In 2006, high school senior Ashlee Wolfe's life got very interesting when she met the wealthy Lizzie Spaulding. The newly pregnant Lizzie knew Ashlee's uncle ran a free clinic and enlisted her help to fake records showing her as having been a patient for over a month, in order to fudge her baby's true conception date. Ashlee went along and showed Lizzie's boyfriend, Coop Bradshaw the records, but later made it clear to Lizzie that she expected something back in return. At the same time, a handsome young man named Jonathan Randall started hanging around Ashlee and invited her out for coffee. However, Ashlee was no fool. She had seen Jonathan in deep discussions with Lizzie and knew he was with her to get dirt on Lizzie. However, Ashlee decided to play along and offered to give him what he wanted—as long as he wined and dined her all over town so that people could see a guy like him with a girl like her. Jonathan agreed but when he planted a hot kiss on Ashlee, he also stole her keys to the clinic. That night, Ashlee caught Jonathan breaking into the clinic and promised to keep quiet and give him the dirt on Lizzie if he met her that night...and wore a tux. Jonathan was to be Ashlee's date for the prom. Though Jonathan tried getting Ashlee drunk to get her to spill about Lizzie, Lizzie caught the pair together and called Ashlee over to warn her about her date. When that failed, Lizzie had a teacher phone Jonathan's girlfriend Tammy and told her Jonathan was out with an underage girl. Tammy arrived and Jonathan convinced her he was only there because he saw Ashlee being picked on and felt sorry for her. Tammy bought it and, when Jonathan took off, she stayed to help Ashlee sober up.

Soon after, Ashlee tried to get Jonathan's attention at his bar, Outskirts, but when he wouldn't talk to her, she bought alcohol at his place with a phony ID. Soon after, Ashlee showed up, drunk, at Josh Lewis's party, with her mother, District Attorney Doris Wolfe. In front of everyone, Doris called Jonathan a criminal had him arrested for serving alcohol to a minor and his liquor license revoked. Jonathan threatened Lizzie with revealing the truth behind her pregnancy (that he, not Coop was the father) unless she got Ashlee to state that Lizzie bought her the booze. Though Ashlee tried to tell the Assistant DA that she may have made a mistake, when Doris arrived, Ashlee chickened out and stuck to her original story. In the meantime, Ashlee finally told Lizzie what she wanted in return for the forged records—make Jonathan love her. Later, Ashlee attempted to get Jonathan to go out with her, by threatening to tell Tammy about Jonathan's interest in Lizzie's pregnancy

.Unfortunately Jonathan was not one to respond well to threats, and he menacingly reminded Ashlee that the last person who tried to get between him and Tammy fell off a cliff and died. Immediately after, Ashlee called Lizzie to warn her that she was about to do something drastic and then barged into Tammy and Jonathan's and gave Tammy Lizzie's doctored file. In the next few months, Jonathan finally took responsibility for Lizzie's unborn baby. However, now he, Tammy and Lizzie had to deal with Lizzie's obsessive grandfather, Alan who was determined to take her baby away from her. Things came to a head with a paranoid Lizzie shooting Alan. Though the gun was filled with blanks, Lizzie didn't know that and was charged with attempted murder. To protect Lizzie, Jonathan stated that he gave her the gun but that only made him an accessory. Wanting to help Jonathan and Lizzie, Ashlee came up with a plan and called her mother to tell her she was going on a trip with Jonathan. As expected, Doris became furious and demanded to speak with Jonathan. When he got on the line, Doris accused him of holding her daughter hostage; Jonathan promised to have Ashlee back by next week and then ended the call as a giddy Ashlee looked on. Ashlee reveled in the fact that they made her mom mad and complimented Jonathan for doing this for his child while he complimented her on standing up to her mom.

Later, the pair walked into the police station where Doris was reaming into Tammy and Lizzie, trying to get them to tell her where Jonathan was. When Ashlee defended Jonathan, Doris told her he was just using her. Ashlee confessed that this was as much her idea as his. In the end, Alan dropped the charges against Lizzie. While Ashlee continued to befriend the teens, she got a job as a waitress at Company. In the fall, Ashlee became involved in a little bit of intrigue when the police chased down a masked Ashlee and accused her of stalking Springfield citizens and posting their secrets on her blog. Cornered, Ashlee stated that she was just an informant—she was hired by the blogger but had no idea who it was. In the meantime, Ashlee got a job at WSPR and was assigned by owner Vanessa Reardon to work for "The Law". At the same time, there was a competition going on to determine which show would win WSPR's lone timeslot—"The Law" or Dinah Marler's new show. Dinah was easily able to get Ashlee to give her some inside information on "The Law".

