Arranged Marriage

A year (1)

(Ash POV)

Everything good about Ash Jones comes from his mother. The reason he was able to grow up like this despite being in an emotionally unstable environment is probably because he had his mother.

Ash is always grateful that she was his mother. Even in bad times, his mother was gentle and strong. She said she believed in love and how hard it was to obtain love. That's why Ash believes in love. The affection his mother showed him throughout his childhood was proof of love.

From the moment he could remember, his father had never made his mother happy. She said his father wasn't like that when his sister Natalie was born, but everything seemed to change with the birth of Ash. His father thought Ash was the product of his mother's affair.

His parents' beginning was like a movie. Sophia, the only daughter of an aristocrat, and Shane, an ordinary designer, fell in love. Of course, his grandparents opposed this relationship at that time. However, unable to overcome their daughter's strong will, they eventually allowed their marriage. And his parents were happy for 8 years. Two happy years after they got married, and six years raising their first daughter Natalie.

His mother had a close friend since her childhood. Everyone said they would be mates since their genders and traits were different and perfectly fit. But to his mother, they were only friends. His name was Philip Gordon.

That man was the heir of a Marquis and would inherit that title in no time. He was a noble, and along with that bloodline, his personality was also elegant. He was thoughtful and quiet, and only stayed by his mother's side. Even when the woman he loved married someone else, and even after that.

Although Gordon had never done anything out of line, the very existence of Philip Gordon was a sore thumb in his father's eyes. His father, who got his mother's family name after marriage due to her status, also received the noble title. So he had to meet other nobles regularly. And the shadow of Philip Gordon always followed him.

Because his father hated his mother's friendship with Marquis Gordon, his mother distanced herself from him. Nevertheless, the story that followed the two did not die down, and it turned into poison accumulating in his father.

That poison piled up so much that he began to suspect that Ash was not his child but the child of his mother and Philip Gordon.

There was a lot of pleading and persuasion, and even though the result came out that Ash was his legitimate child, his father did not give up his doubts. For his father's sake, Sophia let both her children take their father's last name. Still, his father was not satisfied with anything.

Just like that, the doubts and resentment his father possessed erupted in another way. He chose to make his wife, who he was supposed to bring happiness to, miserable in the most painful way. That was having an affair, open to the public.

There may have been many reasons why his mother fell in love with his father. Well, that man was also a rare handsome man. On the day that commoner man with no connection to nobility showed up at the party, everyone thought Sophia married him for his face. Since Shane owned that good look, it wasn't difficult for him to have someone else.

Since having affairs was not uncommon among nobles, his father's affair did not become a major scandal. However, the rumors about his mother only grew bigger. Gossip was a double-edged sword. And when it was taken too far, it became poisonous. His mother was a shining person, and she received a lot of attention. Those rumors weighed down on her like stones. From then on, she stopped showing up in noble circles.

That may be why Ash lived the life of a commoner.

The reason why he was able to grow up well despite his parents' bad relationship was because of Sophia's dedication. His grandparents also loved him and Natalie, and Ash received an abundance of love. As he grew up, he learned more about the father he didn't have, but his feelings for him were not so strong. His mother was enough for him.