"Uh?" Ashley was sure she heard wrong.

"I said-"

"I heard what you said. What do you mean by wife and mother of his child?"

Jasmine let out a low chuckle, her upturned eyes widening a little. "I know Dave wouldn't have told you. That is because we are going through a phase and we are not exactly on good terms."

The shocking statement Jasmine said earlier was still ringing in Ashley's head.

"Dave is married?" Ashley quietly asked herself.

"Yes, to me."

With a raised brow, Ashley spared the woman another look. "How do I know you're speaking the truth? This just seems like one of Emily's schemes."

"Trust me. I am not lying. As a matter of fact..." Jasmine gave another smile and immediately started to rummage through her handbag. Ashley watched wearily as many thoughts ran through her head. "Here..." The woman's damn smile was beginning to annoy Ashley. It was pretty but it was delivering a message that caused her heart to bleed when it was yet to be stabbed. "This is a picture of our wedding ceremony."

Ashley accepted the pictures extended her way. After taking a deep breath, she decided to take a look at the first image.

It was Dave alright.

Standing beside Jasmine, who was dressed in a simple white dress, was Dave. He looked younger but still dashing thanks to the well-fitted tuxedo he had on.

"The next picture is that of our four-year-old son. His name is Zion."

Ashley flipped to the next image and her hands began to tremble. The truth was staring at her and she was starting to feel battered, so much that more weariness seeped into her soul and fatally drained her.

The image of their son was another piece of evidence that her life with Dave was a lie. Just looking at the kid's full hair and his twinkling eyes, one would be able to tell that he was Dave's child. The boy's smile was like his mother's. Innocent.

"This is so crazy…" Ashley's heart began to announce itself. With a strong ache, it told her body that it was weak, that it couldn't take it anymore, that it was too tired. "This is…"

"You mentioned Emily's name earlier. I know her. In fact, she was the one that let me know what Dave has been up to. I don't know what Dave's intentions were or are, but I don't want you to get stuck between a married couple, that can be messy."

Ashley could not throw a glare at Jasmine after the words she spoke. But Ashley did feel like punching those words back into her mouth and far down her throat. She also wished she could tear off Jasmine's annoying smile and kill the softness of her voice.

But the punching and killing or thoughts about it were best left for Dave, who ended up becoming a thorn in her heart… A thorn that dug deep into her soul after disguising itself as a rose flower.

After finding support on a section of the closed door, it occurred to Ashley that there was only one thing that would guarantee the prevention of her breakdown… Dave's honest denial of the woman who was standing in front of her.

But... honest denial?

Ashley scoffed. The pictures in her hand were enough proof.

"I know this is hard for you to take in as you might have fallen deep for Dave. I would not blame you for loving him," Jasmine sighed before continuing, "Dave can't just help but attract people to him. That's how he is. But..."

Jasmine reached for Ashley's left hand as though to grip them sympathetically.

Ashley, with every sense of self-protection, quickly withdrew.

Jasmine did not show any reaction to that, she just continued her talk. "I want to thank you for being a good companion to Dave while we were separated. I..."

"Listen, Jasmine," Ashley quickly cut her short. "Could you please stop this fake sympathy thing you are incessantly displaying? It is getting on my nerves."

"I just... Oh, here comes Dave."

The women turned to watch Dave park his car. An unsuspecting Dave got down, a filled polythene bag in his left hand.

Once he directed his line of sight to the surprise waiting for him, he instantly took a step back. "Jasmine?" he asked from where he stood and that question was all it took for Ashley's heart to fall. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I came here for you."

Ashley quickly found her seat on the little stairs that led to the house, her hand clutching her chest area that hurt more than ever. Looking up, she saw that Jasmine was already approaching Dave who was very surprised.

"Here for me? So, you can do that now? I am suddenly allowed in your life?"

Jasmine moved closer with stretched arms. "Dave..." she whined. "Please don't be like this. I am here to fix what I broke. I want us to move forward."