In 2007, Ashlee was saddened by Tammy's death in a hit and run. Though there were rumblings that Alan was involved, he was cleared by Doris. Not long after, Ashlee was elated by the news that Doris and Alan were getting married. The wedding went off without a hitch until a shocking development happened at the reception—Alan had been shot! Weeks later, Doris forced Ashlee to quit her job at CO2 since she felt it was beneath her. Though a saddened Ashlee complied, when Coop Bradshaw and Buzz offered to make her an "honorary Cooper", she decided to see if she could change her mother's mind. Later, Doris informed Ashlee that none of her friends were good enough to invite to her 18th birthday party and decided that only country club kids could attend. Though Lizzie volunteered to send out the invitations, she didn't out of spite and Ashlee spent her 18th birthday alone. That is until Coop learned about what Lizzie did and attended Ashlee's party himself. Later, Lizzie apologized for ruining her party, but Ashlee wasn't angry since she had a good time without them. Weeks later, after being left in charge for an hour at CO2, Ashlee made a friend after she rescued Daisy Lemay (who was Coop's niece) from two bullies that were harassing her. When Coop heard of her actions, he told her he was impressed.

In the meantime, Alan finally emerged from his coma and informed Ashlee that he knew who shot him—she did! Ashlee tearfully admitted that he hurt her by being so dismissive of her mother (by calling the wedding a sham) and confessed that she tried to just forget the whole thing ever happened, which was easier to do the more time went by. To Ashlee's surprise, Alan was understanding and forgave her. However, Ashlee was unable to live with the guilt and prepared to confess all to Frank. Just as she was about to, Doris pulled her away and Ashlee confessed the truth to her mother. Though Ashlee was fully prepared to go to prison, Doris assured Ashlee that she would protect her since Ashlee was the best person she'd ever known. Alan then approached Doris and informed her that he would keep quiet about Ashlee shooting him; if they get out of his life. Though Ashlee was open to the idea, Doris didn't want to give up everything and decided to take a chance on Ashlee going to trial. However, she backed down when Alan reminded her how it could affect her career if the truth came out.

Meanwhile, Ava Peralta mentioned to Coop that the gun used to shoot Alan was hidden in the mansion. When Ashlee mentioned about secret hiding place at the mansion as well, Coop saw the connection but before she was able to confess, Ashlee was interrupted. After learning from Lizzie that Ashlee was in tears after Alan was shot, Coop put it all together and asked Ashlee if she shot Alan. Rattled, Ashlee accused Coop of pretending to be her friend just to get information out of her and ran off. Later, after speaking to Frank, who was feeling guilty about having accidentally shooting his daughter, Ashlee went to Coop and confessed all. Moved by Coop's supportive response, Ashlee decided to confess all to Frank but Frank rushed off before she had a chance. Though Doris tried to dissuade Ashlee from confessing, Ashlee's guilt got the better of her and when her mother tried to keep her quiet. Ashlee blurted out that she couldn't go back now because Coop already knew the truth. When Doris stated that she could ruin Coop's life by charging him for pushing Alan-Michael off the balcony, Ashlee decided she couldn't let that happen and later, with Coop as support, confessed all to the police. Doris rushed to stop her by claiming that Coop was just using her to get Josh out of jail. However, Ashlee was adamant that she was doing the right thing and stood up to her mother. As a highly upset Doris tried to diffuse the situation by telling a reporter that Ashlee was bipolar, Coop defended Ashlee's motive. With the help of her attorney, Jeffrey O'Neill, Ashlee was tried as a minor and sentenced to three years in juvenile detention.

Several days after arriving, Ashlee was greeted by a familiar face. Daisy had just been sent to juvie for violating parole. When Daisy started getting harassed by the other girls at the center, Ashlee came to her rescue once again and showed her the ropes. Not long after, the girls were shocked to learn that their teacher was none other than Coop. Though Doris made no effort at all to visit her daughter, Coop went out of his way to support Ashlee. Sensing Ashlee's growing feelings for Coop, Daisy urged Ashlee to tell him but Ashlee was mortified. Though she thanked him for all of his help with a kiss on the lips, Coop was unresponsive. As the weeks went by, Ashlee found herself being bullied by a girl named Megan but refused to let Coop intervene on her behalf. Though Megan tried get Ashlee into trouble by slipping a bottle of bourbon into her bag, Ashlee got the upper hand by putting some of that bourbon into Megan's soda, getting the other girl into trouble. Meanwhile, Doris finally visited Ashlee to inform her that she was running for mayor. When Ashlee asked to get out of juvie, Doris stated that it wouldn't look good for her to be released too early. She then revealed that Alan was returning a favor by bankrolling her campaign. Later, Coop announced that he may have gotten Alan to help free her. Ecstatic, Ashlee hugged Coop who pulled away.

