Ashley was taking a sip of her coffee when she felt a shadow looming over her. She grew curious and looked up, instantly rolling her eyes when she saw exactly who it was.

"It's just you." She said dryly before removing her eyes away from him.

"Just me? Mia bella you wound me." He took the seat across from her. "It's nice to see you here. Such a coincidence, wouldn't you say? Some would even call it fate."

Ashley looked back at him and rolled her eyes when she saw his grin. "I beg to differ. On the contrary, I'm beginning to think that you're stalking me." She said before turning away again, refusing to look at the infuriating man.

This had been the third time she saw him today and every time, he would always try to spark up conversation despite her trying to ignore him.

The man seems to not be able to take a hint.

"Stalking you? Well mia bella I would never. But of course, how can I deny trying to get to know someone as beautiful as you?" his voice was filled with amusement as he answered her and that only seemed to infuriate her even more.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me." She said dryly, turning to look at him again. She raised her eyebrow at him. "Now don't you have anything better to do than talking to me and infuriating me to no end?"

"Ah you're a feisty one. I like that." he smirked at her and in turn, she scowled at him. Chuckling, he answered her question. "There is something better that I would like to do right now."

"Then go and do it." She hissed out at him, picking up her cup of coffee.

"I would but then again, it all depends on the person who I want to do it with." He replied, staring straight at her.

Ashley took a sip of her coffee again and turned back to him, only to see him staring intensely at her. "Then go ask that person and leave me alone. I don't have time to deal with you."

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, leaning back against the seat. "Would you like to go take a walk with me? I would like to get to know you better."

"My nonna told me to never go with strangers." She replied sharply, letting some of her Italian accent seep through her voice.

"Nonna? And is that an Italian accent I hear? You're Italian?" he asked her with curiosity.

"My father is an Italian man. My mother was an American. I was raised in Italy for ten years before I left." She said, not deterring her eyes from her coffee cup.

"Why did you leave?"

"My father remarried. He didn't treat me the same after that. I asked to go live with my maternal grandparents and he didn't hesitate to ship me away." she replied softly, shocking herself at how much she had revealed to him.

"And your mother?" he asked in a soft and gentle voice.

Ashley gave him a fake smile before turning away again. She stared out the window. "She died giving birth to me."

It was silent for a few moments before he spoke up. "This is good."

Ashley snapped her head towards him and glared. "The death of my mother was good?"

His eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. "No I didn't mean good about that part. Your mother dying isn't something good."

"What is good about what I just told you then?" she snapped, continuing to glare at him.

"You're opening up to me. More than I actually expected." He smiled genuinely at her.

Ashley had to admit that his smile is one of the best smiles that she had ever seen.

Her face softened and she smiled lightly. "Well I guess." She sighed and looked in his eyes. "Why are you talking to me when there's a billion other girls out there who are way more prettier than I am? Why not waste your time on them?"

He leaned forward and gave her a strange look. "Because you're not like other girls. You intrigue me. I'm not wasting my time but I'm spending it with a beautiful girl. Those girls have tried everything to catch my attention. You did nothing but you caught my attention."

"What do you want from me?"

"I want nothing from you. Well maybe your name. That might be helpful." He placed his arm on the chair next to him and Ashley sighed again.

"Ashley Denorro."

The man smiled at her. "Dante Hastings."

"What?"

He chuckled. "Dante is my name."

And for the first time since they've met, she laughed. "Nice to meet you Dante."

A grin spread over his face. "Nice to meet you too, Ashley."

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.

Ashley never in a million years thought that she was going to be doing this. She had always thought that everything would go exactly how she wanted it to go. But life had different thoughts and plans in mind for her.

Never in a million did she thought that she would be sitting with Dante and two of their lawyers, discussing their divorce.

"You guys never made a prenuptial agreement?" Thomas, Dante's lawyer asked them. He shuffled through his papers and glanced at Dante.

"We didn't really see the need to back then. Clearly, I was wrong." Dante said coldly, staring at Ashley. He intertwined his hands and placed them on the table.

Ashley held back her tears and just shook her head. "We-I thought that we didn't need to since I was so confident that we were going to be together."

Mayla, her best friend and lawyer, grabbed her hand and sent her a reassuring smile.

Ashley shot her a grateful one back.

"So how do you wish to divide up the shares?" Thomas glanced at Dante and then at Ashley. "Not to mention the custody for your child."

"Children." Ashley corrected him.

She looked at Dante. "I'm going to take full custody of them." She said softly, not taking her eyes off of him.

When she saw no emotion in his eyes, she felt her heart breaking even more. She had thought that it was impossible for her heart to break so much but clearly, this was only just the beginning.

"Is that okay Dante?" Mayla asked coldly.

