Ashley Kimberly- HE is the Woman

Chapter 14 : I am the wife!?

Ashley hurried to the hospital after she received Uncle's call. She took a long breath before opening the door of the room.

Ashley's head bumped with someone's head as she opened the door and her purse fell on the ground.
Ashley looked up to find the woman she hasn't seen over a decade. Her biological mother.

Ashley's biological father is Uncle's half brother. Of course they had to come to see Uncle.

The woman noticed Ashley Kimberly, her son's- driving license, credit card and identity card while she picked up the purse for Ashley- the woman.

"Why do you have Ashley's license and credit cards? James said he is out of the state then why do YOU have his...".

"Because she is Ashley's wife!Ashley Kimberly's wife Ashley bennett!", answered a voice from Ashley's back. Ashley turned back to find Abbie.

Ashley's mother took few moments to absorb it.

"Oh..I didn't know since I wasn't invited", said the woman with disappointment, " But it's nice to meet you,Bennett . Since you have the same name as my son's I shall call you by your second name".

"Ashley is not your son. Not after you abandoned him", said Ashley coldly.

The woman stared at Ashley for a while before moving her eyes towards Abbie.

"Abbie, dear, keep my and my husband's belongings in the apartment. We will stay here for a while. My husband is downstairs in the lobby".

Uncle asked everyone to leave the room to Ashley and him.

"Son, you need to behave yourself while your parents are here. They will stay with us for few days".

"You are my parent! They abandoned me!".

"Your biological father is my half brother and I am his family. He gave me you , my son. For my sake promise to behave yourself."

"Fine".

   At dinner  Ashley's mother cooked for everyone. Ashley's father sat silently with his furrowed brows, studying Ashley closely.

Ashley stomped to the kitchen to cook her own dinner.

"Bennett I cooked for everyone ."

"Thank you Ma'am but i'll cook my own dinner".

"Is it a way to talk to your mother- in -law!?".

"Sorry? Can you come again?. You abandoned your son and after that very moment  it was over. Ann, Abbie and Dad-the one who raised him , are his family. I won't let my husband go through that emotional pain again".

"Don't you dare to interfere in my personal matters. You better behave yourself or I'll have to talk to James".

The silent war between Ashley and her mother continued. There fierce eye contact continued till they finally went to their respective bedrooms.

Next morning Abbie came to wake up Ashley.

"What kind of woman still needs someone else to wake her up", taunted Ashley's mother at breakfast.

"Kind of woman your abandoned son loves. Oops not your son anymore", fired back Ashley.

Heat rose to Ashley's mother's cheeks. She was infuriated by Ashley's behaviour.

At work, Richard took care of Ashley. He could see Ashley, absorbed in her thoughts, oblivious of her surrounding.
All Richard could do was to remind her that he has her back. Richard's words were enough to soothe Ashley's restless soul.

Ashley bored bitter feelings of resentment toward her mother and father. She barely spoke to her father. And every time she came across her mother, they taunted and argued with each other. To an outsider, it might seem like a typical desi war between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law but little does anyone know it's an abandoned son being rebellious.

After working over time, Ashley returned to her home. It was quarter after 1 am already.

Ashley found her mother drinking wine directly from the bottle, in her room. Her mother stared at Ashley Kimberly's photos on the wall as she drank her wine.

"Oh Bennett you are home! shhh.. don't tell my husband I drank", said Ashley's mother when she noticed Ashley standing at the door.

"Go to your room. I want to sleep".

"Shh.. let me to tell some secrets tonight. My heart aches , I want to let out this pain".

Ashley's mother forcefully laid her head on Ashley's lap and continued with her story, " I know you hate me too. Because of what I did to my son you had to hate me too. But we had no other option. We had a lot of debts and loan sharks threatened us if we don't pay them back in due time they will take out Ashley's organs and sell them. We were afraid. That's when my husband and I got to know James had no son and his wife passed away as soon as she gave birth to Ann. James gave us a hefty amount of money and every year he sends us some money to make sure we don't starve to death. James called us, wrote to us and even visited us so that we come and meet Ashley but we knew meeting him would make things harder. We were so grateful to James that we didn't want to come between him and Ashley. Meeting us again would have made Ashley want to come back to us and that would have been unfair to James. But all these years, only my husband and I know how hard it has been staying away from our son". Tears rolled down from her eyes as she spoke her heart out.

Astonished Ashley couldn't help but burst into tears. She has been resenting her parents all along when their hands were tied. They had no other option.
Ashley patted her mother's head till she eventually fell asleep.

Ashley no longer felt abandoned. She realised once again how strong a woman is. Strong enough to give up on her own child to protect the child.

How ruthless I thought you are,
How could you sleep peacefully after sending me away ruthlessly,
How could you not come to see me or call me once and treat me coldly,
So all along I thought how ruthless you could be.
But little did I know mum you were secretly crying and missing me,
You use to starve yourself so that you could feed me .
I was 11 years old, old enough to fathom how much you love me yet you were successful to make me wonder how Ruthless you could be.