Not long after, Ashlee was officially released. After her release, Ashlee was treated with a welcome home party from Coop. Though Doris warmly welcomed Ashlee home with a hug, Ashlee figured that it was all a show to help boost her campaign image. Days later, Doris expressed concern that Ashlee hadn't responded to any of her calls but Ashlee declared that she just felt liberated away from her mother. In the meantime, Ashlee and Coop were spending more time together. Though it appeared that he was interested in her, he also couldn't stay away from Ava. Realizing that Ava's welcome home presents were for Coop's benefit, Ashlee told Ava of her interest in Coop and her willingness to compete for him. Meanwhile, Doris set Ashlee up with a young lawyer named Stuart and Coop encouraged her to go on a date with him. When Coop met Stuart he instantly disliked him and scared him away. After a grateful Ashlee expressed her thanks, Coop pulled her into a passionate kiss. However Coop was still unwilling to call his and Ashlee's relationship "dating." which infuriated Ashlee. Fed up, she told Coop to choose between him and Ava. Angry at being cornered, Coop walked away and Ashlee had a friendly meeting with Stuart. In the meantime, Doris told Ashlee her plan to get rid of CO2 when she became mayor. Ashlee immediately told Coop and the pair worked to block the project. While collecting signatures for a petition, Ashlee blurted out to Coop that she loved him. Coop had no response at all and, later, Doris warned Ashlee that Coop would never love her.

At the same time, Buzz announced that he was he was running against Doris. Doris asked Ashlee to talk Buzz out of it which Ashlee tried to do against her better judgment. Though Ashlee warned Buzz that her mother could be very mean and behave like a pit bull to get what she wants, Buzz was undeterred. Coop accused Ashlee of letting her mother manipulate her and Ashlee shot back that Ava was doing the same to Coop. After blasting Coop for being unable to admit how he felt about her, Ashlee asked Stuart to her place where she kissed him. As Stuart suggested a drink before they went out to the lake, Coop suddenly burst in and threw Stuart out. Coop then announced that it was over between him and Ava; he wanted to be with Ashlee. However, Ashlee felt she deserved better than someone who hadn't been clear on his feelings from the beginning. Through the next few weeks, Ashlee softened toward Coop and the two finally became a couple. Later, Ashlee confided in Daisy that she was thinking about sleeping with Coop but worried that he might bail out on her. Later, Buzz exposed Doris for hurting anyone that got close to Ashlee, as Ashlee overheard. Ashlee was shocked to learn what Doris had been doing all her life and wished that her mother would stop lying to her and hurting people just to keep her isolated. At the same time, the Coopers were horrified when Marina was kidnapped.

With Marina missing for a while, Coop confided in Ashlee his fear that she was dead. Seeing how troubled he was, Ashlee promised to talk about it with him later and then went to the police station to work on the tip hotline. There she got a call, apparently from Marina, saying she was at the docks. However, when Ashlee told the officer in charge, he dismissed it as a hoax. Not so sure, Ashlee decided to go to the docks to investigate but told no one since she didn't want to give Coop false hope. At the docks, Ashlee was suddenly hit from behind. When she came to, Frank was there and with Ashlee's purse gone, they figured she'd been mugged. Though Ashlee wanted to go back and see Coop, Frank insisted that she be checked out at Cedars. However, Ashlee was determined to keep her promise to him and quickly left the hospital. When she got to Coop's, she was shocked to see him in a steamy kiss with Ava and snuck out unseen. Ashlee avoided Coop for weeks until he finally confronted her. Ashlee told him that she saw him kissing Ava and the reason she was late to his place was because she went to the docks to follow a lead on Marina. An upset Ashlee rebuffed Coop's apology.