"I want nothing to do with those bastard children." His words sent daggers into Ashley's heart and the emotionless expression on his face made her want to burst out into tears.

She stood up and glared at him through her tears. "How dare you call them bastards! What kind of a father are you?" she shouted out, feeling tears of anger rushing down her face.

"That's just it. I'm not a father." Dante replied coldly.

"How could you?" she whispered.

"Ashley." Mayla said softly, tugging her hand.

Ashley wiped away her tears and sat down again. She looked away from Dante, not wanting to see him see the pain behind her eyes. "They're yours and you know it Dante. The fact that you would call them that hurts me so much. You're their father." She said softly.

"They're not mine. You and I both know it." He said chuckling darkly. "She gets nothing Thomas. I want everything I own and everything I gave her during our marriage back. She doesn't deserve any of it."

"You insolent pig," Mayla said calmly, standing up abruptly. Fire burned in her eyes despite her attempts at remaining calm. "Ashley has been nothing but faithful to you. This is how you repay her?"

"Ms. Reilly, please calm down." Thomas said coolly. "Don't act so rash and unprofessional."

"I am calm." she hissed out. "I may be a lawyer but I'm a friend first, Mr. Quinton."

"Mayla, please." Ashley said softly. "Sit down."

Mayla scoffed and sat back down again. "Ashley deserves some if not all of his fortune. She started Hastings Enterprises. Without her funds, Hastings Enterprises would have never started."

"It was built on Dante's hand-work. She did nothing but give out money." Thomas said coldly, staring down at Mayla.

"Mr. Quinton, without her funds, Hastings Enterprises would never have the success that it has today. And it's all thanks to Ashley." Mayla said, glaring at Thomas.

"Ms. Reilly, must I remind you that-"

"Enough." Ashley said softly. She looked up from her lap and glanced at all three people in the room. "I want nothing from him. He can have everything back. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Ashley-" Mayla started.

Ashley interrupted her. "No. I want absolutely nothing."

"Very well." Mayla sighed. "Are we done here then?"

Everyone nodded their heads. Mayla looked at Ashley. "Ashley."

"I'm done." She whispered softly, standing up. Her hands instinctively, went to her neck where the necklace that Dante had gotten her for her birthday lay. It had been a few days before their wedding.

She froze as the memory of that day came to her mind.

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.

.

"Close your eyes, mia bella." Dante whispered into her ear, standing behind her.

Ashley giggled and did what he said. She felt him moving her hair away from her neck and shivered when his fingers brushed through the sensitive part of her neck. C cold object touched her neck and she touched it.

"Open." He whispered.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the object. Her eyes started watering when she saw the beautiful necklace that resided on her neck. Turning around, she wrapped her arms around her fiancee's neck and hugged him tightly.

"Happy birthday, mia bella." He kissed the top of her head and she relished in his love.

"Dante, it's beautiful." She pulled away from him and touched the necklace, smiling.

He brushed a piece of her hair out of her face and smiled lovingly at her. "Not as beautiful as you, mia bella." He leaned down and captured her lips, sending her all of his love.

Ashley kissed back with the same amount of passion, wrapping her arms around his neck. Pulling away, she leaned her head against his and smiled. "I love you Dante."

"I love you, Ashley."

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.

.

The tears brimmed her eyes again as she stared at the necklace.

Memories after memories of them crossed through her mind.

The time where they had their first date, their first kiss, their wedding day, the day of his success with his business. They all came rushing back to her and she could do nothing to stop it.

Her thoughts were consumed by him and by the memories that they shared.

Every part of her belonged to him. Her heart, her mind, her soul. It was all his to take. And he did take it but he gave it back to her, emptied.

He stole everything from her. Her feelings, her thoughts, her passion.

How could he just give everything away like this? Did he ever stop to think about how this is all affecting her? The supposed love of his life? Did he think twice before telling her about their divorce? Was this truly what he wanted?

She felt tears rolling again and she quickly took off the necklace. She could feel Dante's stare on her as she did it. She held it in her hands and stared down at it before looking up at him. She saw him looking down at the necklace before looking up at her.

She walked over to the other side of the table and grabbed his hand. "Here." She whispered.

She placed the necklace down on the palm on his hands and closed it up. "Here's the first thing you ever gave me." She said, trying to remain strong.

She smiled at him and took off her ring. She placed it on the table, never once taking her eyes off of him. "I hope this is what you really want." She whispered.

She hesitated for a second.

But then she reached up and kissed his cheek gently. "Goodbye Dante. I hope you have a nice life." She whispered.

She turned around and started walking out of the door where Mayla was waiting for her on the other side. She sent a small smile at Thomas.

He returned one half-heartedly.

She looked back at Mayla. "Let's go," she whispered.