Chapter 7 _

The doorbell rang once more causing Andrew to let out a frustrated groan. He pulled away from the lady beneath him and pulled his pants up to his waistline.

The lady's upset whimper made Andrew even more annoyed at the person who had managed to kill the mood for them. It couldn't be Ashley since she left with Keith an hour ago. And he wasn't expecting any other lady until later in the night.

"Do you really have to answer it? It could be your stupid wife" She said running her hand on his bare chest to change his mind.

But the constant ringing didn't help matters. Andrew had to leave her side and walked to the door ready to go bring hell on whosoever that it was.

He swung the door open and poked his head out only to stagger back with his hand on his nose after he was punched hard. He stared at his hand covered in blood and snapped his head up to the person in surprise.

"You-

The figure stepped in holding a whip on her left hand. Her brown orbs clouded in rage.

"Yes! Me!.." A cold smile played on her lips as she took slow steps to Andrew. And surprisingly, the well known woman-beater was taking steps backwards in what looked like fright.

Was he scared?

"Believe me, I've been waiting for this day to come for a long time and now that it's here, I'm gonna make myself proud!"

Andrew wasn't done processing Sharon's words before the whip met his exposed skin. He groaned hard holding his arm where the whip slashed.

The lady was left speechless, she grabbed her purse in haste, ready to sprint out of the scene. But before she could make it to the door, Sharon yanked her back by her hair and pushed her to Andrew.

Both of them collided and fell to the ground hard. Sharon stood before them towering over like an unmovable mountain.

"What now Andrew? I heard you beat women a lot. Or do you only show your power to weak women? Women you know can't retaliate because of a favour you're doing for them?" Sharon leaned closer staring at him head on. "Too bad I'm not any of those women who you can lay your filthy hands on!"

She raised the whip and lashed it at Andrew and his bitch continuously. No one gets to mess with her friend and son like that. Their screams, groans and yells fell on deaf ears since Sharon was putting on a headphone over her ears.

"When next you raise your hand to hit a woman, most especially Ashley, I'll make sure I hunt you down and do more damage to you!" She spat.

Andrew was on the ground breathing heavily and in so much pain. His body was almost covered in blood and whip marks.

Sharon turned back to face the lady who wasn't spared from the torture either. "And when next you see a wedding ring on a man's finger, I hope you'll remember this day and stay far away from them"

She let out a toothy grin feeling proud of her artworks on their body. It's been a while since she felt this fulfilled. Almost as if she had accomplished something very big.

She didn't waste a second more with those ingrates before leaving the house to them.

By the time she returned home, she met Ashley waiting in the living room for her arrival. She took off her purse and tossed it to the couch. "You're still awake"

Sharon walked past her and entered the kitchen, she returned with a bottle of water which was almost half empty.

"I couldn't sleep. When I came down to ask for your charger, I noticed you weren't around and when I tried calling, your phone was switched off. Where were you?"

Sharon chuckled slightly "I went to pay an old friend a visit. It's been a while and it was truly memorable"

As weird as that sounded to Ashley, she still chose to believe what the latter had said. There was no point for Sharon to lie to her anyways.

"Alright. I'll go to bed now. Don't forget to lock the door and windows"

Sharon gave a nod and watched her leave. If she had told Ashley about what she did to her husband and his mistress, she'd become restless and possibly annoyed.

Andrew deserved whatever he got from her tonight and she didn't feel remorseful about what she did to him and that chic. If she was given another chance, she'd have done more than that.

****

The next morning, Ashley dressed up for work. She had no choice than to wear one of Sharon's dresses. She picked out a pencil colored gown which was the longest outfit the latter possessed.

She almost had the same body figure with Sharon except that she was a bit fleshy than the latter.

Ashley stood in front of the mirror checking herself out. This gown hugged her in the right places and it was also a bit too short. It stopped a few inches away from her knees.

This was definitely a neck turner.

"Woah! Who's the hottie in my room?"

She heard Sharon's playful remark behind her. She was still contemplating wearing this since it made her look tasty.

"I don't think this one is right-

"That is what you're putting on. Who knows, you might catch the fancy of your boss"

Ashley rolled her eyes hard. Taking a deep breath, she made the brave decision to put leave it that way. She applied her lipstick and tied her hair up into a ponytail.

Sharon didn't seem to like the idea of her hairstyle, she waited patiently for Ashley to be done and when the latter was about to walk past her, she pulled out the band holding her hair up.

Ashley was stunned for a second, before she could recover, Sharon was already fixing her hair.

"You look perfect!"

This seemed too much for Ashley since this was just a normal day at work.

"Ahh. I hate you so much!"

"Oh my! The feeling is mutual Darling. Now hurry up, I'll look after Keith"

The best feeling in the world was to have a friend like Sharon who was always there for you no matter what you might be going through.

"Thank you"

She bade her goodbye and left for the office.

This was indeed the first time Ashley was getting so many gazes from her colleagues. She was a bit nervous thinking that she was exposed somehow.

But in reality, they were all admiring her beauty. She adjusted the black scarf around her neck to hide the hideous mark Andrew had caused on her skin.

When she got to her cubicle, Brittany adjusted her seat closer to reach Ashley.

"You look lovely Ashley. Is it your birthday today?"

Ashley shook her head gently with a smile. Her eyes slowly wandered to the CEO's office. He wasn't here yet. Brittany followed her line of sight and tilted her head confusedly.

"The boss isn't here yet. We have a meeting to attend to this morning --

"Good morning Mr Black" Everyone greeted him in unison.

Ashley's heart skipped a beat as his familiar cologne reached her nose. She heard the sound of his door closing and she lifted her head to take a peek at him.

'Why did he act so weird?' she thought.

The telephone beside her rang. Gulping down, she picked it up and placed it against her ear.

"Come in"

Those two words managed to send shivers down her spine. He sounded irritated and annoyed at something or someone. She picked up the necessary files needed for today's meeting and approached the door.