At that moment, with a creased forehead, Dave stared right into Ashley's sad eyes.

"I have done that already and that is without you," he replied to the excited woman coldly.

"Please Dave, think of our son. He needs his father around. At least do this one thing for his sake. Please let us become a family again."

The sight of Jasmine holding on to Dave's collar like a desperate lover angered Ashley and that just prompted her to leave that place.

"I need you to leave," Dave said to Jasmine, his voice still stony.

"But..."

Ashley pushed the door open even though she could still feel Dave's eyes on her.

"I said leave." She heard him repeat.

Whether Jasmine decided to leave or not, Ashley was going to. It would be so stupid to expose herself to more and more hurt when she was yet to heal from the one her ex-husband left in her soul.

A few minutes later, after grabbing her tyre bag, Ashley was already halfway done with her rushed packing and that was where Dave met her.

Thanks to her position, he could not see the tears that had managed to drop despite Ashley's will to hold them in.

"Ashley... You can't..." His voice could not hold any form of strength. "Please don't leave... please," he whispered.

Ashley ignored him and reached for her shoes.

"Please say something. Your silence is killing me." The crack in his voice was enough to make her fall into full-time crying.

But she continued to hold herself, she wasn't going to break down.

"You are a married man, Dave." She finally turned to face him.

"It is not what it looks like."

She had to roll her eyes. "Oh please don't feed me that cliché line."

"Ashley, it is not what it looks like."

Her arms crossed, she asked, "So you are not married to Jasmine? You don't have a child with her?"

"I..." Dave looked defeated and tired and desperate.

"I am sorry…. I cannot hear you." Despite the snarky tone she had, there were tears stuck in her throat, begging and struggling to rush out.

"I am. Yes, Jasmine is my wife, was my wife rather. Because we are no longer together."

"You are divorced?"

He closed his eyes for a second. "No, we are separated."

"Then what are you talking about? I am the homewrecker here. I am the one getting involved with a family man. A man who I thought was genuinely taking care of me." Ashley lost all direction, she spoke with abandon. Constantly hitting her heavy chest, she queried his actions with teary eyed. "What was your plan all along? Did you want to build my confidence and then break it? Did you wish to make me miserable? Why did you even show up at my door to fix my pipes? Why did you offer to help me with your stupid attractive face?!"

"Ashley..." Dave looked as though he had aged a year with the lines at the side of his eyes and the jumble of sweat and worry on his forehead. He moved closer to hold her but she pushed him away.

"Don't touch me. Don't. You make me ashamed of myself." She turned to continue her packing, this time, she did it so fast and without thinking. On zipping up the tyre bag, a thought dropped in her head that made her angry. "I just realised one thing. I am no different from my mom. My mother wrecked my marriage. And now, I am wrecking one, isn't that wonderful?"

She gave a bitter laugh as her hands reached for the handle of the bag.

"No, Ashley. You are not your mother. It is my fault you didn't know about my life in the past and you are not wrecking anything. It is my fault, but please don't go anywhere. Stay with me. Huh?" Dave wanted to hold her, but his hands kept fumbling in the air as his back arched in apology and desperation. "Let's sort this out ourselves. I want to. I don't want you to leave. Please."

With a side glance, she watched his hand finally find a home on her wrist. The warmth his touch brought made her long for him. But the issue on ground was too huge for her to succumb to the needs of her soul.

She had no choice but to leave.

Besides, staying with him would break her even more. The way she once looked at him would change. She wouldn't find it easy to laugh at his goofiness. She would just become a stranger to him. And to herself.

"I am sorry, Dave. But I can't stay. Goodbye."

It hurt her so much that she said those words. Saying such was not something she ever imagined. She never imagined that would lose Dave in such a way either.

But there she was, experiencing things she never thought would happen. After biting into her lower lip to slow down her tears, she made to move.

"Ashley..."

The way he groaned her name saddened her even more but she had to peel his hand off and walk out to a destination that would guarantee that she wouldn't come running back into his arms anytime soon.