The Crafters

"I can't live without you, Cara." Those words echoed in her mind a couple of times before she came back to her senses. She could not believe that those words came straight from the arrogant boss; Ashton Crafter. She cleared her throat before she spoke.

"You know those words are really beautiful, but I'm sorry Ashton. I can't love you back like that. We just met, and it takes time for me to reciprocate your feelings." Cara was straightforward. This is the first time someone confessed to her like this… Or so she thought.

Ashton sneered at her, a scary sneer at that. "Did I ever say I love you? I actually abhor you! If there was another way to deal with you, I would have done that in a heartbeat."

"Then what do you mean when you said you can't live without me?" Cara confronted Ashton as she placed her hands on her hips.

Ashton groaned before he answered her. "I mean literally. I will die if you are not within three meter radius from me."

"But you went down earlier, I'm sure it was over three meters. Are you tricking me here?" Cara was sure of her deductions.

"I can breach that radius as long as it takes less than thirty minutes. That's why I was quick earlier." Ashton admitted it to Cara; his tone was low, as if he was embarrassed.

Cara turned pale, even more embarrassed than Ashton. "Oh, is that it?" She mumbled.

"What else?" Ashton glared at her.

"Well, I want to know why." Cara looked straight into Ashton's eyes.

"I'll tell you everything in the car." Ashton responded as he grabbed Cara's arm again towards the exit.

Ashton led her to his garage towards a black Bugatti La Voiture Noire, Cara could not grasp the gorgeous mean machine in front of her is a reality. He left her there to talk to his security team. Cara, still in awe, circle around the vehicle like it is a piece of art.

"So you like cars?"

Ashton's deep voice startled Cara. She jerked and held her chest.

"Why are you so sneaky?" Cara glared at Ashton.

"Hey witch, wipe your saliva. You are drooling over my car." Ashton came back at Cara.

Unconsciously Cara wiped her mouth as if she was really drooling over his car. "Your car is exceptional." She said in a low voice.

"I know." Ashton answered briefly and went inside his car. Cara still stood there awestruck with the car when Ashton opened the window. "Witch, aren't you coming?" He yelled at her.

Cara came back to her senses and quickly entered Ashton's car. The interior of the car is as amazing as its exterior. Cara could not help but feel the delicate leather of the car. She caught Ashton making a face at her.

"Hey, why do you keep calling me a witch like that? I have a name, you know." Cara confronted Ashton.

"Because you are a witch, do you find it offensive?" Ashton cackled while glancing at Cara.

"Well, I am pretty sure you meant it in a derogatory way." Cara pouted her lips like a bullied kid. "You know, you should not make it a habit of calling me witch. It is dangerous. ,"Her tone was like a sister telling scary stories to her younger sibling.

Ashton nodded, agreeing with her suggestion.

"Why not try calling me by my name? You know the name Cara is not that hard to pronounce." She said.

"No, Thanks." Ashton stubbornly answered.

She then smirked at him like she thought of the brightest idea one could ever have. "Well, I have a better idea. From now on, whenever you feel like calling me witch; you should instead call me babe or love."

"Not a chance, love." Ashton groaned so loud, it shocked Cara. "Oh God, why have you forsaken me? Why am I stuck with this freaking babe?" He exclaimed.

"What the fudge? You can't resist my requests?" Cara blurted it out; as she is sure, calling her those names was the last thing on Ashton's mind.

"I would not call it resistance to your requests, my love…. Argh I hate this!" Ashton almost bit his lip trying to prevent the word love from escaping his mouth.

Cara started giggling as she cannot believe how her 'powers' affects the most arrogant human being she has encountered in her twenty-one years of existence. "So I really have a power over you." She flickered her eyelashes while raking him with her eyes from head to toe.

Ashton cringed at the sight of Cara's attempted seduction. "What type of sorcery are you thinking about, babe?" He instantly covered his mouth after saying those words.

"How is this possible? Explain it to me, please." Cara, now bearing a more serious face, asked the disgusted Ashton.

