Ashton Darrow

(Fiancée; Jake's Bad Ending)

**Ashton** **Darrow** also known as **Ash** for short is the head of the legal department in Carter Corp and is the player's ex-boyfriend who made his first appearance at the beginning of the first chapter in Jake's route serving as the second love interest. In Giorgio's mini-series, he serves as the player's best friend.

## Appearance

Ashton has slicked back honey blonde hair with light brown edges and spiky bangs, light tanned skin, light brown eyes and brown eyebrows.

His outfit is in the shades of teal and wears a teal formal suit under a matching teal vest with a white long sleeved button-up shirt with a dark teal long tie on the collar and black dress shoes.

His second outfit is a brown plain jersey jacket with an indigo and white flannel button shirt, blue jeans and shoes.

When he dates the player at her apartment, he wears a tuxedo similar to Jake's but the color is charcoal gray.

* When he was in shirtless, Ashton has a slender build with muscular arms while showing more of his bare skin. In Chapter 9 when he tried to take romantic advances to the player, resulted in her frequent rejection before he got shot in the torso by one of the members of the Bratva, a Russian mafia group, he wore a pair of black trousers in a red trim.

## Personality

Ashton was the player's boyfriend before he broke up with her in the beginning of the first chapter because he wanted space and also felt like he no longer made her happy. He is seen as somewhat a little distant and pensive. Unlike, many second love interests in the Is it Love? series, Ashton is somewhat of a chill person who doesn't interfere with relationship or insulting the opposing main love interest and makes the player to go against their lover like Sohan Héka, Owen Hobbad, Asmodea or Joe Kicks did. He seem to be a loyal type of boyfriend and never tried to cheat or flirt with any other women and was passionately in love with his very first girlfriend who later became his ex. He's been a long friend of Gabriel Simons when it comes to dating and love.

Despite breaking up with her, he seemed to be very quiet and non dominating and can be described as polite, with a timid demeanor like Peter Bartholy's, despite being sorry for the breakup and wanting to be on good terms with her even while she was mad, he seemed to get over it rather quickly. He also lends a helping hand towards the player after learning that their boss Ryan had sabotaged her application for her Russian visa which ended in denial and he makes it up to her for clearing her denied application.

In Chapter 2, he seemingly couldn't get over the player following his break up with her and became worried for her travels in Moscow, stating that she has to be careful. He seemingly dislikes Cassidy Sparke when she attempted to seduce him.

In Chapter 4, Ashton displays his unusual personality and despite the break up he made to the player right from the beginning, he becomes romantically attracted to the player much to the latter getting uncomfortable to his presence when he became so close to her and when she refuses all sorts of invitation that he wanted to talk things out for dinner, Ashton is shown to be depressed and uncomfortable which led him to talk to Gabriel about his problems to make the latter to converse with the player at the bar in the hotel that she had currently stayed. This also happens in Chapter 6 when he calls her on her new phone given by Jake as Lisa gave him her new phone number to contact her. He remembers her birthday especially when he's trying to renew his love to the player and was begging for mercy when she refused to go back to New York to surprise on her birthday as well as he caters at her apartment with Lisa Parker's assistance to surprise her which makes the player became more uncomfortable on their actions because of her dislike for being a center of attention as well as his romantic attraction towards her when he became clumsy, for accidentally staring over the player's sexiness and sending romantic text message in which the player had never responded. He is also trying to get close to the player when he gave her the music box which he bought it for her in months and secretly keeps it so that he would give her in her birthday.

In Chapter 9 onward, Ashton also displays his romantic sense of passion when he tried to seduce the player during his night at her apartment but was rejected frequently, leading him to get angrily frustrated because of her current feelings with Jake, realizing that his former relationship with the player is already over and he had trouble understanding their relationship. But at the final chapter of the story, he is somewhat bipolar when he acts calm, strange and being irrational and angry. These traits are demonstrated when the player rejecting his romantic advances especially taking a violent outburst when he angrily throws a glass to his office since he couldn't accept rejection and never rekindle their former relationship. He became calmer after displaying his violent outburst upon revealing the engagement ring he used to propose the player for marriage. He also shows his jealousy side when Gabriel is talking to the player who is about return to New York after being rescued by Jake and the American special forces at Moscow. At the bad ending, his bipolar tendencies have been toned down when he accepted Ryan's promotion as a head of the Legal Services in all Carter Corp branches and proposes the player for marriage while they celebrate his promotional party.

