Ashley's Story:
When Anna and Steve were in high school, Anna got pregnant with someone else's baby but since she was dating Steven, she told him that she had to go on a trip with her family for a couple of months.
So Steven wouldn't know about the affair and the pregnancy. That's why Steve cheated on Anna with Sasha because he found out about Anna's affair in high school. But Anna didn't want to raise the baby in their teens and because she didn't want Steven to break up with her.
So Anna decided that when the times comes, she will give the baby up for adoption. When Anna have birth to Ashley, she gave her up because she didn't want Steven to know about the affair and Anna didn't tell Ashley's real father that she was pregnant with his kid.
Ashley then got raised by James and Crystal. Crystal and James always wanted kids but Crystal couldn't get pregnant and believe me, they had tried so many times but nothing seems to work.
Until James got a call from the hospital about a mother giving birth and that the mother wanted to put the baby up for adoption.
