54. Double Trouble

Ashley was sitting on the sofa in the living room when her mother came in. The spot where she was sitting had its back to the corridor that connected the rest of the room to the main entrance, so when the woman walked in all she could see was Ashley's shoulder leaning against the sofa.

“Your mom came and you didn't even bother to greet her,” the woman walked over with a sharp sentence.

“I'm sorry, Mom,” Ashley tried to stand up as soon as possible.

But just as she was trying to lift herself up with her hands clinging to the sofa's arms to support her weight, her mother had already arrived in front of her.

“What happened to you?” The woman looked at the condition of Ashley's body that was filled with wet scratches and blue bruises around her. "It’s okay. No need to stand up." Her tone of voice was still sharp, but her originally annoyed expression became a little softer. She took a place on the single sofa that was quite far away from Ashley.

Meanwhile, Ashley, after hearing her mother's instructions, sat back down and immediately fixed her position despite the difficulty. She endured the pain as much as she could and kept her face calm without showing too much expression of pain, because she was afraid that it would annoy her mother even more.

Because right now she understood very well why her mother had come in with a face that was bent sourly like that. She must have felt Ashley had lied to her by saying she was home alone while Josh went out. It was enough to ruin her mother's mood as Ashley seemed to ruin her plans on purpose.

“I fell yesterday, while dodging a car,” Ashley answered after managing to sit back comfortably.

"Fell? Why? What happened?" Josh's mom who followed behind chimed in after hearing Ashley speak.

Ashley suddenly looked back in surprise at the sound of her mother-in-law's voice.

"Mom? I didn't know you were coming too—" Ashley said quietly while glancing at Josh who was walking behind her.

Josh caught Ashley's gaze at him, then shook his head very faintly. Giving an answer that he himself also didn't understand what exactly happened and what kind of situation this was.

Josh's mother turned around to go to Ashley and check on her condition. She sat next to Ashley as she stared at her with wide eyes. As if she was witnessing a horror when she saw the wounds that adorned the girl's body, she couldn't utter a single word. Her mouth gaped, her forehead furrowed, and her head repeatedly shook in disbelief at the condition of her daughter-in-law's skin.

Ashley probably didn't realize what Josh's mother was thinking at that moment. She even thought that the woman was shocked and sad for her. But Ashley's mother, who has a sharper and more complex logic, felt that she could translate the uncomfortable gesture shown blatantly by her in-laws.

"It's actually quite a long story. But what is clear is that I fell by myself to avoid a car. The car didn't hit me at all."

"The owner of the car has taken responsibility, right? Should we sue him?" Josh's mother spoke artificially like she was upset.

"I don't think there's any need for that, Mom. It's all done well anyway."

“But you're okay?” Josh's mother swept her gaze over her youngest son in astonishment.

“What am I supposed to do?” Josh asked innocently not understanding where his mother was going with this.

“You're not hurt at all,” Josh's mother replied, “How did it happen?” she looked at Josh and Ashley in turn for an explanation.

“Ngg,” Ashley was forced to volunteer to explain everything, "Josh wasn't with me yesterday. I... went alone," Ashley spoke as she racked her brain quickly to come up with an excuse that wouldn't make Josh's mom or her mom suspicious of why Ashley went alone. "I wanted to go get a snack at the convenience store near the big road ahead. It was very close... so I didn't take Josh with me."

Ashley's mom was seen narrowing her eyes in silence, while Josh's mom immediately sighed and said “Oh my Goodness... oh my Goodness” repeatedly.

“I'm sorry,” Josh said, "I shouldn't have let her go alone. I feel so sorry."

“Even though you didn't get hit, it still turned out this way,” Josh's mother swept Ashley's injuries again from top to bottom with a judgmental gaze. “You should still be held accountable.”

"There's no need to make a scene or expose everything. If it can be settled quietly, it will be better for all of our reputations. There's no need to make a big deal out of something that can be made small," Ashley’s mother stepped into the debate and ended it with a unanimous decision.

“Yes, there's no need, Mom,” Ashley corroborated Josh and her mother's statements to dissuade Josh's mother. "It's my fault for being careless. I crossed the road in a hurry and didn't realize the lights were back on. So I fell down. Besides, the owner of the car—" Ashley suddenly stopped her sentence.

She thought for a moment whether she should mention Jason's name or not. She hadn't even gotten around to telling Josh that the people involved in yesterday's incident with her were Jason and an old woman who had been mugged. If she told all of that right now, to everyone here, it might cause her even more trouble. She didn't know what Josh might think after knowing that Jason was with her yesterday but didn't show his face at all. And the old woman she helped might get into trouble considering how her mother and Josh's mother acted.

If she told them the whole chronology honestly, then calming down and conducive the situation between the three people in front of her, it would be very troublesome for her. Moreover, Josh's mother now seemed eager to teach a lesson to the car owner who turned out to be her eldest son. Ashley couldn't bear to imagine Josh's mother's reaction if she found out about it. She also wasn't that crazy about embarrassing her mother-in-law.

“Why?”

“Why?”

Josh and Josh's mother asked almost simultaneously because Ashley was silent for quite a while.

Ashley blinked, "The owner of the car is very kind. Even though it wasn't his fault, he helped me get to the hospital yesterday. He even drove me home safely. So everything is taken care of."

And she wasn't lying. Ashley did tell the truth, just in a shorter version.

"That's all right. Now your body must be hurting all over," Josh's mom frowned as she pointed at the widest wound and the bluest bruise.

"Yeah. But I've been taking the medicine regularly, so it's not too painful."

“But still, these wounds—” Josh's mother wanted to continue her sentence—to express how much she was troubled by the unpleasant appearance of Ashley's skin—but she was unsure of the good words to say.

"You should have told me about this when I called. Why not speak frankly?" Ashley's mother deliberately interrupted.

“I just didn't want to worry you,” Ashley answered briefly. A statement that sounded reasonable for others to digest, although the real reason she didn't say it was because she couldn't bear to hear her mother scolding her twice. Because if she had answered right away when they were talking on the phone, her mother would have scolded her at length right then and continued again when they met in person. So it would be better to tell her now, so that the anger she received would only be once.

"I see... But you should be more careful. You've only been married a few days, but look at your skin, my Goodness..." Josh's mother shuddered.