*Horn*
"Bi***! Go and die in front of some other car!"
That shriek was more than enough to bring Ashley back to the world.
A loud honk rang in the background as Ashley stood in the middle of the street, looking all confused and in a daze.
How come she did not even realise that she was walking in the middle of the street?
Looking around at the crowd that had gathered, Ashley muttered a low apology and pulled herself to the footpath. She must have gone crazy!
"Hey, are you all right?" A warm but wrinkled hand touched her forearm. Ashley looked down at the hand before gazing up at the owner of the hand.
It was an old lady. Her brows were furrowed in concern.
Was it a concern for her?
"You're panting!"
It was then that Ashley realised her heavy breaths.
"You don't look okay. Had it not been for the quick reflexes of the driver, god knows what could have happened!" The old lady sighed as she recounted the incident.
Ashley took a shivering breath in.
Even she did not know what was she doing!
She thanked the old lady for her concern before entering a side alley.
She was in the infamous downtown. The light in the sky had long faded and given rise to the evening filled with a chirpy and excited crowd.
Since Christmas Eve was just three days away, the entire place was lit up with fairy lights, making it all appear magical.
The lights reflecting from the decorated stores forced a realization upon her that she have been randomly walking for hours now.
It was late afternoon when she exited the Clark Industries and it was half past seven now. Ashley could not help but let out a tired sigh.
After coming out of the company, since she did not have any wish to go back to her apartment, Ashley ended up walking without any thought.
Turned out, a couple of hours had passed.
Kicking lightly the small pebble which ended up in the drainage, she looked ahead.
The prominent Square Street was just metres ahead of her, the street known for the expensive pubs and bars. It was the area just for the people who had a good bank balance.
The crossroads led to different streets made for people of different status. People like her could never imagine even taking a step on Square Street.
There had been countless times when she had passed by this street to go to the next one, First Avenue Street.
There had always been just some different vibrance about that place. Even her with nothing spectacular in her life cheered up every time she roamed there.
But today Ashley was feeling nothing.
Eventually her eyes moved up to the billboard and her breath hitched. There up was the face of the same man she met earlier today.
Michael Clark.
Her life was so different from him but now it was provided with the opportunity to merge with his.
To normal people, it would look nothing less than a fairytale but it made her feel nothing but a big joke.
From being left in front of the orphanage as a three-month-old to getting bullied in that orphanage all her life, it all looked like a joke to her now.
While he grew up in royalty. The Clark Family knew no one but the people of the highest class, they lived nothing but a life full of fame and extravagance.
There was not much age gap between her and the grandchildren of Jeremy Clark, the founder of Clark Industries.
He was the one who pulled the Clark Industries from under the soil to up in the sky with his intelligence and hard work!
Ashley had grown up seeing them in newspapers, news outlets, magazines, T.V., billboards, anywhere and everywhere she could have. They sought respect from the public.
Unlike other families who most often would ask for privacy, the Clarks were different.
Each and everything they did made it to the newspaper, even the smallest of the kitty parties Mrs Clark went to every month.
While Ashley had to start doing odd jobs since childhood, she had often learnt about the children of the Clark Family living a life of comfort.
When in the summer breaks, she went out early in the morning to earn money, they used to be on some private island vacationing.
When in the winter, she had to cope with the torn and worn-out clothes of others to not freeze to death, they had the fully-built house as a shelter and clothes made of finest of the materials to keep themselves cosy and warm.
They never had to worry about their tuition fees or the cost of new uniforms or books unlike her.
Even at a young age, she knew that she had to finish school and get into a good university to secure her future. That's what she was told by the people where she worked.
As a teen, Ashley got the opportunity to study in one of the best schools in the country.
It was all possible because that school had released a policy to sponsor the entire education of underprivileged children if they managed to qualify for the test.
At that time, Ashley thought if she worked hard for the test, perhaps her life could get better.
Indeed after she qualified the test she did not have to worry any longer about the tuition fees but at the same time, she discovered a new world.
A world that was so different from the dust from where she came. And Ashley soon realised that she was not a fit for this world.
Along with the tag of the best, that school was one of the most expensive schools in the country. The kids belonged to the richest of the families and the highest of the classes.
They had everything they needed at a snap of their fingers.
Rather than coming in school buses, they came in the luxurious cars their families owned. They wore branded clothes, had updated gadgets, their friend circle went to posh restaurants, and they spent money like water.
And most importantly, they looked down upon the like of hers, the orphans who had no family name to label their status!
The side eyes, taunts, back bitching, and bullying were her constants during those days. Although Ashley was never physically abused, the mental torture she went through destroyed her.
She even went to the school authorities to complain but it never mattered to them. At that time Ashley realised that school only wanted to get higher in the eyes of the people.
In reality, it did not worry about how the underprivileged were treated.
All this time, Ashley just silently kept up with it all. And now when she was finally capable of standing upon her feet, life threw at her the opportunity to become the wife of the most wanted bachelor of the country.
So easily Ashley could walk up the stairs of the classes and stand among the highest ones now.
She could now become the daughter-in-law of the Clark Family.
Destiny played well!