Chapter 17 The Shameful Stepsister and Stepmother


    Ashley wasn''t sure whether Belinda had taken in her advice.


    After getting back to thepany, she couldn''t help but find out the photos and audio tape she had


    taken in the cafe before. She stared at theputer for a long time and she thought that if Belinda did


    not expose She''s trick, she had to send these to Francis. This method was risky, for it might make


    Gloria and her daughter suspect her.


    Samuel was worrying about his daughter these days. He firstly scolded Francis who gave him a good


    attitude and said that he would be responsible for her daughter. However, his promises went quiet and


    there were no further news from him after two or three days.


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    Samuel lost his temper again at dinner. "She, look what you''ve done. Is our daughter leftover? And


    now you all turned to Francis, but he gave us cold shoulders. There was no news from him for days. I


    felt so humiliated."


    Gloria said ndly and tried tofort him, "Samuel, why don''t we have a talk with his parents? They


    won''t disregard their son cause troubles, will they?"


    "Shame on you! Yes, I''m ashamed of it. Our families had feuded since Ashley and Francis divorced.


    How embarrassed to pay them a visit!"


    Hearing this, Gloria stepped on Ashley''s foot carelessly and said, "Yes. If Ashley hadn''t cheated him


    before marriage, the rtions between our two families won''t be so strained."


    Hearing what he said, Ashley stopped drinking the soup. She took a napkin and wiped the corner of her


    mouth. "Yes, if I hadn''t divorced Francis, my sister would have been his mistress for three or four


    years."


    "Ashley, you always have every reason to cheat before marriage!" She lost the control of himself.


    "Come on, stop it. Don''t you see that your father is still mad at you?" Gloria came to break the


    awkwardness.


    Ashley looked at her father. Streaks of grey hair had appeared on his head and he would dye his hair


    periodically. Now her grey hair was growing out, showing that her father was no longer young. She


    bowed her head and didn''t say anything, but she thought, ''if you didn''t married her, then you wouldn''t


    need to suffer such unpleasant consequence. You brought trouble on yourself.''


    She was not sure what happened to the Xue family. She could feel that Francis had feelings for her,


    but his attitude towards her was always changing. She was not sure whether it is


    because of the failure in hisst marriage that had left him a shadow side in his heart. Every time when


    she mentioned marriage, he always dodged it.


    "Daddy, Francis may be quite busy these days and he didn''t had the time to talk with his parents. I will


    ask him when I get a chance." She said.


    But Samuel didn''t answer her.


    The next day, when She went out, Ashley had been waiting not far away. Seeing this, Ashley


    followed She immediately.


    She and Francis met in a cafe between their homes. The coffee shop was two-storied with spacious


    area. The spaces between guest tables were wide and in the middle they were adorned with various


    flowers and trees.


    Their seat was in a ce like a huge birdcage, surrounded by blooming red roses, which made it a


    great private ce.


    Putting her phone near her ear, Ashley pretended to make a call and walked to the "birdcage". The


    roses were quite lush that she was tightly covered by flowers. She pushed aside some leaves and saw


    She sitting next to Francis and talking with him.


    She dressed up very well today. Of course, she was beautiful by herself. Otherwise, she wouldn''t be


    Francis'' mistress. She''s appearance was quite different from her character. She looked very pure,


    and even if she had graduated for a few years, she still looked like a college student. She had fair and


    clean skin, and there was no freckles or es on her face.


    She was in a peach makeup today, and the orange blush made her showing a hint of implied beauty.


    Her hair was curled and hanging on her cheek, and her curly eyshes and peach eye shadows made


    her a little idle and charming. Besides, she was wearing a slip print dress with a gauzy coat which was


    completely impossible to hide her fleshy and soft breasts. She looked more attractive in this way.


    "She, you are so beautiful." With these words, Francis lowered his head and tried to kiss her.


    She turned her head away, "are you going to marry me? I''ve been pregnant for two months."


    Seeing such a beauty was angry, Francis surely felt sorry for her. He held her slender waist, pinched


    her chin and forced her to look back.


    "Of course, I''ll marry you. If not, who else would I marry? Hum..."


    Ashley looked at them coldly.


    She was finally satisfied with this answer. When Francis was about to kiss her again, she dodged


    and asked, "Then why haven''t we heard from you since my father talked to you?"


    "My parents are against it. I have to persuade them first." Francis touched her cheek and continued,


    "They don''t believe you are pregnant. Even if you are, it doesn''t mean you are pregnant with my baby."


    Seeing that she was about to be angry again, he coaxed, "of course I trust you."


    Ashley''s heart ached again. With a hand over her heart, she took a deep breath with her eyes closed to


    relieve the pain.


    Then She added, "It''s all Ashley''s fault. Your parents didn''t believe me anymore. But Francis, you


    can''t listen to them. It''s about our marriage. We need to make our own decisions."


