Chapter 9 The Mu Family

After dinner, Ashley received a call from the Mu family and she was asked to come over to the family house tomorrow.

Ashley had moved out of the family house when she started college. She only ever came back when something happened in the family.

She smiled coldly when she spoke on the phone. She was shocked that Peggy had the nerve to call her after what she had done to her and acted like nothing had happened.

"Ashley, did you hear me? Come to the family house tomorrow. Answer me!" Peggy shouted angrily on the other end of the line because she had no response from Ashley, even though she had been talking for quite a while.

Peggy thought Ashley was so defiant.

She had planned to give Ashley to Michael Du as a gift earlier. But she didn't expect that Ashley would run away. As a result, they had lost a lucrative business deal. Peggy decided to teach Ashley a lesson when she came back home.

"Yes, I heard you," Ashley replied indifferently.

Ashley's reaction irritated Peggy and so she cursed her on the phone before she finally hung up on her.

When Ellie saw Ashley hang up the phone she gave her a worried look. "What's the matter? Why do they want you to come back home?"

Ellie had reason to worry. Every time her family called her to visit, there was always some sort of trouble for Ashley, afterward.

"Nothing serious. They just want me to visit. That's all," Ashley reassured her because she could see the worried expression on her face.

At least she was not alone with Ellie by her side.

"Do you need me to go there with you?"

Ellie knew that she looked tough on the outside, but felt deeply vulnerable inside. She was afraid that Ashley would be bullied by her family, especially Lena. She never got along with Ashley since she was a child and always tried to take everything from her.

What was more, Lena tended to play the victim in front of other people to get compassion.

"No, It's okay. I won't let them bully me." She knew what Ellie was worried about and didn't want to get her involved in this mess.

"All right." Since Ashley had already made up her mind to go on her own, Ellie decided to listen to her.

Then she spent a long time telling Ashley to take care of herself in case she was treated unfairly by her family members.

—

The next morning Ashley packed and prepared herself to go to her family's house.

The Mu family had its influence in the J city where they lived. Spencer, who was Ashley's foster father, was the president of the Mu Group and Lena was his daughter. She often flaunted her luxury items in front of Ashley.

However, compared to the real notable families, the Mu family paled into insignificance.

The villa where the Mu family resided was located in the Splendor Gardens. The land there was very expensive. The Mu family had been excited for a long time after they had bought a villa there. Ashley still remembered how long Lena had bragged about it in her class.

Ashley took her time and chose to take a bus which took her to a neighborhood close by the Splendor Gardens. People who lived there were rich and powerful, so they all had private cars and buses were rarely ever seen.

Ashley got off at the closest bus stop and walked the rest of the way to the villa.

It took her more than half an hour to walk from the bus stop to the Mu family villa. As she walked there, she enjoyed the beautiful flowers and trees along the way.

She was in no rush to arrive, because every time she went to the family house, nothing good ever happened to her.

At least, she could enjoy the pleasant scenery on the way, if not anything else.

When Ashley was near the villa, a car sped past her, blowing a gust of wind and dust around forcing her to close her eyes. Ashley thought that it was lucky it hadn't rained yesterday, otherwise, she would have been covered in water from the puddles, judging by the speed that car was traveling at.

Ashley slowly opened her eyes when the gust of wind died down. And there, staring at her was Lena's sweet face, and she looked a little surprised.

Ashley swore under her breath, thinking how ironic it was to run into Lena this way. Ashley was completely shocked.

"Ashley?" Lena pretended as if she had just noticed her. She opened the car door and got out, then walked happily toward her.

"Ashley, fancy running into you here. I wasn't sure that it was you." Lena held her hand warmly then turned to Raymond who was sitting in the driver's seat and said,"Raymond, it's Ashley. Let's give her a ride."

Raymond saw Ashley and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He pressed his lips together tightly and hummed a yes.

"Good, Ashley, let's go home together." Lena clasped Ashley's hand and pulled her towards the car.

But there was no way known that Ashley was going to get into Lena's car.

Ashley pulled her hand out of her grip and forced a smile on her face. "Don't bother. I'm almost there anyway. I'd like to walk home, I like walking."

Ashley would by no means go together with Lena. She was afraid that Lena would set a trap for her on the way home. She was in no mood to deal with her right now.

But Lena acted hurt and pretended to be sad with tears in her eyes and said,"Ashley, are you still mad at me? I'm sorry, but Raymond and I really love each other."

Lena made it sound as if Ashley was the third wheel when in actual fact, it was Lena who was. Ashley sighed inside.

She made a distance between Lena and herself, in case Lena fell over and blamed Ashley for it. Then she said,"You're just over thinking it. I broke up with him a long time ago." Ashley couldn't care less about what either Lena or Raymond thought as long as they didn't involve her. They were of no interest to her.

"I've got to go." Ashley bypassed Lena and walked to the other side.

Raymond got out of the car at that moment and Ashley walked right past him. He watched her leave and said nothing.

"Raymond." Lena flung herself into his arms with a sad expression the moment she saw him.

"Ashley hasn't forgiven us, am I right?" Lena raised her head and looked at Raymond with crocodile tears in her eyes, her expression looking so pained.

But only Lena knew how disappointed she was for not getting the reaction she was hoping for from Ashley. She had expected that Ashley would be very upset at seeing them together.

She thought, 'Ashley, I know you like Raymond. But he doesn't belong to you anymore. He's mine now!'

"There's no chance. So don't think too much." Raymond gently wiped away the tears on Lena's face.

"Let's go." He knew that Ashley didn't care about him and wasn't in love with him anymore.