Afterwards, she talked to her mother about what Coop did but worried how Doris would retaliate. Meanwhile, things between Ashlee and Coop were still tense. One day while they were both at CO2, a health inspector came because of some complaints. Realizing her mother was behind this, Ashlee defended the Coopers. When Coop began ranting about how much he liked her, Ashlee kissed him. In the meantime, Ashlee noticed how extremely confident Doris was about winning the election despite the fact that she was losing in the polls. Doris's attitude raised some flags and later Ashlee told Coop that she believed her mother was going to rig the election. Ashlee did some digging and discovered she was correct: Doris had hired a computer hacker to rig the election. Ashlee dismissed the hacker, Einstein, by threatening to expose him and then told Doris what she'd done. Angry at Ashlee's betrayal, Doris vowed that she would win the election fair and square and then destroy the Coopers. Soon after, Doris entered into a business deal with Bill Lewis. If she won the election, she would green light his plan to renovate Main Street which would include tearing down Company. Finally, Election Day arrived and it looked as if Doris was actually going to win. Determined not to let her mother ruin the Coopers, Ashlee sought out Einstein and had him rig the election in Buzz's favor.

The Coopers were ecstatic at Buzz's unexpected win while Doris was devastated. Unfortunately, Ava overheard Ashlee talking to Einstein and took a picture. Since Doris seemed to have the election in the bag, Ava put two and two together and realized what Ashlee had done. Ava went to Ashlee with her proof and informed her that she would expect something in return for her silence. Later, Ashlee and Coop were set to pitch their ideas for youth advisors when Ava appeared and told Ashlee to back out so she could help Coop, Ashlee suddenly backed out leaving Coop confused and upset. Later, Coop surprised Ashlee with a dress for the Inauguration. Unfortunately, Ava blackmailed her again and insisted that Ashlee back out so she could accompany Coop. Ashlee tried to explain to Coop that she had to leave town to be in a friend's wedding and he blasted her for bailing out on him. Meanwhile, though Doris had originally reacted to losing rather badly, Buzz took pity on her and offered her a job on his administration. To Ashlee's surprise, her mother threw herself into her work with gusto and seemed more human than Ashlee had ever seen her.

In 2008, Buzz overheard Ashlee talking to Ava and realized that Ashlee was the one who rigged the election! Buzz confronted Ashlee who defended her actions by pointing out that Doris wanted to destroy the Coopers. Ashlee echoed Marina's sentiment that Buzz would make the better mayor. Though disappointed in Ashlee's actions, Buzz was amazingly supportive. However, his conscience couldn't allow him to go one with the charade and on the day of his inauguration, Buzz publicly admitted that the election was fixed though didn't reveal who was responsible. As Buzz was arrested, Doris called for a recount and vowed to destroy the Coopers. Ashlee then went to the police station and over Buzz's objections confessed to being behind the rigged election. Doris refused to believe that Ashlee was alone in this which Ashlee took to mean that she wasn't smart enough. Ashlee boldly told her mother that she did it to protect the Coopers from her. Though the Coopers urged Doris not to throw the book at her daughter, she insisted that she made a promise to punish whoever was responsible at the fullest extent of the law. Ashlee's arrest hit Coop especially hard and in a drunken rage he lit Bill Lewis's plans for Main Street ablaze and threw them in the Lewis Construction trailer.

Unfortunately, Bill was inside and left temporarily blinded. Coop confessed what happened to Ashlee, after bailing her out with left over money from the campaign, urged her to flee town with him. Though Ashlee initially refused she later changed her mind and the two prepared to flee the country. Unfortunately, Ashlee was caught by Doris who decided to protect her daughter by locking her in her room. Luckily, Coop came to her rescue and pleaded with Doris to let Ashlee make her own choices. When that didn't work, he offered up the name of the person responsible for the Lewis fire—himself. In the end, a humbled Doris declared the fire a tragic accident and, despite her earlier statements, worked to get the charges against Ashlee dropped. Meanwhile, Doris finally realized that Coop did indeed love Ashlee and called a truce with the Cooper family.

Several weeks later, Ashlee was overjoyed when Coop published his first novel. On the heels of his success, he received a visit from published author Blake Marler who claimed that she was responsible. Blake quickly wormed her way into becoming Coop's talent agent. While complimenting Coop on what a bright future he had and telling him of all the plans she had for him, Blake was dismissive toward Ashlee making it seem as if Ashlee needed to pretty herself up. Soon after, Ashlee announced her plans to have gastric Lap band surgery to lose weight. Though Coop tried to dissuade her, Ashlee made it clear that she was doing this for health reasons and for her own self esteem. Knowing her mother wouldn't approve, Ashlee kept the news from her and Doris didn't find out until right before Ashlee went into surgery. Like Coop, Doris blamed herself for not letting Ashlee realize that she was beautiful. Ashlee's adjustment post-surgery was a difficult one and she often pushed herself past her limits in an effort to drop off the weight. After struggling for weeks, Ashlee met a mysterious stranger who helped her when she went twisted her ankle while running. The handsome young man flirted with Ashlee and then disappeared before Ashlee could get his name. Ashlee met with the man again and they enjoyed a swim. Though she still didn't learn his name, Ashlee loved how he made her feel beautiful.

