Chapter 6

AVA

I worked in the kitchen, preparing a light lunch of avocado toast for myself. It's been more than a week since I got married into this family, and my situation hasn't improved.

Clara doesn't spare a moment to slander my name in the presence of various guests that grace the mansion, demeaning my place in the family and undermining my worth by addressing me with scornful remarks such as the illegitimate daughter, Liam's babysitter, and a gold digger.

It beats me why she dislikes me so much. I have never said anything or attacked her from the very first day I stepped into the mansion. But she and her lecherous brother have chosen to make my marriage insufferable. Uncle John does little to stop his children from tormenting me.

But I will never let them break me. I've endured too much to fall now.

Sometimes I wonder if this is how Liam is always treated because of his mental illness. Liam—I really am married to a child in the body of a man. He had a doctor's appointment, so he left with one of his personal workers assigned to take care of his health.

As I made lunch, footsteps approached me from behind. I rolled my eyes, already imagining it to be Clara or Davies, but upon pivoting, I was met with the features of one of the housemaids, Tamy.

She was my only friend here, treating me with respect and honor, unlike the majority who seem to side with Clara. "Mrs. Tyson, good afternoon. You have visitors, ma'am," she announced to me.

My brows creased. Visitors? Since when? I barely had any friends; I didn't have a social life, so who could the visitors be?

"I think you are mistaken. For me or for Clara?" I questioned.

A warm smile spread across her lips. "For you, ma'am. Your family paid you a visit, and they are in the living room waiting for you," she explained to my greatest shock.

My eyes widened at once, my features appalling. My family? They were the last people I ever thought could visit me. Why?

Without wasting any more time, I turned off the toaster and ambled quickly to the living room. True to her words, my entire family had really paid me a surprise visit. Their faces lit up upon seeing me, taking me aback.

What could possibly prompt them to visit me?

"Father, stepmother, uhhh, Amelia. What a surprise. I was never expecting any of you. I hadn't prepared anything."

Amelia stood to her feet and embraced me mildly, "C'mon, you don't actually have to do anything. We just came to check up on you. How does getting married to Liam feel like?" Her words carried a sinister intent.

I wasn't buying this plastic display of kindness. "Now we all know that's a lie. You all have never bothered about me since I lived under your damn roof...." I spat.

"Ava, that's not a nice way to talk to your elder sister. You know deep down we actually are very concerned about your welfare," my stepmother, Isabella, cut in.

"Oh, really?" I chuckled darkly, my tone laced with mockery and sarcasm. They have always cared about me? In what sense? Ever since I was little, I was looked upon as an outcast and a plague. Even the maids at home were empowered by my own family to humiliate me.

"Ava, stop all this fuss. I thought you'd be extremely grateful to us for marrying you into a rich home, but I guess I expected too much from you. Ungrateful and bitter," Amelia snapped at me.

I smiled wryly, nodding my head. "Now, this is the Amelia I know, the rude, selfish, and cunning stepsister of mine, not that facade you were trying to put up. If you all don't tell me your main purpose of coming into my home, then believe me I'd have you all thrown out like the uninvited guests that you are," I warned them, my eyes glaring at every single person.

"Ava," Isabella gasped, a hand on her chest.

"There's no use being cordial with her. She doesn't deserve it," my father snarled at me.

"Says the man who never saw me as his daughter but instead as a curse and a slave," I mumbled to myself, not loud enough for them to hear.

He then cleared his throat, marching towards me with a stern determination. "Ava, you owe us a favor, and we came to collect that favor."

What favor? My brows furrowed, my facial expression filled with confusion.

"When we arranged your marriage to Liam Tyson, it wasn't without its benefits. The Tysons promised us a partnered corporation and investment between our two companies. This was to begin almost immediately after your marriage. But it's been close to two weeks now, and John Tyson doesn't pick up my calls or respond to my emails or texts," he meticulously explained.

I was amused, trying to stifle back a laugh. "So I was the sacrificial lamb used to fulfill your needs. You know I actually wondered why I was suddenly trapped in an arranged marriage to a wealthy but mentally unstable man. You needed money from the Tysons, and you didn't think twice before selling me off to get what you wanted. What a father," I snapped.

"You married him for his money believe it or not so why are you acting as some sort of saint? Isn't John Tyson supposed to pay you off after the one year elaspses? You are no saint neither are you better than any of us" Amelia scowled.

"YOU ALL got me married to him for money. I was against it. Father you really disgust me" I snarled, laying emphasis on the first two words

"How dare you talk to me in that manner, you ungrateful thing!" An earsplitting slap landed on my cheek, instantly leaving my eyes stinging with tears. My hand subconsciously held the now-reddened cheek, tears threatening to stream down my face as I gazed at my father. "You just slapped me," I breathed.

"And you deserve even more of it. If not for my kindness and compassion, you'd have been rotting in the slums of this city, with that whore you call a mother. I took you into my family; everyone accepted you. I showed you luxury and got you married into luxury, and this is what you can say to me?!" he bellowed, his voice reverberating in the stillness of the mansion.

Could he hear himself speak? My eyes flickered towards Amelia, and an impudent smile spread across her lips.

"Don't you dare act like you were some sort of savior to me, father. I was mistreated and belittled every single day I spent living in that house! I didn't beg any of you to accept me into that hell called a home," I retorted.

"And if we didn't, who would have accepted you? Your stupid mother that abandoned you? You would have died a long time ago, Ava. You are an illegitimate daughter, and you owe this family your entire life," Amelia snarled, stepping forward.

All the while, Isabella remained quiet, not saying anything to the rancor going on. Suddenly, my father gripped my chin in such a way that it settled between his thumb and forefinger, the intensity of his dislike for me hot against my skin.

"Father, let go of me," I winced in pain as his nails dug deeper into my skin.

What sort of a man is this?

"Now listen here, you little brat. I am your father, like you said, and I have the power to crush you, best believe so. You will talk to your in-laws and convince them to help us. You owe this to us," he sneered before roughly pushing my face away.

I glared at him. "I don't owe shit to you. You got me married into this family, to a mentally impaired man for your own selfish interest, and now you want to guilt-trip me into doing your bidding? Do your worst, but I won't be your puppet. Get out of my house. All of you, else I'll have the guards outside drive you out," I commanded them harshly.

"Ava," my stepmother Isabella finally made her voice known, her steps gentle towards me. "We brought you into this house, into this wealthy family. Just have it at the back of your mind that we can as well send you out of this family and back to the streets. Think about that," her words were acrimonious, her eyes flashing with a bit of resentment and yet...concern?

"No. I will not. My marriage was arranged for a period of one year and as far as I'm concerned I'd be a dutiful wife and take care of my husband until the one year elaspses. Whatever other agreement you have with John Tyson is none of my business. Solve it yourselves and leave my house"

"Let us leave then. We know when we are no longer welcome," she pivoted, muttering to Amelia and father. Amelia hissed at me before walking away, escorting her parents outside.

If my family really thinks they can wake up and all of a sudden expect me to be their puppet and sum it up by threatening my stay in this house, then they are dead wrong!