"I am compelled to do everything you want me to do." His brief answer proves to be an invitation to challenge his truth.

"As in, everything?" Cara asked him again.

Ashton nodded.

"Slap your face" Cara said right after Ashton nodded.

"Slap!" Ashton glared at her for making him do it.

Cara covered her mouth as she laughed her heart out. "Oh, my gosh! Shoot! Shoot! You just slapped your face!" she exclaimed while looking at Ashton's red face.

"I'm sorry; I just had to test it out," Cara said while trying her best to calm down. She wiped the happy tears from her eyes.

"So, kindly explain how this happened. "Cara finally could talk more seriously.

"The Gods punished us." Ashton said in a low voice.

Cara's eyes widened. It is the first time Ashton mentioned about the Gods. Suddenly she felt like she's been living in a different world to know about these stuff only now.

"What the heck did you do?" Cara expressed her concern.

"Not me, my ancestors." Ashton's aggressiveness towards Cara has mellowed this time.

"I am ready to listen whenever you are ready to talk." Cara said, seeing how hard it is for Ashton to explain further.

"Thanks," Ashton said while he took a momentary glimpse of Cara and smiled a bit.

"Well, I just have a few questions for you." Cara seconded and Ashton's smile vanished. She cleared her throat before asking him again. "How will you break out from your curse?"

"Only if… you die." Ashton said it straight to her face with a freaky smile.

"Then, tell me the truth. Are you planning on killing me?" Cara surely knows how to use her newly dealt cards.

"I want to, but I can't. If you die then, I die too." Ashton said it directly to her.

"Interesting; so, we also have rules around this setup." Cara suddenly felt safer around Ashton. She knows just how much he loves himself, so it is an assurance that he will not harm her.

"If you set me free before you die then, I will be free and alive. But if you die because of my fault then I die with you." Ashton explained it to Cara, however it left her with more questions.

"Then, how do I set you free?" Cara asked Ashton.

"I don't know, you are the babe here." Ashton slapped his forehead as he called her babe again.

"I know I am a babe, but how am I supposed to know?" Cara asked while chuckling.

"If I knew how, believe me it will the first thing that I will teach you." Ashton made his point clear.

"You are absolutely right about that." Cara agreed with Ashton's analogy. "Maybe reversing your ancestor's evil deed would set you free?" She tried to give Ashton somewhere to start.

"That would be impossible. Our punishment is the direct reversal of our atrocities." Ashton answered without blinking an eye.

"Hey, we are here." Cara pointed out towards the direction of Theo's tenement unit.

"So, you really live here with them?" Ashton asked Cara while he was looking for an empty parking space.

People gathered at the sight of his car. It is not every day that a hyper car visits their place. Ashton's guards came in to secure him and Cara.

"Who's that hot guy?" A woman pushed the person beside her.

"I don't know, it's the first time I saw him here. He sure is handsome and rich." The other woman answered.

Ashton heard a group of women ask about him. He smiled from the inside, admiration from women is something his ego feeds off. On the other hand; Cara could hear everything clearly with her heightened senses. She smirked, knowing this would be a great way for her to get back at those women who bullied her since she was a teen.

"Ash, hold my hands while we walk up to our unit." Cara whispered to him.

"You really are a babe." Ashton said in a louder voice.

"I know, babe." Cara winked at Ashton.

It stunned the women around in the crowd. They finally noticed the woman beside the hot guy. It is Cara; the bullied girl in the tenement.

Cara smiled as she walked away, victorious from her bullies.

As Ashton and Cara walk closer to Theo's home, he started looking around as if he was scared. He tried his best to hide it from Cara, but the change in his demeanor was too obvious for her not to notice.

"Hey Ash, don't be afraid. It's just Theo and Uncle Thomas. They won't eat you alive for marrying me. But I think a few beatings here and there is not out of the equation." Cara chuckled, thinking her joke would lighten Ashton's mood.

"You are the one being hunted, love, not me." Ashton mumbled.