Katherine's POV

I moaned from the tapping sun-light against my face, wondered how long I'd been sleeping. I blinked, shut my eyes, blinked
again.

I yawned, finally managing to fully open both eyes.

The moment i opened my eyes , i was met with Ashton's face.

Wait what ???

"Ahhhh." I screamed and pulled myself away from his embrace, my reflex was so sudden that it made him full on the ground instantly.

"Ouch !" I heard him groan, i peeked at him and he was rubbing the back of his head.

Oh i hurt him, I feel i am in a big trouble now..

But wait why in hell he was sleeping beside me ? And hugging me for god's sake..

He is the one in trouble ! I swear i am going to rip his face now .

He was still sitting on the floor , then lifted his eyes up to meet mine.

"Are you okay now ?" He said in a soft tone showing concern maybe.

Wait what ? Soft tone ? Concern ?

What the hell ? Am I dreaming or what ?

I just furrowed my brows confused , what is wrong with this man ?

I wake up and find him hugging me, and then he asks me if i am okay ?

No shit Sherlock , off course i am not !

He stood up, and then came closer to me, my eyes widened, what is he going to do ?

He was leaning closer and i was moving backwards, he kept on coming closer until my back hit the wall .

And i was trapped between him and the wall, i looked around trying to manage an escape, maybe he want to kill me because i kicked him from bed and made him fall.

Okay maybe i am little bit exaggerating, but this man have serious mind issues so i wont be surprised if he did anything of that sort.

He was so close now , so close that i can feel his breath on my skin making me shiver.

Shiver because i am scared as hell.

It felt like a century has passed with us just staring at each others eyes ,I couldn't help but notice how familiar his eyes are, i've never looked deep in them, but looking now , they held something, they were so familiar, but i wasn't able to point it out .

Maybe it is just my imagination ! Offcourse I haven't met him before i started working for him , or i would've noticed , right !

Then he placed his hand on my forehead for a while, and i can feel that my eyes will pop out any second, what is he doing?

"You are better now." He said removing his hand but he was still close , so close to me.

"What do you mean ? I am okay." I said still not understanding what is wrong with him.

He is crazy !

Definitely crazy !

"You don't remember?" He asked frowning.

I shook my head , i mean remember what ?

Was I drunk last night ? Did we have se...

Ohhh no ! Off course not.

I directly looked at my clothes , i was still wearing them.
A relieved sigh escaped my lips.

Seriously, i almost had a heart attack just thinking about it.

All I remember is that i had a scary dream , i was scared and crying but then in my dream Chase came beside me and held my hand.

"You had a fever last night." He said , "You seriously don't remember." He continued when he saw my shocked expression.

"And lets suppose you are right , why in hell you were sleeping in my bed, you are some sort of fever-killer or what ? " I snapped at him
my voice raising with every word, i was irritated, he slept beside me , and hugged me for fucks sake.

And the thing that bothered me  the most , is that it was like the first time that i have a peaceful sleep since two years.

"Well , you literally begged me to stay with you." He said a smirk plastered on his stupid ugly face.

As if i am going to believe him , huh !

Me begging him to stay and sleep with me.

Yeah i would definitely do that !

I just kept on glaring at him, but then my eyes traveled to the bowl placed on the bedside table , with a towel inside it and an Advil bottle beside it.

So i really had a fever yesterday, why I can't remember anything though ?

"And how did you know i was sick , like do you have a habit of taking people's temperature when they are sleeping or what ?" I said giving him one of my murderous looks, who in hell gave him the right to enter my room last night , what if i was naked ?

I hate him , i really hate him !

"You were talking in your sleep , actually you were having a nightmare and you were hallucinating so i came to check on you." He said and his voice was back to a concerned tone.

Oh my god !
I was speaking in my sleeping again , damn it i hope I didn't say anything about Chase.

"What were you dreaming about? " He then asked.
"You were so scared." He added.

"I don't remember." I lied.

He looked like he didn't believe what i said , and I don't care , because he has no right in knowing anything about me.

