Full Summary:

Amber felt she made all the wrong choices in life. She gave up finishing her degree. Amber married a man she's not in love with, a man who is lackadaisical about raising his kids, her stepkids. She's utterly miserable, and it all stems from the wrong choices she's made along the way.

Amber concocts the perfect plan to disappear and to start her next life with a new identity. She finds a romance and life is perfect… until her love interest discovers she has a past and isn't who she thought she was.

Note: While Bechole is end-game, this story mostly focuses on Chloe's journey to a better life.

Amber is future Chloe

"We don't have to listen to you," TJ spat out vehemently. He forcefully yanked the controller out of his stepmother's hands and continued to play his game.

"Yeah, you aren't our mother," Will intensely added as he rolled his eyes. He was typically well-behaved when he was alone with his stepmother, but his older brother brought out the worse in him.

Amber's frustrations had led to a pounding headache as she sighed, facing yet another confrontation. All she had asked the boys to do was to stop playing their video game long enough to take their clean clothes upstairs. She'd tried everything she knew how to try to win over her older stepson. But her life remained miserable.

She finally positioned herself square in front of the television and crossed her arms. "I said turn off the game and put up your clothes. Now." The tone in her voice was fierce; she hoped she sounded mean enough to get TJ to behave. Will gave a sideways glance at his big brother to gauge his reaction.

TJ threw his controller at her, hitting her in the stomach before grabbing his laundry, turning the hamper upend, and dumping the folded clothes on the floor. He then threw the empty basket at her, eyes daring her to say something. Amber took a deep, calming breath and mentally went through her options. She turned around and unplugged both controllers from the game console.

"One week. For both of you. Those clothes need to be in your drawers, folded, right now, or the controllers go away for two weeks." Will snatched his basket and scampered up the stairs. She hated punishing him, too but wanted him to mind her the first time and not go along with his big brother.

TJ sat with his arms crossed, glaring at his stepmother as Chloe stood in front of the TV. She locked eyes with him and began to count slowly. "One… Two… Thr…" At the last moment, TJ got up, gathered his messed-up laundry, and stomped up the stairs. "I want them folded TJ," she called after him.

Will passed his big brother on the stairs as he headed back down. He went up to his stepmother and put his arms around her waist as she ruffled his hair. "Get your clothes put up bud?"

He nodded and buried his face in her waist. "I'm sorry I didn't listen Amber."

She squatted down to his level. "I won't tell you it's okay, Will, because it's not. But I accept your apology. Thank you." She encouraged her younger stepson to play in the backyard then went to find the right hiding place for the controllers. TJ hadn't located all her hiding places yet, but Tom was another story.

Her husband was always taking sides with the boys. Granted he was their father, but when the time came for discipline, Amber wished he would back her a little more. She tried to talk to Tom about how they treated her when he wasn't around. He always said he'd talk to the boys, but he either never did – or it didn't do any good.

Amber sent a text to her husband.

[To Tom: Boys lost their video games for a week.]
[To Amber: Why this time?]
[To Tom: They wouldn't listen when I asked them to put up their laundry. Then TJ dumped his clothes all over the living room.]
[To Tom: Maybe you can talk to them before bedtime?]
[To Amber: You are too hard on them. They are just kids.]
[To Amber: They will be in bed by the time I get home.]
[To Tom: Late? Again?]

Amber waited for a response which never came. She tossed her phone on the couch as her frustration level rose. Her husband's late nights at work were to the point that Amber rarely saw him before she gave up and went to bed. Then again, sometimes she thought that was better.

An evening rain had begun, and Will came back inside. "Can I watch TV, Amber?"

Still a little miffed about what he had said during the laundry incident, Amber nixed television. "It's may I watch TV, but not right now Will. Why don't you read instead? There's only half an hour until bedtime. Alexa set a timer for thirty minutes." Luckily Will got his library book from his bag without hesitation and sat on the couch to read.

Amber went to the spare bedroom closet and got a basket of yarn, darning needles, stuffing, and other supplies. After sitting next to Will, she pulled out the tiny orange dress she was working on for the white rabbit she had finished earlier. For some reason, knitting soothed her. Perhaps it brought back memories of summers spent at her grandmother's learning how to knit. Then it was scarves and baby hats and huge, lopsided sweaters. Now she knitted cutesy little stuffed dolls.

Tom wouldn't let Amber work outside of the house. He said her job was the house – and his evil sons, of course. She carted them around to all their activities and made sure they were happy in general. Unless of course, they royally pissed her off like tonight. He only ever gave her enough cash to cover things for his sons. Everything else, she had to put on a charge card which he scrutinized every month.

So, she made hand-knitted dolls. Her friend, Jessica, had a booth at the farmers' market and let her sell her creations there every Saturday morning. Amber was able to convince Tom she deserved a bit of time away from the house and "boy duties" once a week. She would sneak her dolls to the car and head to the farmers' market. The time at the farmers' market also afforded her adult time with her best and only friend on Long Island.