    "Yes, I know... She, how about we do a paternity test? I had consulted a doctor two days ago. You


    have been pregnant for months and we can do this test now. As long as we get the result, they won''t


    have any excuse to oppose."


    Paternity test?! Ashley widened her eyes. She was not pregnant at all. How could she do such a


    test?


    She had thought of this, too. She thought for a while and said, "Ok, I agree to a paternity test as long


    as it can put your parents mind at rest. Well, Francis, give me your sample, I''ll go to hospital to do the


    test."


    "Let''s go together. How can I let you go alone? People in the hospital will gossip about you when they


    see you alone."


    Ashley sneered. How considerate he was!


    She didn''t want Francis to go with her to do the DNA test. If he was with her, how could she screwed


    up the test?


    "Francis, you are so busy. I can ask my mother to go with me. It will be more awkward if you go with


    me." People must think that you suspect my baby isn''t yours, and they are bound to gossip."


    After pondering for a second, Francis agreed with her and said, "Ok, it''s up to you, baby!"


    She grinned happily in Francis'' arms.


    "Can I kiss you now, baby!" While saying that, he lowered his head to kiss the beauty, with intermittent


    the voice came out between their lips, "after we get married... It would be better. We don''t need to...


    sneak around."


    Ashley slowly released the leaves in her hand and walked outside. She pushed the door open and the


    scorching sunshine came in.


    "You can''t wait to marry She, so does She likewise. Am I the third person in this rtionship? So


    our love in university disappeared just like an illusion. You and She are true love, aren''t you? Am I


    the truly wicked one?


    However, she lowered her head and deprecated herself, ''so what? I will be the wicked one.''


    After that, Gloria asked someone to make a fake report for the paternity test. Ashley had preserved all


    the evidence.


    She hoped that these evidences would not be used in the future, and she wished Francis mother


    Belinda would be alert to stop She from marrying Francis.


    Perhaps that paternity test pacified the hearts of Francis'' parents. The two families finally agreed to


    dine together in United Hotel and discuss about their marriage. It was not proper for Ashley to show up,


    so she disguised herself, pretended to make a phone call, and walked around in the corridor to pry into


    news.


    Ashley thought that the paparazzi skills she had learned in the past half year had given full y to this


    issue. She hadn''t followed any news recently, and she wondered whether Leona would scold her.


    While she was thinking of this, a voice suddenly burst out from the originally harmonious room. Then


    she heard She shouted, "It''s not true! Someone is setting me up!"


    Belinda cried indignantly, "Don''t argue any more. My secretary followed you and your mother. She shot


    these evidences. What kind of hatred does my secretary have on you to set you up? You forged the


    paternity test report. Tell me, whose baby are you pregnant with?"


    Ashley stopped pacing back and forth. ''Did Belindamission someone to follow She?'' But she


    had a feeling that it would not be so simple. Maybe the paternity test was just a roundabout tactics of


    Belinda whose aim was to force She tell the truth. If so, Belinda was really a scheming woman.


    There was a moment of silence in the room. At this moment, She was standing in front of the table.


    Her face was pale and she couldn''t say anything.


    "Anyway, it''s not Francis''." Francis'' father Simon added, "Francis, this is the woman you are going to


    marry. Do you see her clearly?"


    Francis was still in shock and disbelief. He didn''t expect that She would cheat on him. The reason


    why he made up his mind to marry She was that he believed that She would not betray him since


    she had been with him wholeheartedly for so many years.


    But now, evidences proved he was wrong.


    Samuel was also in the dark about this case. He felt ashamed that he had scolded Francis for not


    being responsible.


    "Gloria, what the hell is it?"


    Normally, Gloria was a slick talker, but now she got caught lying, so she didn''t know how to respond.


    Should she cry or apologize?


    Standing outside the door, Ashley thought her father was really pitiful. He had brought up two


    daughters. One of them had an affair before marriage, and the other had been a mistress who


    pretended to be pregnant and forged a paternity test. Even a TV drama was not as brilliant as her


    family.


    "Francis, that''s not the case." She''s panic voice came out of the room, as if she had fallen next to


    Francis.


    Ashley really wanted to see how awkward She was now. ''She, you can''t stand just because you


    were being debunked. The pain I suffered when my mother and son were dead, when I was betrayed


    by Francis and when I was forced to relinquish marital properties to divorce were ten times more than


    what you suffered now!''


    "I''m not pregnant at all!" Finally, She couldn''t help telling the truth, "I didn''t betray you, Francis. I


    really didn''t, I am too afraid. Ashley was back. I am afraid you fall in love with her again. That''s why I


    come up with this idea to marry you so that I can keep you by my side."


    The whole room fell into silence. After a long time, Francis struggled to say, "You didn''t cheat on me?"