"Are you planning on staying here or what ?" I tried to change the subject because the sudden tension was so awkward.

Without saying anything, he just stood up and went toward the door.

"If you don't feel okay , I'll go alone to the meetings today." He said before storming out of the room not even giving me time to answer.

Stupid ugly man..

I went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, then went to my bag to pick an outfit , it is still raining outside , so i picked a grey wrap skirt and a black turtleneck with over-the-knee boots.

I applied light make up and dried my hair, Satisfied by my look i took my bag and went out of the room.

I looked around searching for Ashton, but I wasn't able to spot him anywhere , i think he is in his room.

I knocked on his door, and then entered after hearing him say 'Come in.'

He was standing in front of the mirror trying to do his tie, his back was facing me.

"I will go now , you can call the hotel service to get you food or anything you want." He said without even looking at me.

"But i am going with you." I said making him turn around and face me.

"You sure you are okay ?" He looked at me from head to toe then his eyes traveled back and held mine in an intense gaze.

What is happening to him these days , he is making me really uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Yeah i am." I said Answering his question, i mean i am okay , why he is making a big deal of it , why he is caring anyway.

"Because i need you to be fully concentrated , we have a lot of work today and i don't want any mistakes." He said in a blank tone turning back to the mirror.

And i though he cares...

Stupid me, off course he doesn't..

"Dammit." I heard him cursing under his breath stumbling in doing his tie.

I shook my head and went toward him, "Let me." I said before taking the tie from his hand.

I felt him staring at me while doing it but For unknown reason I didn't dare to lift my eyes up.

I finished , then gathered the slight percent of courage inside me and looked up.

Our eyes met, and he kept on staring at mine, and i couldn't help but do the same.

I kept on looking into his blue eyes , and for the second time today i noticed how familiar they are , i've seen them before i swear , the way they are looking at me now , it is so familiar , but why ?

Have i met him before ?

"Have i met you before ?" He asked , speaking my mind taking me off the guard.

My eyes widened at the similarities of our thoughts, trying to compose myself, "Well if i remember right , i work for you." I tried to play it dump so maybe he will drop the subject.

What if we had met before ?
No i just hope we didn't  , or my plan will be exposed , i hope it is just my imagination..

He just glared at me not satisfied by my answer, for him not to ask further, i stepped away making distance between us ,"Let's go." I said before heading toward the door.

The day was hectic , we kept on going from one meeting to another, from one deal to another , and Ashton won like three deals just today , it looks like he is trying to compensate the lost he was subjected to, and I don't like this , it is like what I've done didn't affect him.

Now, He is sitting in his office , working on tomorrow's presentation, and i am helping him, i swear i am getting dizzy from all this work today.

A knock on the door snapped us from the pail of papers we are working at, and i couldn't be more thankful.

"Come in." Ashton said irritated that someone interrupted his work.

Workaholic ugly business man !

Then a tall man entered the office , he looked in his mid forties, but he was so familiar, and then realization hit me, he looks like an older version of Ashton , despite the few grey strands on his hair, and the wrinkles that started forming on his face, he looked handsome, and in shape.

He is his father , i know now from where Ashton inherited his good looks.

Wait what good looks ? He is ugly , yeah definitely ugly ugh.

I glanced at Ashton , he hadn't say anything since his father entered , he looked so angry , his eyes fuming , his mouth pressed into a thin line, and he was squeezing the hell out of the paper in his hand.

"Mark." Ashton addressed his father with his first name, and it came out of his mouth as if he was disgusted by just mentioning his name.

"Son." His father said back with a blank face showing no emotions.

His eyes traveled to me,he glared at me and i found it my cue to leave , so i stood up ready to leave but Ashton's hand grasped my wrist and pulled me down to sit beside me.

"Stay." He ordered with the same scary tone not even removing his eyes from his so called father.

"No kid leave , i need to discuss something with my son." Stupid Mark said making me confused to whom i should listen.

And he called me kid , what the hell ? Are all the Ryder's rude like this ?