When the timer went off, she asked Will to get ready for bed and asked if he'd like for her to tuck him in. Surprisingly he said yes. She asked Alexa to set another timer for fifteen minutes, so she could head up to see her younger stepson.

After making sure Will was comfortably tucked into bed, she stuck her head into TJ's room. He had bulky, oversized headphones over his ears, listening to music. She walked over to his bed to get his attention and tapped her ears to get him to take off the headphones. "Hey."

"Yeah?" He said gruffly.

"Do you understand why I grounded you from video games earlier?" He nodded his head. "I see you got your clothes put up. Thank you."

"Welcome."

"Thirty minutes until it's time to get ready for bed. Do I need to set a timer?"

He rolled his eyes before replying that timers were for little kids, so Amber said she'd be back to check. Luckily, he didn't complain or get angry. He just pulled his headphones back over his ears and turned over on his stomach.

The next morning was Saturday, and Amber got up early to get a few more things done around the house, so Tom wouldn't throw a fit when she came home. She didn't know what time he had gotten in the night before, which meant he would be tired and extra cranky. Hopefully, she could get at least one load of laundry done before he woke. She wanted to be able to leave the house and not fear coming back to an argument.

She pulled their dirty clothes basket into the laundry room and sorted the clothes before going back to gather the clothes Tom had discarded on the floor when he came home. As she picked up his shirt, a cloyingly sweet perfume odor reached her nostrils. Her husband worked with all men, so the smell was yet another clue in what he was doing when he said 'he was working late.' Strangely enough, this did not upset her – only made her angry.

She sat outside on the back deck, sipping her coffee while she waited for the washing machine to finish its cycle. Her mind drifted back to college, the last time she felt her life going in the right trajectory. Unfortunately, college was also the first time she made a wrong choice in life.

Amber enrolled in the George Washington School of Business in Washington, D.C. She immediately found a supportive group of friends who were the backbone of her college experience. She was involved in a global program that provided experiences in international business through studies abroad, experiential education courses, and international student services. She was also in a 4 + 1 program where some of her classes counted both as undergraduate and graduate. She could earn her bachelor's and master's degrees in five years total.

Despite heavy class loads and busy schedules, her friends found ways to make time for dates and boyfriends – they had well-developed social lives, going to all the parties and being a part of the in-crowd. Amber never was interested in any of that, choosing to focus more on her studies than enriching her social life. After three years of refusing to go on countless blind dates her friends tried to set up for her, Amber finally relented and went out with this guy. Tom. He was tall and handsome with wavy hair and that rugged look.

Tom lived in New York state and only came to the nation's capital occasionally for his job, which made him a perfect boyfriend for Amber. She wasn't exactly all that interested in Tom but having a boyfriend seemed to make her girlfriends happy. It seemed worth it to get her friends off her back. After dating for about six months, Tom started asking Amber to come to New York to meet his family.

One of the reasons Amber didn't want to date anyone was because she didn't have time. And meeting Tom's family would probably lead to an even more serious relationship than she was willing to commit. But he persisted until eventually she surrendered and agreed to take a train up to Long Island where his family lived. Amber wasn't looking forward to meeting them, but her friends told her it was the right thing to do at this point in their relationship.

Imagine her surprise when meeting Tom's family included not only his overbearing mother and wimpy father but also his two sons, Tom Jr. and William, ages ten and six. Tom had never mentioned he had kids, nor did he offer an apology or any explanation as to why he had omitted this tidbit of information from his life during the time they dated. Amber should have immediately known this was a warning sign. Not heeding that warning sign was what she called her wrong choice number one.

Wrong choice number two was when Tom asked her to marry him, and she said yes – because that's what she was expected to do. Proper life progression was going to school, getting married, and having kids was the right progression of steps in life. Her life was moving in a different order. And these kids weren't hers.

Wrong choice number three was not finishing the 4 + 1 program, leaving the university after earning her bachelor's degree despite only needing two semesters for her masters. Her domineering mother-in-law insisted her she should always cherish and obey her husband, heavy emphasis on the obey part. And Tom wanted her in Long Island, not Washington.

Which brought her to wrong choice number four. Moving away from her personal support system. Now her collegiate friends were graduated with double degrees. They were long gone, had incredible jobs, and spread out over parts of the world.

Amber was startled out of her lamenting by the washing machine buzzer announcing the end of the cycle. She went to change the clothes over to the dryer and began folding the clothes waiting in the dryer. Finishing two loads of laundry should be enough to squash Tom's complaints.

As she approached Jessica's booth, her friend shot her a huge smile. "Let's see what cuties Amber brought with her today," she exclaimed as she helped Amber unpack her bag. Inevitably, Jessica gave each of the dolls a name as she arranged them on the table. Sometimes she arranged them by gender or animal type, other times by color. Regardless, the display always looked great.