In Ryan's story within the third and final season which takes place three years in both seasons, Ashton was indicted by Derrick Tremblay as one of the suspects along with Yuki Kobayashi, Paloma Abdul-Ternisien and Aleksei who's responsible for endangered his life in Jake's route.

In Giorgio's story, Ashton serves as the best friend to the player and was very well concerned about her well being when she was masquerading herself working with Giorgio at the Queen's Casino. It was revealed that Ashton is also friends with her at Harvard and was reluctant to help her dealing against Giorgio and his criminal cases that went backfired for the first time as a result of her firing. Ashton is also the reason he tried to make secrecy of helping the player within his office at Carter Corp.

## Season 1

Ashton Darrow is the ex-boyfriend of the player. They take the same college in Harvard University along with Gabriel Simons and both were sweet lovers. Once they graduated in college, they had been more focus on their respective careers and they landed at Carter Corp. Ashton being a lawyer while the player as an accountant who would later promoted as a Chief Financial Officer. From the beginning, Ashton decided to break up with the player because he really need space. Later, he helps the player to get her Russian visa after their boss, Ryan Carter had sabotaged her visa. In Chapter 2, he couldn't get over with the player despite breaking up with her from the beginning and worries for her safety in Russia. After the Russian armed had stormed and wrecking her apartment, it was Ashton who cleaned up everything. In Chapter 6, it was Ashton who is able to contact the player who is now taking refuge at the barn owned by Joe Kicks with Lisa's assistance. He and Lisa set up for the player's birthday at her apartment. However, his closeness to the player leads Jake to get jealous and angry. At the player's room, he was surprise to see the player's revealed appearance until he gives the player a music box as a gift after she had finally get dressed and the player knew it was a memento to his late grandmother. Ashton explains to her that he had been waiting for months to gave her this gift. In Chapter 9, Ashton calls the player to meet him at her apartment. He dates the player again by spending time together at her apartment. Unfortunately, Ashton's romantic advances were rejected by the player. As he goes to the bathroom, he was angrily frustrated because of the player's feelings for her bodyguard Jake, only to be rebuffed by the player because she had finally moved on. Ashton had no choice but to accept getting rejected, and the player noticed he has trouble understanding her new relationship with jake. Just as he is about to get dressed, he was shot on the thorax by one of the members of the Russian mafia group from its sniper rifle and to the player's horror causing her to come to his side. As she calls 911 for help, she supports him as he is now weakened from blood loss. Ashton was then hospitalized and he was in a stable condition at the intensive care unit as the doctor informs both the player and Gabriel who visited her that they need to repair the damaged organs during operation to remove the bullet from his thorax, much to her horrible shock.

In Chapter 10, Ashton later awakens from his comatose state and recovers from his injuries and he was seen with Gabriel to be reunited with the player. Later as the player visits them at Gabriel's apartment, they were held at gun point by Aleksei Votiakov who reveals himself being one of the members of the Russian mafia group, The Bratva, and he frequently targets the player. Ashton tries to protect the player after Gabriel was knocked down, Aleksei berates him about his survival from getting shot. With no other choice, Ashton was shot again by Aleksei and to the player's horror which leads to her being kidnapped.

In the final chapter of the story after Jake and the American special forces subdued and neutralized Aleksei and his group of militia to rescue the player, Ashton shows his jealous side when Gabriel had talked to the player on his phone. It was revealed that Ashton wanted to surprise her as well as turn down Ryan's promotional offer as the director of the Legal Services because of his feelings towards the player. As the player finally resigns from her post as the CFO and Ryan accepts her resignation, she visits Ashton one final time while rejecting his romantic advances. The player tells Ashton that he needs to accept that promotion and because it was a dream of a lifetime but Ashton refuses the promotion offer because of his feelings for her. Learning that she is already with Jake, Ashton shows his violent outbursts by violently throwing a glass which was broken into pieces and the player noticed how hurt he was when he left heartbroken and dropped a small box containing an engagement ring. The player realizes that Ashton wanted to propose her to rekindle their former relationship but she had already made up her mind. Ashton left with no choice but to keep this ring as a memento to her and decided to continue working. The player was hurt too in hurting him but them she decided to move on with a brand new hope of continuing her relationship with Jake

