Chapter 11 A Blind Date

Somehow, Lena and Ashley had always been rivals. Even in her childhood, Lena hated Ashley. She
would always snatch Ashley's favorite toys away from her --- it was irrelevant if they were expensive or
not. She also spoke ill of Ashley and told lies about her in front of Spencer and Peggy. The point was to
belittle her as much as possible. Lena felt threatened by her and wanted to remain their favorite
daughter.

It didn't matter how much Ashley tried to explain or defend herself, Spencer and Peggy didn't believe
her. After all, Ashley was only their adopted daughter. And Lena was their biological one, so they were
always biased towards her.

As time went on, Spencer and Peggy misunderstood Ashley more and more.

When Ashley was a child, she couldn't understand why her parents disliked her. She wanted to be
cuddled in her mom's and dad's arms. But she never knew such extravagance from them. That was
only reserved for Lena.

Many times she would think about the reason why her parents would always push her away. She
wondered if it was because she was disobedient.

But it didn't make any sense because Ashley was a very obedient and considerate child. But it still
wasn't enough for her parents. When things didn't go well in the business or there was something
wrong with the family, they would take it out on Ashley. She would be beaten and scolded and blamed
for everything.

As she grew up, she finally understood why her parents disliked her and favored Lena instead. She
also realized that it was of no use and silly to be so obedient and loyal to them.

—



It was only when the servant had called her to have lunch that Ashley had suddenly woken from her
sad memories of her childhood.

"It's incredible. You've only been sitting here for a short while and you're in a trance already," Peggy
said impatiently.

Ashley pretended not to hear what she said.

"Are you all right, Ashley?" Lena asked with a worried look on her face as she approached her.

"I'm fine." Ashley didn't bother giving her any details.

Spencer sat at the head of the table as usual. Lena and Raymond were on his left, while Peggy sat to
his right and Ashley sat next to her.

"Raymond, this is your favorite, Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs. I asked Claire especially to cook the dish
for you. Please, try some." She looked at Raymond with her beautiful eyes. Lena picked up some
spare ribs with the chopsticks and put them on his plate.

Ashley found it comical to watch Lena trying to please Raymond. 'Can't you see the look of discomfort
on his face?' Ashley thought.

In fact, Raymond didn't like to eat Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs at all. He didn't like the taste of the
combination of sweet and sour. But Ashley liked the dish very much. So every time when they used to
go out to dinner, he would order Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs for her.

Ashley once asked him why he would always order that dish when he didn't like it.

Raymond replied that it was her favorite dish, so he would try and like it as well. Back then, Ashley felt
special when he had said that to her.



Lena then served her parents' favorite dishes and put the dishes in each of their plates. The family
members then dined in a happy and cheerful atmosphere, except for Ashley of course.

Sitting in her place, Ashley silently ate her meal. She thought if she spoke less she would make fewer
mistakes and there wouldn't be any reason for anyone to scold her.

However, she was wrong.

Peggy, who was sitting beside Ashley, snorted," How can you sit there and have your meal without
talking to anyone else? Don't you know that the family members should enjoy the joyful atmosphere
during the meal? One would think that we have wronged you in some way and kept you from talking!"

Ashley could hardly believe her ears.

She remembered that once Peggy had scolded her for saying something when they were having
dinner. Peggy was so angry that she said," Don't you know that it's reasonable to keep silent while
eating!"

Since then, whenever they sat together for a meal, Ashley never said a word to avoid Peggy's fault
finding with her.

However, despite staying quiet, she still couldn't avoid irritating Peggy. Whatever Ashley did, it seemed
to be wrong in her mother's eyes.

The fact was that if a person didn't like you anyway, he would find fault with you no matter how well you
performed.

"Raymond, why aren't you eating? Don't you like the dish?" Lena asked, puzzled.

After hesitating for a moment, Raymond said sheepishly, "No, I just have a toothache these days. So I
can't eat this now."



"Oh, really? I thought maybe you didn't like it," Lena said, smiling sweetly. "If you can't eat it, then just
put it aside."

"Okay."

Raymond looked calm on the outside, but inside he felt awkward and uneasy.

When Lena had invited him to have lunch at her house, Raymond thought that he was just going to
meet her parents. He didn't know that Ashley would be there as well.

What was worse, out of habit, he almost put the spare rib into Ashley's plate.

—

While they dined, Lena had openly shown her affection for Raymond the whole time.

After they had all finished their meals, they adjourned to the living room for a rest and chat. However,
Ashley felt uncomfortable and embarrassed to stay with them.

'Did they call me to visit them, specifically just to see Lena show her love and affection to Raymond?'
she wondered.

Ashley stood to leave but Peggy immediately told her she wanted a talk with her in her room upstairs.

"Ashley, you're old enough now. Your father and I have chosen a boyfriend for you. He just got his
doctor's degree and has come back from abroad. He is a fine looking young man and is around your
age. I've already made an appointment for you to meet him this Saturday. You had better make the
time to see him then."

Peggy told her straight because only the two of them were in the room.



Realizing now what the purpose of the visit was, Ashley felt resentment in her heart for them.

'Are they afraid that I might steal Lena's boyfriend from her?

If that's the case, then they really do despise me very much.

Raymond has got a new girlfriend. And I have my dignity, ' she thought bitterly.

"Mom, I don't want to get married yet."

"Nonsense! You're old enough to get married! Lena is two years younger than you and she is already
engaged. As her older sister, do you want to wait until she gets married?" Peggy immediately got angry
at what Ashley had said.

"You will see the boy this Saturday! You have no right to refuse me. We've supported you for so many
years, but you are so disobedient and ungrateful. I am asking if you would like to go on a blind date, but
even that is too much to ask, it seems. Even a tamed dog would have been more loyal than you!

Moreover, if you didn't run away that night, would Michael do those things to the Mu Group? Not only
did our company lose a big business deal, but Michael also had a bad impression of our family!"

Ashley was speechless after hearing Peggy's list of complaints about her.

'How could they blame so much on me?

In order to get that big deal, they have planned to give me knockout drops and send me to Michael's
room. Michael is a real womanizer and would have had his way with me. How could they plan to do
such a despicable thing to me?' Ashley wondered.


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