L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 155

"...And what exactly is the problem? You know there’s nothing wrong with how I function."

After what felt like a long silence—though it hadn’t even been a full minute—Ashley finally spoke. He didn’t bother wasting time with lies like, “How would you know?” or “That’s not true.” The source was too obvious.

"That’s exactly why it’s strange."

Ariel didn’t hesitate as she laid out the foundation of her thoughts.

"Like you said, when you were dating me, you didn’t hold back. If I’d been as timid as Koi, you wouldn’t have even dated me in the first place, right? You always liked girls who were cool in every way. Girls like me."

She wasn’t wrong. No, she was spot on. Before Ashley fell for Koi, Ariel had been his ideal partner. She always maintained the perfect distance, had the charisma to lead the cheer squad, and was confident, athletic, academically excellent, stunningly beautiful—with legs to die for.

In other words, Ariel had been the perfect girlfriend. Ashley had never once felt dissatisfied with her, and he genuinely liked her. That was exactly why falling for Koi had been such an unpredictable, uncontrollable deviation from everything.

But Ashley wasn’t going to admit that so easily.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe sleeping with a guy wasn’t easy for me?"

He asked with a bitter edge, but Ariel crushed his flimsy resistance like it was nothing.

"Ash, even if Koi manifested as an omega, you still wouldn’t have slept with him. If he looked at you with those big tear-filled eyes and said he couldn’t do it, you would’ve run straight to the bathroom and jerked off until your dick was sore."

"And how can you be so sure of that?"

Ashley scowled, clearly offended. But Ariel smiled like she held all the cards.

"Because you kept dating him even though you didn’t sleep with him."

Her answer was calm, confident.

"What, so the Ashley in your memory was just some sex-obsessed freak?"

He scoffed.

"No. The Ashley in my memory was an average teenage boy in that regard."

She held his gaze as she continued.

"You weren’t some horny maniac, but you weren’t the type to restrain yourself for someone else either. The Ashley I knew? If the relationship wasn’t physically satisfying, you wouldn’t have waited—you’d just find someone else. But with Koi, you waited over a year. Even after he manifested, you didn’t break up. If you cared about him that much, then there’s no way Koi was just some fling. He was special."

Ariel’s words struck true, each one sharp and deliberate. Ashley remained silent for a while before finally responding.

"That’s it? Your big revelation is that I didn’t sleep with a beta?"

"No. There’s one more thing."

As if she’d been waiting for that moment, Ariel kept going.

"You’ve always been generous with your friends, sure—but there was a line. Maybe you'd treat them to dinner, something casual, and even your birthday gifts were within reason. But you never went overboard. With Koi, though? Everything was an exception."

She was like a sports car with the brakes cut, slamming on the gas.

"You’ve been broken up for ten years, and you still bought him expensive clothes? Just to encourage a date with someone else? Don’t give me that. That’s not you, Ashley Miller. Then or now. What hasn’t changed is this—Koi is your exception. Always has been."

She shook her head slowly, eyes locked on him.

"So tell me the truth. If you still have feelings for Koi, why all the fake ‘friend’ crap?"

If she didn’t like his answer, Ariel looked ready to beat it out of him—not with fists, like in the past, but with words just as brutal.

Ashley didn’t answer immediately. He inhaled from his cigarette deeply. Ariel glanced at her watch—three minutes left. Plenty of time for someone like him to worm his way out of things.

She imagined him pulling this same stunt in court and clenched her fist. To avoid committing an assault in a law office, she opened and closed her hand several times to release the tension.

Then Ashley exhaled a slow stream of smoke and spoke.

"You think I’d hurt Koi or something?"

"Obviously. Koi might fall for your bullshit, but I won’t."

To her surprise, Ashley smiled faintly. Ariel hesitated.

"You really don’t trust me, huh."

He spoke slowly, calmly.

"But it’s true—I want Koi to be happy."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Ariel’s brows furrowed. Ashley gave a small, ironic smile and lifted his hands slightly.

"Why wouldn’t I? Like you said, we broke up ten years ago. I can offer a bit of goodwill to an old classmate."

His demeanor was absurdly composed.

