Ashley Elijah No More

The evening sun shone on the villa that was located halfway up the mountain. Through the huge French windows, the sunlight shone on the face of the woman in the house. A gentle breeze blew past, causing the wind chimes to tinkle.

Seemingly disturbed by the sound of the wind chimes, the woman on the bed frowned. Her eyelashes fluttered twice before she finally opened her eyes slowly, revealing a pair of glass-like eyes. However, there was a look of confusion in her gem-like orbs.

Everything felt like a dream.

Her eyes gleamed and she beamed upon such thought. Maybe, just maybe, what happened in that hospital was all a dream!

With this in mind, Ashley dashed to the familiar door when she glanced at the mirror she just walked past through.

Seemingly frozen, she looked at the mirror once more and gasped.

 The person in the mirror looked very disheveled… and young! Her hair was a mess and her makeup was smudged. The bright red lips were a huge shock to Ashley.

“What… in the world is happening?”

She remembered this time of her life!

It was when Scottie was still in kindergarten! He was four years old and she was twenty-four years old. What made her remember this year because this was the time when she decided to toss away her responsibility as a mother and focused herself on chasing her husband.

Whenever she heard about Jaxon meeting with an investor in a bar, she would go there and spy on him. At that time, Ashley had no time to worry about a kid when her husband alone was already a handful. Whenever she saw how her husband would smile at the waitress, she would confront the lady and make sure that she would know about his wife.

Thinking about it now, Ashley could only spit at herself.

Shaking her head, she traced her reflection of herself in the mirror. “Did God take pity on me?”

A lone tear escaped from her right eye. The thought of having her son back alone was something she could rejoice for her whole life.

Clasping her hands together, she closed her eyes and uttered a prayer. “God, if this is not a dream before you take my selfish ass to hell, then let me redeem myself and be the best mother to my son. That is only my desire in this world. I have no more intention of holding onto people. Thank you. I promise I will cherish this second chance of life. I will be Scottie’s best mother. Just You wait.”

With this new resolve, Diana took a shower. While wearing her bathrobe, she opened her walk-in closet. All of the clothes that welcomed her were old-fashioned ones. This was not her usual style, but upon hearing about Jaxon’s penchant for women who used clothes like his grandmother, Ashley foolishly changed her entire wardrobe.

“What a fool you have been, Ashley.” She wanted to pat her old self before slapping her foolish past self. “That man deliberately told me. All her ex-girlfriends did not use this kind of thing. My past self is only blindly in love with Jaxon Elijah.”

Shaking her head, Ashley opened the box which contained her favorite clothes that she deliberately hid before. She did not want to throw this so she hid it here. Who would have known she would be able to use it in her second life?

An elegant cream-colored dress that fell just below her knees and showed her arms and a part of her back was what she had chosen. She wore her favorite white doll shoes.

After dressing up, Ashley walked to her vanity mirror and sat. A look of disdain was reflected in her eyes as she scanned the bottles of perfumed. In reality, Ashley loved the smell of nature and flowers. But before her were the bottles of perfume with heavy scents that she ‘also’ heard that Jaxon liked to a woman.

Deciding not to wear any perfume and just rely on her rose flower gel, Ashley dropped all her dislikes to the bin while the clothes were on her bed.

Looking at herself on the mirror, Ashley sighed once more. “Look at you, Ashley. You are young, but you are wasting your youth chasing on a cruel man who will never love you even if you jump from a building in front of him.”

Her long hair, which she usually braided this time around, was let down to cascade freely. With her wavy brown hair, after drying it, it was naturally bouncy.

Settling with a simple cherry pink lipstick, Diana smiled at herself in the mirror.

“Farewell, Ashley Elijah. From now on, I will reclaim Ashley Connor’s aspiration and beloved son. You may rest in peace now, my poor past self. Starting today, I will no longer chase Jaxon Elijah.”

There was a raw determination beneath her youthful face.

It was at this moment that her phone rang. When she answered it, she was immediately bombarded with Dylan’s shrilling voice.

Despite that, tears swelled in her eyes once more.

‘I miss this.’ Ashley thought to herself.

On the other end of the phone, her manager, Dylan, was still talking non-stop, as if he had been suppressed too much in the past. Now, he finally had a chance to vent.

“Do you still want to be an actress?”

“Isn’t this your dream?”

“Getting married and publicly charging at your husband’s mistresses are not enough, now you want to ditch this contract?”

“What do you take me for?”

“Hey! Did you hear me!”

“Come over tomorrow. We’ll settle this then.” Ashley hung up the phone, and the world finally quieted down.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the line, Dylan froze. It was true that the voice on the other end of the line was Ashley, but why did he feel that something was wrong? Shouldn’t Ashley be cursing at him for disturbing her stalking frenzy with her husband? Why did she become so calm, and what was with that commanding tone?

“What time is it?”

Picking up her phone, she walked to the first floor where she found servants preparing a meal in the kitchen. When they heard her, they came out instantly. “Miss, dinner is almost ready.”

Ashley slightly raised her brows. She was used to this treatment. Everyone in the prestigious Elijah Family how desperate she was to be Jaxon’s wife, thus, they never called her ‘Madam’. If it hurt her before to the point that she would lash out at the employees, now, she merely shrugged it off.

 “Go and arrange a car. I’m going out.”

“Miss, where are you going?” Nanny Doris, who had been waiting on her for a long time, was thoroughly disgusted by Ashley’s words. She had just returned home after drinking so much last night, and now she was going out again after waking up. She did not like the way Ashley acted.

“I said, send a car.” Ashley slightly emphasized her words, which attracted Nanny Doris’s attention. Nanny Doris raised her head and was stunned when she saw Ashley.

The woman in front of her had worn a light cream silk dress, with her long wavy hair hanging loosely on her shoulders. The face that was always mistaken to be a face of a middle-aged woman was gone, making her look intelligent and refreshing like the lush mountains after the rain. And what made Nanny Doris most afraid to look straight at her was that pair of imposing eyes.

“Okay, I will have them arrange it now.” Before her brain could react, she had already subconsciously voiced her obedience.

The black car stopped in front of the door and the chauffeur opened the door for Ashley. “Miss, where are you going?”

“Woodhill Kindergarten.”

“Yes, Miss.” The chauffeur was not used to hearing her go to places other than his boss’ company.

 ‘What’s wrong with her today?’ He could only wonder at the back of his mind.