At the same time, Ashlee began distancing herself from Coop. Meanwhile, the man who ran down Tammy the previous year was apprehended and Dinah, now owner of WSPR, had Ashlee do some research on the man known as Mark Gillespie. Ashlee was horrified to learn that Gillespie was Grady Foley who was in fact her mysterious admirer! An upset Ashlee realized that Foley must have been using her because her mother was the mayor and confided in Coop who was hurt that she enjoyed Grady's flirtations. Several hours after their argument, Ashlee walked in on Blake undressed in Coop's bed. Though Ashlee believed Coop's story that Blake took it upon herself to seduce Coop, Ashlee was unsure if her own feelings for Coop were real and broke things off.

Meanwhile, Ashlee could not condone Daisy's relationship with former hitman Grady Foley. Though they were estranged for a while, by the end of summer, Ashlee decided that she missed her best friend and the pair settled their differences. Eventually, Daisy dumped Grady herself. At the same time, Ashlee continued her work at WSPR and was put in charge of putting together exposes on Dinah's orders—such as a story proving that Bill and Lizzie's latest business deal with Lawrence Decker would be a failure. Later, Ashlee was shocked when she saw Grady kiss Dinah and told Daisy and Grady's brother, Cyrus, all about it. Several weeks later, Ashlee was shocked to learn that Daisy and Grady reconciled. Though Ashlee tried to convince Daisy that Grady was a bad guy, Daisy told Ashlee to back off since she loved Grady. That same day, Ashlee found Grady rummaging through Dinah's desk and blurted out what Daisy told her. Knowing that Grady set up the police to apprehend Daisy's former boyfriend, Rafe, Ashlee decided to expose Grady by interviewing Rafe. Though Rafe confirmed that Grady set him up, Daisy continued to side with Grady.

That same day, Grady ominously warned Ashlee that if she put up more blogs, Daisy wouldn't have anything to do with her. Desperate to get Daisy away from Grady, Ashlee tore her blouse, spread dirt on her face, and prepared to tell everyone that Grady attacked her. Unfortunately, at that moment, a mugger came on the scene and attacked Ashlee for real. Luckily, Grady was nearby and chased the mugger off. Though she briefly considered telling everyone that Grady did it, Ashlee confessed that Grady saved her. From that point on, Ashlee softened towards Grady. However, she still didn't want her best friend dating a loser and, near the end of the year, got him a job at the mayor's office. Later, when Doris was caught in a fire, Grady volunteered to drive an upset Ashlee to Cedars and offered to take her home.

In 2009, Ashlee led a quiet life working at WSPR and being a friend to Daisy. That year was also one of heartache when Coop was left fatally injured from a car accident. Ashlee got to say goodbye to Coop before he died and admitted to Daisy that she always thought there was a chance that she and Coop would get back together. In the meantime, Ashlee developed a harmless crush on Grady which she confessed to Daisy. However, Ashlee's feelings quickly changed when she discovered that Grady had kidnapped Lizzie months earlier. By this point, Grady had disappeared from Springfield. When Ashlee told Daisy the news, Daisy refused to believe it. Not long after, Daisy met James Spaulding who was obviously interested in her. When James invited Daisy and her friends to go to Universal Studios, both Ashlee and Christina Moore convinced Daisy to go. Months later, the Cooper family found research notes on a book that Coop had been planning to write about his mother, Jenna. Since the Coopers were in danger of losing Company, Blake decided to save the restaurant by finishing Coop's book. With some assistance from Cyrus Foley, Blake was able to finish the novel with Ashlee transcribing.

Later, when Doris jokingly asked if Ashlee would write a book about her, Ashlee admitted that she didn't even know much about her. Days later, Ashlee was shocked when Doris confided that she was a lesbian. Doris admitted to a shocked Ashlee that she had always known but kept it hidden from Ashlee because she was afraid. Hurt that Doris kept such an important piece of who she was hidden from her,, Ashlee got upset and ran off. After talking to Rafe, who recently discovered that his own mother was in love with another woman, Ashlee forgave Doris. Soon after, Ashlee was offered a writing fellowship to Berkley University. At the same time, Daisy was accepted as well and the pair decided to go to California together.