while he pulled the chair to sit down comfortably too.

Emma, who seems not to be listening to his words, instead asks him back, "What do you want?"

"Sit down, Ms. Austen!" Ashton looked up at her with a stern voice now.

'There she goes.' Ashton smirked his lips.

Emma walked toward her chair, still in her standing position. "How do you expect me to sit down comfortably like you for this?" She pointed her finger at the file on her table.

Before Ashton can say anything to answer her, she continues, "Did you investigate..."

Ashton interrupted her. "Yes, I am. Sit. down." He blurted with a controlled voice.

Finally, Emma sat down on her chair, and she started to open up the file.

"What do you want out of all this?" She asked him a very straight-forward question. 

"What else? I want my sons." Ashton declared his intention.

"Oh wow, just like that...?" Emma gave him a bitter smile.

"I will do anything to bring them home with me."

"Just because you're a man doesn't mean you can get everything you want." She looked at Ashton's straight in the eyes.

"There she goes again'. Ashton straightened his posture. 

"Just because you decided to keep the babies doesn't mean you have the right to write off my existence for them." Ashton stood firm on his words.

"Don't tell me you want to seize the children's custody from me?!" She showed a pale face. 

"I'm not like you. That's never crossed my mind. You're their mother, and that will never change." Taking the children away from their mothers was never on his plan. Never.

"Tell me that you are not going to harm them or take them away from me." Emma looks at him, waiting for Ashton's response.

"I'm not that cruel, Ms. Austen. Don't tell me that you are afraid I will do something illegal to harm them or take them away from you all this time. Is this your reason for hiding them from me?" Ashton showed his shocked face to her.

Emma looked at him and said, "Yes, it is one of the reasons. You clearly don't want to see me after that day. What do you expect me to do?"

'Oh God, don't tell me that my words toward her on those day really became her reason to run away from the country'. Ashton closed his eyes to calm himself down. 

"You said you would kill me if you saw me again, remember?" Emma tried to reason with him.

"Okay, fine, I did say harsh words to you on that day, but you shouldn't use those words to judge my reaction towards your pregnancy." Ashton stood up looking at her, angered by her simple reason for not informing him of her pregnancy, and fled the country instead.

"Are you always like this? How can you go up the ladder in this corporate business with this kind of logic and simplicity of yours? Are you really this stupid in making a decision in your life?" He really doesn't understand this woman in front of him.

"In a simple term, are you calling me a fool now?" Emma rebuked with her straight-forward words.

"You don't even know what I have been through since that night, and you clearly don't want to have a deal with me. I begged you, and you left me just like that, remember? You have no right to question why I hid the babies from you. Everyone showed their back to me, including you. I have no choice but to run away. You were just like all those people back then, and now you call me stupid and selfish? Twist the story and put all the blame on me." Upon hearing these words from her, Ashton felt the guilt surge inside him. It's hurting his heart a little.

He held his composure in front of Emma when she still clearly wanted to put barriers between them as parents and their children.

Ashton felt like he should pour out what he has been through while looking for her for the past few years. He knows he did wrong to her, but he cannot let it pass just like that. He never said he didn't want the children. That's his aim today—to see her and tell her his intentions for the children. 

"I can't do as you wish, Ms. Austen. After I learned that I am the father of your son's, I now understand why I was sick for nine months back then. I get all of your morning sickness and all those kinds of pregnancy cringes. I thought I would totally become a crazy man after I couldn't find you for the past six years. Now, it's turned out that I have a baby who has bounded us all this time." Ashton looked at her, hoping that she could feel his feelings towards their children. 

"You got all the sickness back here in the country? I thought I was the happiest and most blessed pregnant woman for not having any problems at all throughout my pregnancy with the triplet." Her jaw dropped. Emma was so shocked by his confession.

"Good for you. You fled the country and left me crazy, wondering what happened to my body all those times. You broke my relationship with my sons, and you still plan to continue to deny me as their father, even though I have openly confronted you to take on my responsibility as their father."

Emma sighed, looking down at the file in her hand.

Ashton continued, "I never plan to run away from my responsibility as their father. And I'm not here to blame you for it. I have read all the reports on you that I obtained from my investigator. You have nothing to hide from me anymore. Let me know when you are going to let the kids meet up with me. If not, I will go to their school to see them myself. Don't even try to challenge me, understand?" Ashton stands firm on his decision.

"I will bring them to see you this weekend." Emma finally agreed.

This weekend has a long way to go. It's only Wednesday today. "No, I want to see them tonight. I will fetch them at their school for dinner."

"You!"

"I'm not 'you'; I have my name; call me Ashton after this. Don't you try to set those trivial boundaries between us. We shared these children's lives together. Anyway, keep that file of yours. You might not be interested in knowing about all of your past acquintances. Just in case, keep it as your reference." With that, Ashton stood up from the chair and went out of her room. He doesn't want to say much to pressure her and is afraid she might change her mind if he stays any longer inside the room.

Upon exiting Emma's office, he looked up at Joshua. "Let's go back to my office."

Joshua looked up at his boss, concerned if something bad had happened between them.

"Boss.....?"

"Everything is fine, Joshua. Let's go."

After leaving Holder's office, Ashton gave another instruction to his PA "Joshua, book a restaurant in Appleton for tonight. Children-friendly kind of dining place. I will have dinner with my sons today."

"Okay boss." Joshua smiled upon hearing the instructions from his boss. He's so happy for him.