"Koi is... how should I put it, still as pure as ever. I was worried he’d mess up a date if he took it too seriously."

He sounded so considerate—yet Ariel could hear the condescension woven into his words. If Koi had heard him, he probably would’ve taken it at face value. But fortunately, Ariel was the one sitting here.

"So you're saying you did all this for Koi?"

"Yes."

The answer came without hesitation.

"Why?"

Ashley answered just as smoothly,

"I told you—I want him to be happy."

He brought the cigarette to his lips again, narrowing his eyes.

"I guess he didn’t tell you that?"

"He did. That’s why I came running here."

Ariel shot back immediately. She didn’t want to hear more of his nonsense and kept talking.

"I don’t believe you. You’re really saying that even if Koi falls in love with someone else, kisses them, gets married, has kids—you’d be happy for him?"

"Of course. If it makes him happy."

Ashley’s response was perfectly timed—not too quick, not too slow. Like a man far too familiar with emotional manipulation. Ariel grew even more suspicious.

"What’s your reason? There’s no way you care about someone else’s happiness that much."

She didn’t expect a real answer. Looking at Ashley’s smug face, she figured as much. But that wasn’t why she came.

As expected, Ashley just checked his watch. Not much time left. Ariel finally brought up the reason she was here.

"Then you don’t care what Koi does or who he does it with, right?"

"As long as he’s happy."

Ashley replied with that same fake smile. Maybe he believed Koi would never be capable of truly moving on. That he’d always be the only one Koi ever loved. That had to be why Koi’s feelings couldn’t be exposed—not when Ariel was around.

"You really think he’s still too shy to go on a proper date."

Ariel picked up Koi’s pride from where he’d dropped it and dusted it off.

"But women can sense a good man from a mile away. And Koi? He’s tall now, and people even call him handsome. You get what I’m saying?"

She added with a calm, almost playful tone,

"You’re not the only one who can’t leave him alone. Koi’s had some experience now—his standards are better too."

Then she smiled. Ashley still wore his signature smirk, but it looked hollow, like a mask.

"...Experience, huh?"

"Yeah."

Ariel nodded and asked,

"You don’t know what happened in those ten years just like Koi doesn’t know what happened to you. Right?"

Ashley didn’t answer. Ariel checked her watch for show, then spun the face around and showed it to him.

"Three seconds left."

She smiled brightly.

"Right on time, huh?"

She rose from her seat and turned to go, but looked back at him first.

"So I’m going to trust that you won’t get in Koi’s way from now on. Thanks for your time."

She added a polite farewell and turned to leave. The only sound in the office was the soft echo of her heels.

Just as Ariel reached for the door handle, Ashley finally spoke.

"You asked why I want Koi to be happy, right?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

She turned around slowly at the quiet voice. A bad feeling crept up her spine.

He smiled coldly and said,

"Because the higher he climbs, the harder it’ll hurt when he falls."

For once, Ariel didn’t react right away. At first, she didn’t understand what she’d heard. Then she wasn’t sure she’d heard it right. But the smile ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) on Ashley Miller’s face told her it was real. He really was the worst kind of bastard.

"That’s true."

Ariel finally regained her composure and smiled back.

"Falling from this height would really hurt, huh? I hope you got the best insurance plan possible."

Her voice was soft—sweet, even—as she added:

"Listen closely, Ashley Dominique Miller. Make Koi cry one more time, and I will rip out those precious purple eyes of yours."

Ashley shamelessly laughed.

"Oh no, I’m so scared."

Ariel flashed him one more dazzling smile. The kind that promised she meant every word.

"Oh, and one more thing."

Just as she was about to leave, she turned as if remembering something.

"Just because Koi’s a beta doesn’t mean you’re safe. Remember, he dated you once already."

"...What’s that supposed to mean?"

Ashley asked, voice low. Ariel didn’t lose her smile as she replied.

"It means Koi’s next partner could be a woman—or a man."

"..."

"I figured I’d mention it. You don’t seem to realize it yet. Oops, I’ve gone over time. My bad, I’ll get going now."

She added cheerfully.

"Have a lovely day draining innocent people dry for more dirty money, Counselor Miller."

And with that, she walked out and left Ashley alone.