In the bad ending however, it is the opposite of the good ending where Ashton gladly accepts Ryan's promotion as him becoming the director of Legal Services and the player was fired as the CFO and her relationship with Jake becomes a tail-ended relationship as she ignores all of his messages during their dinner night. Following the player's break up with Jake to end their tail-end relationship due to his focus on his missions with Carrie Kang as a government agent (since their mission have failed due to the serial killer remains at large), he made a promotional party with the player at the restaurant who is now the art gallery director at MET. While Gabriel was arriving late to see them due to his phone had left in the limousine, both the player and Ashton finally rekindled their former relationship and he surprisingly proposes to the player asking her to marry him by giving her an engagement ring which she accepts. He then embraces her in a spinning fashion and gives her a romantic kiss before blacking out.

## Season 3 (Ryan's Route)

In Ryan's final season which takes place three years after season two, it is seen that Ashton was in indeed in a relationship with the player but they still ended up breaking up each other as it was mentioned by Cassidy Sparke who felt sad for Ashton in this route, and his ex-girlfriend remains single and is not in a relationship with Jake. In Chapter 6, Derrick named Ashton as one of the potential suspects behind Ryan's accident given that he too would profit a lot from Ryan's downfall.

## Season 1 (Giorgio's Route)

In Giorgio's mini-series, Ashton was the one assisting his best friend the player in secret whenever she takes undercover working as one of Giorgio's loyal associates. It was revealed that his friend the player who also graduates from Harvard and once worked as a prosecutor who deals major criminal cases such as Giorgio Maccini's case. But as a result of the court cases went backfired, she was fired by the law firm she had recently worked. Ashton maintains his connection to the player whenever she currently takes undercover to uncover all of Giorgio's crimes and decided to help her in secret knowing that he would get involved.

## Allies

* The Main Character (Jake)
* The Main Character (Giorgio)
* Jake Stewart
* Ryan Carter
* Matt Ortega
* Lisa Parker
* Colin Spencer
* Mark Leviels