Ashton's hold on my hand tightened, " She will stay." he said , bitterness filling his deep voice.

The tension in the room was raising every minute , and these two Ryder's were just staring at each other, as if deciding who is going to declare world war III first.

"So you are back." His father started. "And you didn't even consider visiting your parents." He continued, wearing the same blank expression.

"I don't have any parents." Ashton said his voice low yet you can detect the rage and anger in it.

"When will you stop being such a child." His father said his tone not even changing a bit.

And i though Ashton is cold and scary..

"So i heard the company lost a lot because of your stubbornness, i wonder when you will really grow up." His father said mockingly.

Wow ,he is definitely the perfect dad !

Ashton closed his eyes, and took a deep breath , i can feel him struggling in calming himself.

"It is my fûckin company , so wether i lose or gain , it is non of your business." Ashton replied back with a low but yet dangerous tone.

I kept on looking between these two men scared , both of them wearing death glares.

"You know i can help you with your loss , you just have to ask." His father said.

"Over my dead body." Ashton snapped back and stood up, probably unable to keep his anger at bay.

He stepped closer to his father, "I advise you to get the hell out of MY fûcking company before i'll call the security or i will do something i may or may not regret later." The way he said it sent shivers down my spine, if i was his father i would crawl in the corner and start crying.

His father shook his head in a disapproval manner and let out a mocking laugh.

"And i though what happened two years ago would make you grow up." He said before getting out.

That statement made me freeze in my spot.

Two years ago !

Does he mean about what happened to Chase?

The twisting in my stomach started , making want to throw up , what does he mean ? 

I don't understand..

The crashing voice of glass jerked me back making me flinch, my eyes widened when i saw that everything that was on the table was now on the ground.

Dammit ! We are working on these papers since two hours.

Can't he release his anger anywhere else.

My eyes traveled from the mess on the ground to Ashton, he was leaning placing his hand on the table , holding in tightly that i can notice his knuckles turning white.

Then he start coughing, i saw him loosening  his tie angrily, he tried to unbutton the first  buttons of his shirt, but his coughs were becoming louder , he started hitting his chest ,his breath started hitching, it was like he wasn't able to breath anymore.

My instincts rushed me toward him, panic from seeing him like this rushed inside my body making me stumble in my way toward him.

"Mr. Ryder what is wrong ?" I asked panicked.

"... Asthma... Attack.." I was able to hear these two word between his loud coughs.

Suddenly i felt all the blood rushing in my veins , I wasn't able to breath as if someone was choking me , my heart beats started accelerating in panic.

Ashton knelt on the ground , still Coughing, his hand holding his chest tightly.

"W-what ? .. Where is your inhaler ? " I asked terrified when i noticed that he is getting worst.

He kept on coughing and holding his chest trying to breath but then pointed by his hand toward his hanged coat.

I instantly ran toward it ,searching in the pockets i wasn't able to find it, my hands started shaking and panic rushed inside me, i was afraid , no i was terrified !

Finally i felt something cold in my hand , i grabbed it and rushed back toward Ashton.

I placed it in his mouth , his hand went over mine and held it tightly over the inhaler pressing it.

A relieved sigh escaped my lips when i noticed that he is breathing normally now.

He removed the inhaler from his mouth , then placed his back on the desk and closed his eyes breathing loudly like he had just ran a marathon.

Seeing that he is better now , I let out a deep breath that i didn't know i was holding this long.

I felt something on my cheek , i placed my hand and noticed i was crying.

I don't know why or how i cried , and I don't care because the only thing on my mind right now is that HE is okay.

__________________________________________

Hope you liked it 😊
I don't know much about Asthma attacks but i tried to describe it 🙈 Hope it is not that bad.
Excuse my grammatical and spelling errors🤓

Anyway i want to dedicate this chapter to cupcakes-at-midnight she made the beautiful cover above , she is amazing ❤️
Thank you dear😊

Also, The story had reached 2K , i am so happy ! 🎊🎊

Don't forget to comment and vote.

My love❤️