Amber pulled out a smaller bag. "These are the custom orders from last weekend." Jessica slid those under the table, so they wouldn't get sold by mistake and began to help her friend price the dolls. Amber was terrified to do this at home in fear Tom would find about her doll business and quiz her why they had price tags. Her situation would only get worse if he found out she was making money when she left the house on Saturdays. He wanted to control her, and one way he did that was by not allowing her access to any personal use funds. Fortunately, Jessica was understanding of her friend's position and was even willing to keep Amber's cash tucked away at her own home for safety.

"How are you doing?" Jessica's voice was kind and gentle. This question was always difficult to ask because of the answers it could bring, but she honestly wanted to know. More importantly, she wanted to provide a safe atmosphere for Amber to vent and talk.

"Surviving day by day, I suppose. If I could win over TJ, I think things would be less complicated. Tom and I married two long years ago. The boy should know by now I'm not trying to replace his mother. At least Will does great when his older brother isn't around." She told Jessica about the incident with the video game controllers. "Hopefully Tom won't find them when I'm gone today. Otherwise, they will be playing when I get home."

"And Tom? Is he still 'working late'?" Jessica put quotation marks around the words working late. She had a strong inkling Tom was indeed not coming home right after work, but certainly wasn't work. But until Amber was ready to accept it fully, she kept her opinions to herself. And Amber wasn't in a sharing mood today. The two visited a bit longer before the people started trickling in and started to approach the booth.

"Mommy, mommy!" A young girl about three ran up to the dolls and looked at them in amazement. She was adorable as could be with bright red, curly hair and sky-blue eyes. "The dollies! Aren't they pretty?" She reached out to touch one.

"Oh, honey, careful. Remember we look with our eyes, not with our hands." Her mother pulled her back a few steps.

Amber had her sample doll in her hands and asked the mother if her daughter could hold it. "So that she can see if she likes it." The mother nodded. Amber leaned down and said, "this is Lucy. She's my favorite doll. Would you like to hold her for a little bit?"

The youngster's eyes lit up as she looked to her mother for permission. She wrapped her arms around the tiny doll and squeezed it tightly. She then pointed to Amber. "You have hair like mine Miss Doll Lady! Mommy says redhead girls are special angels."

"Your mommy is right. We are extremely special. And your hair is gorgeous, and your eyes, too. Make sure you give Lucy lots of love. She adores red-headed girls." Amber stood up to talk to the mother. "I can make custom dolls, too. Even larger ones up to three feet. Would you be interested?"

Seeing her daughter enthralled with the doll convinced the mother to order her child one for her birthday. Amber gave her the customization book and an order form where she could mark if she wanted a little girl, a bunny rabbit, a teddy bear, a puppy along with types of clothes, colors, size, etc.

"You need to pay for custom orders in advance, but I can have it for you next Saturday." When the woman asked for a business card, Amber gave her one of Jessica's and explained that they were business partners. Technically this wasn't true, but Amber dared not have anything about her business on paper.

"Come on, honey. Let's give Lucy back to the pretty Doll Lady."

"Bye, Lucy." The cute little girl skipped away, holding her mother's hand.

Amber sighed. "Why can't my stepkids be that sweet?"

Jessica laughed. "They are older… and they are boys. Your time will come."

The rest of the day went well. All the custom orders were picked up, and Amber sold out of almost all the doll supply she'd brought along. She also collected several custom orders to work on throughout the week in between doing her chores. As the farmers' market closed, she tucked her remaining dolls into her bag and helped Jessica pack up her booth.

They drove to a nearby diner for their traditional late afternoon lunch where Amber tallied up which type of dolls purchased and how much money earned. Amber kept track of the more popular generic dolls to make additional variations of those.

Jessica always put Amber's cash into a bank bag which she kept hidden in her house along with the sales counts. They both insisted the funds remain liquid and easy to access. Amber flipped a few pages in her notebook and made some calculations on her phone. "One more month, maybe two. Then I'm outta here!"

Jessica's eyes grew wide when she heard her friend announce her plans. "Seriously? That soon?"

"You are my only friend Jess here. Literally. And I don't have a family to speak of – just my mom and she disowned me when I didn't finish my master's degree to become a stepmother to two boys who won't give her the time of day."

When Jessica asked about the college friends who had meant so much to Amber then, the redhead gave a deep sigh. "They all have jobs taking serious advantage of their degrees. Like real jobs such as working for the government in D.C. or at non-profits in Uganda."

"We fell out of touch after I moved away. Yeah, we are friends on Facebook, but that's so I can see what I'm missing in my life. I'm sure to have a better second life." Amber sighed. "I don't know how much longer I can take it here. Jess, I'm miserable. I've made absolutely all the wrong choices since starting college, and it's time for me to start over. Leaving will be the first good choice I've made since I graduated high school."