Ashley Greene

Packing her bags upstairs, Sue hears a knock on her door. She hesitates before answering.

"Come in." She says almost inaudibly

Sharon comes in with a glass of some green liquid. Distrusting, she doesn't take the glass from her. "What do you want? For me to cover for your daughter again?"

"Drink this. It'll rejuvenate your strength from all the hard work."

Sue eyes the glass suspiciously and takes it from her finally. She raises the cup to her lips and take a sip. It tastes funny. She returns the glass cup to Sharon.

Sharon smiles slyly. "You know, I was willing to keep you being my daughter until I had to. You've gone ahead and forced me to show my true colours to you."

Confused, Sue raises one eyebrow.

"Oh. You don't understand? Anyway, by the time you wake up, you'll be married to Harry Mason. It only takes very little of that drink to make you pass out."

Sue looks angry and betrayed.

Suddenly, Sue spits out the green liquid from her mouth. She spits it out completely, grabs a bottle of water from her bedside table, uses it to rinse her mouth and poured it into the glass cup Sharon is holding.

Sharon only looks on, confused and surprised.

"Well, I didn't drink it. Ever since I found out you betrayed me, you were not my mother anymore. Those words about being my mother, no thanks. No mother would force her daughter to do this unforgivable act." Sue spits out at Sharon with unheld hatred.

Sue grabs the little she packed out of all her things. "I took only the things I bought with my own money."

She slams the door behind her, leaving Sharon inside the room to swallow her bitter words.

Alexa is standing downstairs, pacing.

As soon as she sees Sue, she's surprised. "Why are you here? Where's Mum?"

Behind her, sat James with his eyes trained on Sue as well.

"She's upstairs. You can find her there."

"You ungrateful child. After taking care of you for fifteen years, you turn around and betray us when we need you the most."

"Shut up!" Sue retorts back at James.

Alexa takes a step back. James looks like he's been hit.

"For fifteen years, I slaved away for you. You fed me and told care of my education for fifteen years. Yes. But for one night, I gave out my lifelong possession. The only thing that belonged to only me. And the basis turned out to be a lie. You broke those fifteen years and I paid for it as well. We're no longer family. I'll remain a Greene but my Greene is cleaner than yours.!" Sue yells and leaves the house.

Leaving them all shell shocked and unable to comprehend what just happened in front of them.

With the little savings Sue had, she went abroad, unable to think of how to cope in the same land where she was betrayed. And slept with by a man she didn't know. The shame and self pity was too much so she left and finished her studies abroad.

A few weeks later, Sue notices that she doesn't feel well in the mornings, throws up a lot and is nauseated easily.

And worst of all, her period did not appear.

Fearful and apprehensive, she goes to the hospital where she's declared five weeks pregnant. Sue is sad, angry, hurt and scared all at the same time.

She couldn't afford to be a single mother at such a young age. At age nineteen. She's to be a mum and by her early twenties, she'd have her first child.

She passively considers getting an abortion but Sue is too sensitive and feeling that an abortion feels like she will be murdering a grown up like a family.

So, Sue kept the pregnancy and held off getting a job during her pregnancy and only worked day shifts at convinience stores and shopping malls. The little she earned was enough to get by on her own.

Nine months later, Sue gave birth to a beautiful baby girl she named Ashley. Ashley Greene.

Ashley had chestnut blond hair. The same hair colour with the man she slept with that night. Sue smiled sadly when she saw the resemblance the little girl had with that unknown man.

After a while, Sue, at her mid twenties, Ashley, seven months old at the time, got an internship at a fashion brand company.

Divas Beauty Fashion.

A big fashion brand company that everyone wanted to get into. Sue was well known for her beauty and brains. It was almost like she was made for fashion.

Even after having a baby, Sue maintained her perfect figure and looked beautiful as a model and a fashion designed. After a year, Sue is ready for her own company.

At 21, Sue opens her own fashion brand company. She named it Ash's Glam House. Choosing to remain on a low key, she only ever worked at home so she will have time for her baby, Ashley.

Most times, Ashley and Sue went out together to play dates and amusement parks. Although Ashley was still a year and few months old, she was already saying with a few words and waddled from room to room. Ashley was so cute with her short blonde hair which was always messy when she played.

Sue on the other hand, still looked pretty much the same. Petite, looks of a teenager and still had the body and didn't seem in any way like a single mother but she could never hide from reality.

She was just happy to be able to provide and live comfortably with Ashley.

One morning, after bathing for Ashley so she can drop her off at daycare before heading to work to work on some new fabric that came in.

"Mama..."

"Yes darling?" Sue replies from behind the wheels

"Mama..."

Sue laughs at her daughter as she tries to say something but failed and it ended up in gibberish.

"Mama will pick you up soon hm? Just play with your friends and have fun."

Not like Ashley understood everything she said but she totally understood the word play as she clapped her hands excited.

Sue smiled affectionately and is happy she never surrendered to the depressing thought of aborting her baby back then as she won't have this bundle of joy now.

She drops Ashley off who was waving till she went out of sight. She drove off to her workstation in the company.

"Welcome ma'am."

"Thanks Tara. Take me to where the fabrics are."

"Sure. This way." Tara leads the way and they enter a dimly lit room and they turn up the light.

There are clothing materials of different colours and materials there, all looking unique in their little way.

"What's that over there?"

"Oh, it's a small mannequin. Raya started a cloth fitting on it and stopped."

"Why did she stop?"

"She felt like it was only a waste of clothing materials."

Hm. Sue nods slowly.

"Bring it out and put it in my office. I'll see what I can do about it."

"Okay ma'am."

"Also, I have the sketches for the collection. This is our first fashion show. We can't mess it up. Its in the car, pick it up and when you do, do little models of each dress by this afternoon and send it to me inside the office. It isn't a lot of work."

Tara nods as she took note of all the instructions.

She leaves the room and heads to the office.

Soon after, a man comes in, carrying the small mannequin Sue had requested.

"Hi Fred. How're you?"

He ruffles his hair, nervous. "I'm fine. How're you? And Ash?"

"I'm fine and she's fine as well. I dropped her off at daycare before coming if not, I won't get any work done today." Sue jokes and Fred joins in the laughter.

"Uhm... Tara said you'd requested the mannequin. Here it is."

"Thanks." Sue replies with a little wave of her hand.

Fred stands for another second, seeming like he has something to say to Sue but reconsiders and leaves instead.

Sue stands up after a while and goes towards the mannequin. Draped on it is a flowery patterned cloth with large flays at the bottom.

Sue walks around it for a little while, inserting and removing little pins from time to time. After a while, she removes it and goes towards a sowing machine at the corner of the room. She works silently for a while, alone in the room.

Tara comes in after some time and drops the little cloth models on Sue's desk and sees her sowing at the corner. She does not disturb her and leaves silently.

Outside, Tara sighs heavily.

"What's wrong?" Raya, another employee asks from across the room

"She's busy."

"That's why you sighed?"

"I was just wondering why bad things happen to good people. She's so nice and kind, even has such a cute baby but no husband. Its just sad."

"Hush. Don't say that. What if she led a promiscuous life and all of this is just a facade?"

"Why would you say something so disgusting?"

"Duh. Continue to kid yourself. I can tell she's just pretending. Nobody this young has a child who's past a year old without having a promiscuous past. Or do you think her story is like Jane? The IVF story girl." Raya replies snidely and continues her work.

Tara is speechless and just leaves the room, with doubts in her mind about her seemingly perfect boss.