Chapter 23 Warning

"Aaaaahh!" Ashley jerked up from the bed, screaming her lungs out.

Beads of perspiration shone on her forehead and her saucer-like eyes were full of panicky terror.

Rattled, she glanced around to ascertain her surroundings. When the familiar sight of her bedroom greeted her, she sank back into her pillows and heaved a stunned sigh of relief.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to collect herself, and when she opened them again, she stared at the ceiling, her shock still rampant in her mind.

Never in her wildest imagination had she thought that she would dream of making love to a stranger. That excruciating post-coital pain still made her insides throb.

'That man was horrible!' she thought shakily. The very memory of him made her tremble with fear.

...

Not until she heard Ellie's muffled voice call out her name from the other side of her bedroom door did she snap out of her daze. The alarm on the bedside table told her that it was 8: 30 - just half an hour before she had to go to work.

Although she had made up her mind to quit her job, she was still an employee in the Luo Group and she didn't want to be late for work.

Ashley yelled a quick assurance to Ellie that she would be ready soon and hurried to the bathroom.

It only took her five minutes to fix herself up.

"What happened? Why'd you wake up so late?" Ellie asked, frowning as she took in Ashley's sleepy-eyed appearance.

Ashley gulped nervously.

'Should I tell her the truth? It's kind of hard to tell anyone about the dream, ' she thought.

"Nothing," she said, deciding to keep the experience to herself. "I had a nightmare last night. Kind of made it difficult to sleep at night, so ended up oversleeping in the morning."

Ellie studied her for a moment before handing Ashley her breakfast and sighing. She said, "Let's go or we will be late."

Ashley gratefully took the food and bit into it as she followed Ellie out of the house.

It was 9 am when they arrived at the office.

They sensed that something was different. Pausing a moment to quizzically look around, they raised their eyebrows and glanced at each other.

Shrugging, they made their way inside, only to be greeted by the sight of an elegantly dressed lady walking towards Lena.

Graceful and elegant, she looked like a woman in her thirties, not like the forties woman that she actually was.

She took Lena by the hand and said amiably, "You can come to my house anytime you want. If you have any problems in the company, you can tell me. Don't suffer alone. If your mother hadn't told me what had happened to you, I wouldn't have known that you've been having such a difficult time." Her fondness for Lena was evident in the way she stroked her hair.

Ashley felt that the Lena that she was seeing now was a completely different person altogether. The Lena she knew was unreasonable and arrogant. But the Lena before her was putting up a show of being a timid girl. "I will, Auntie. I will come over to you whenever I have the time. I only hope you will not find me clingy," she said innocently.

"How could I, dear? I would be overjoyed if you could keep me company," the lady responded, flashing Lena a warm smile.

She glanced at the employees who were standing around them, frozen to their places, and turned to Lena. "If anyone gossips like this, you can fire them directly without asking for my or Raymond's permission," she said, the sternness a whip to everyone listening but Lena.

The words were intended for Ashley, she knew it. And this was confirmed when she saw the lady throw her a meaningful glare.

"Well, I've got to go. You can go back to your work."

"Okay, Auntie. I will walk you to the exit." Lena held the lady's arm intimately and they headed towards the entrance.

When they walked past Ashley, the older lady cast her a contemptuous glance and let out a low yet audible snort.

And the repulsive, scornful look on her face was evident.

The repulsion and scorn on the old lady's face ensured that the crowd's outlook towards Ashley had changed a little. But they had heard the warning and nobody wanted to be chucked out. So t

hey held the gossip within themselves, not daring to voice their thoughts.

No one dared to blurt out their own thoughts, because doing that could mean losing their jobs.

Even an idiot could tell the difference in the older lady's attitudes towards the two girls. It was evident that the elegant lady favored Lena and despised Ashley.

The onlookers scattered, everyone going back to work, but not before throwing Ashley strange looks.

Ashley stood still, seething from within.

'She still looks down upon me.

Still so arrogant, ' she thought.

Ashley stared at the retreating backs of the older lady and Lena, her eyes devoid of any emotion. Her rage was within and she wasn't about to show it.

Ashley knew that elegant lady all too well.

She was Raymond's mother.

When Ashley and Raymond had been together, she had detested Ashley with a passion because she thought that Ashley wasn't good enough for Raymond. So she often came up to Ashley and tried all means to make her leave her son, including offering her a big sum of money.

The sight of the lady brought back all the memories of the scorn and repulsion that Ashley had borne the brunt of.

When Ashley had dated Raymond back then, the lady had directed a lot of dismissive, harsh words towards her, making Ashley feel like a powerless nobody.

It felt like Ashley was an ant and Raymond's mother was an elephant, holding the immense power to walk all over Ashley and insult her as she liked.

Ashley had no idea how she had had the courage to be with Raymond while facing his mother's strong opposition.

Perhaps she had considered Raymond the love of her life and couldn't bear the thought of leaving him at the time.

...

"Are you okay, Ashley?" Ellie asked, looking worriedly at her.

Ellie knew everything about Raymond's mother and how she had treated her best friend. It was one of the many reasons why she was so worried about Ashley.

"I'm fine, Ellie. I am over it. Don't worry!" Ashley reassured Ellie, a slight smile gracing her otherwise worried face.

'I have learnt something from Raymond's cheating. A lot, actually. Love is not everything. I really don't care if I don't have a boyfriend.

I should focus on earning money instead of wasting time and energy getting into a stupid relationship, ' she mused grimly.

"Hmm. Try not to think too much. Life goes on, you know," Ellie said, touching Ashley's head gently to comfort her.

That was the kind of supportive best friends they were to each other.

They were a constant presence in each other's lives, staying through the thick and thin, comforting and encouraging the other every time one of them faced a problem.

Once Ellie was sure that Ashley was alright, she headed straight to her department, relieved and slightly glad.

No sooner had Ashley settled into her seat than a low, familiar voice came calling her name. "Ashley! Ashley!"

She turned around to see a round-headed girl come into view.

"Ashley, you know what? I saw a creepy old witch today. And she was so nice to Miss Mu!"

Fiona whispered conspiratorially in Ashley's ear.

Now that the old lady had warned all the employees not to gossip in the company, Fiona had seemed to take it personally. Although Fiona was a foodie and a simple human being, she was afraid of that woman, especially because she noticed that all her companions feared her. Besides to be fair to Fiona, Raymond's mother did look rather serious.

Despite her fear, Fiona had still come to Ashley to share her thoughts.

Upon hearing Fiona's description of the woman, Ashley chuckled to herself. 'Fiona is so cute!

If Raymond ever came to know that his mother is regarded as an old witch, he might get extremely upset.

His mother isn't serious, but she does look scary when she wears her poker face or when she holds someone in high contempt, ' she thought.

"Ashley, I bet you saw that old witch too. Don't you think she is scary?"

Fiona asked, as if she could tell from Ashley's expression what had just happened.

"Yes. Yes, I saw her. She is scary, just like an old witch," Ashley whispered, mimicking Fiona's tone.