## Enemies

* Cassidy Sparke
* The Bratva
* Aleksei Votiakov

## Trivia

* He is the second ex-boyfriend of the player to appear on screen, the first one being Samuel.
	+ However, he is the first one to have broken up with the player on screen during a story route.
	+ Which also makes him the first love interest to be an ex-boyfriend,
* He bares a physical resemblance to Loan Huxley, Gabriel Simons and Julian Devolt.
	+ His pose was later shared by Julian Devolt as well.
* His surname Darrow is sounded similar to the surname of the late Canadian voice actor, Kirby Morrow.
	+ His surname is also shared from American voice actress, Jessica Darrow who voices Luisa Madrigal in Disney's *Encanto*.
* His appearance is based on WWE Superstar and former AEW Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and occasional wrestler Cody Garrett Runnels better known as Cody Rhodes.
	+ Both men share their blond hair color and hairstyle. In Cody's case, he dyed his brown hair to blond following his departure from WWE. However on his return to AEW during his feud with the late Jon Huber (formerly known as Luke Harper in WWE and Broadie Lee in AEW), Cody's dyed blond hair is now dyed into black resembling his previous appearance in WWE. He later returns with his dyed blond hair upon reuniting with WWE Hall of Famer, Steve Borden better known as Sting who currently signed in AEW following his assistance to the AEW TNT champion Darby Allin. He remains in his dyed blond hair when he returns to WWE.
	+ Ashton's formal suit resembles Cody's corporate business suit during his WWE days in the formation of Team Rhodes Scholars being partnered with Damian Sandow until their disbandment as well as their respective feud with each other. He later wears his corporate business suit, during his tenure in AEW as his casual attire and later in WWE.
	+ His shirtless appearance also bears a physical resemblance to Cody and the only differences between the two men are their weight. Ashton's build is somewhat slender and lean while Cody has a little heavy build.
	+ His temper and seriousness also resembles Cody when he fights in the wrestling ring as well as having feuds with the other wrestlers.
	+ In the bad ending when he rekindles his former relationship with the player for another chance, referencing the current relationship between Cody and his current wife, Brandi Alexis Runnels (nee Reed) better known as Eden Stiles in WWE and Brandi Rhodes in AEW where she serves as the Chief Brand Officer and the host of her own cocktail and cooking show, *Shots of Brandi*. However when Ashton proposes the player to marriage and becoming her future husband at the end of the scene, they make a clear reference to both Cody and Brandi when they get married in September 2013.
* His first name is a reference to the character Ashton Anchors from the game, *Star Ocean: The Second Story* and it's remake *Second Evolution* and *Star Ocean: Blue Sphere*.
* He was the second lawyer to appear in the series. The first being Chuck Stanford.
* Ashton was the second character to wear a tuxedo.
* Ashton is one of the few characters to suffer a life threatening injury in the Is it Love? series.
	+ He was also the first person to have his life be consecutively endangered two times in a story route.
* Ashton is suspected by some fans to be a bipolar individual due to his behavior towards the player.
	+ In the final chapter of the story, Ashton displays his actions as a bipolar when his romantic advances were frequently rejected by the player after learning that she is already with Jake.
* In the Carter Corp Universe, he has appeared in the least amount of story routes compared to other love interests, only being in one, while others have appeared in at least two or more.
* It can be possible that Ashton actually filed the contract of Ryan's company stating that the company would go to Mark if something happens to Ryan if his son isn't old enough to run the company.
* Ashton's role in Ryan's route follows the same plot, he broke up with the player but in this route she is not in relationship with Jake given that he's in a current relationship with Jenny Blake. Ashton has been referred to in the final season of Ryan but he's yet to make an appearance in his route.
* Earlier some fans speculated that he would appear in the route as a defense attorney given if Carter Corp was going to face legal problems.
* Ashton has been received well by fans but his unusual behavior with the player made everyone dislike him.
* He's actually one of the few second love interest who is nice to the main love interest and never got into arguments with them, or get into a competition with the main love interest to woo the player either. This kind of sportsmanship is seen in Esteban Dias as well.
* Ashton is hinted to get his own route soon thanks to the mini-series from Is it Love? Stories.
	+ It can be assumed that his story would focus on him running his law office rather than working at Carter Corp.
* Ashton's behavior and his dress sense resembles Phoenix Wright (age:34) and they both served us defense attorneys.
* It is possible that Sonia may become his main character for his upcoming mini series given she's the second closest woman to him and she does understand well and has a crush on him. If so, then this will be the same scenario like both Elena and Conrad's head start relationship trope.
* He's the only Carter Corp Love interest along with Adam Peterson and Owen Hobbad who have never appeared in any of mini series.
* He's the least featured main second love interest in all Is it Love? format along with Sohan Héka. Both appear only in one route which is a long runner. Liang Shaw can be considered as a second love interest in the mini-series but he's been introduced last year, unlike both of them who have been around more than two years.
* It is 100% confirmed his route would make Jake's good ending, canon because the player from Jake's route was his very first girlfriend and love and given Is it Love? has never repeated a same player for a different love interest.
* It is possible after Giorgio Maccini or Owen he will get a story route but team has kinda been lazy to give Ashton a route.
* Ashton's relationship with the player from Jake's route marks the first time where the alternative ending of a route had a connection to another route. It was mentioned by Cassidy Sparke in Ryan Carter's story route that that Ashton became single after the player broke up with him. The difference is that Ashton was engaged to player in his ending but in Ryan season 3, they have a more strained relationship as compared to what was seen in Jake's season 1.
* He is the only second love interest that will end up engaged to the main character in the bad ending.
	+ He however, had a head start due to his relationship with the player prior to the story's events.
* He is supposedly going to get his own mini-series one day.
	+ This theory has been debunked as the Is-it Love? series came to an end before he could receive one.