Kenny I was more than prepared for her outburst. But instead, I got her pity. “OMG, Kenny, are you alright?” Copper shot out of her seat and held me up by the shoulders. “Are you hurt anywhere?” “The sauce…” I blinked. She shook her head. “Don’t you worry about it! It’s only food. You’re more important.” I heard my father’s voice. He sounded pissed. “Boy, what’s wrong with you?!” Dad shouted. “Are your eyes for show? Did you fall asleep while standing up? Huh?!” “I-I… It was an accident. I swear. I’m sorry Miss Harmony.” “Please, call me Copper.” At the same time, Dad’s wife held Copper from the side. “Come with me. Let’s get you changed.” She nodded and allowed herself to be led away from the table. I looked back at everyone. As a butler removed the bowl from my hand, I gulped. Mom’s glare pierced my flesh like icicles. But, since frowning would give her wrinkles, she sat up and took a deep breath. “Son,” she spoke through clenched teeth. “Apologize to Mr. Harmony, and take
Copper “There they are!” Someone exclaimed. Kenny and I slowly strode down the stairs. Not only that, but my arm wrapped around his. Both of us smiled as if nothing was wrong. However, while we walked together, we didn’t hesitate to whisper our raw, and honest thoughts. “Marrying me won’t give you a better life,” Kenny said, nodding at his mother. “You’ll be in the center of the public eye and sooner or later they’ll make you a spectacle.” “I appreciate looking out for me,” I grinned at everyone. “But Mr. Harmony, you might know him, he’s your mentor, will teach me how to react if such an event were to arise.” “Mr. Harmony, can’t say I ever heard of him. Is he the reason you can act so well?” “Oh my, so you don’t know him. My bad, honey~ I don’t know how I could have mistaken you for one of his educated and well-mannered disciples.” Kenny sat in his chair and I did the same. Mr. Greenland spoke to me. “Did that boy apologize to you, yet?” “Yes, Mr. Greenland. He was a perfect g
Copper This woman stayed there, crying on the floor as if the world were about to end. Maybe to her, it was. While I froze up like a dumbass, Kenny took me by the arm and ran down the steps, along the maroon carpet, and out the door. While passing by that woman, I couldn’t help but gaze at her form. She stared at us in disbelief. I picked up the skirt of my wedding dress and tried to keep up with Kenny’s pace. Outside, many reporters flashed their cameras. Tons of security guards brushed past me and filed inside the church. The noise, the voices, the flashes. It was all so dizzying. “Kenny-” I began, shielding my face. Kenny already knew what to do. With quick movements, his jacket disappeared from his outfit and landed on my head. Thanks to that my eyes were completely protected. Several guards kept the paparazzi at bay. One called Kenny by his last name. Kenny nodded. His arm held my waist as he made us follow the guard through the parted crowd. As much as I wanted to focus on
CopperI walked downstairs after my nap with the intent of going to the kitchen. Hopefully, there would be something I could drink. Kenny wasn't here. Sylvester had yet to come back, and I had no interest in creating small talk with the maid whose name I had yet to remember.Not that I had an issue with her per se. We haven't even talked. Maybe we should. Maybe that would help put my mind at ease.When I arrived at the last step, the front doors swung open and four men dressed similarly to my grandfather's butler marched inside. My jaw dropped. They strode by both sides of a large trolley stacked high with gifts of all colours and sizes. They stopped in the middle of the foyer. I blinked. "Um...""Is something wrong, Miss?"I jumped and held my arms up defensively. After seeing it was the maid from earlier, they went down. "Oh, nothing. But what is this?"She stood close to me as her blue eyes took in the gifts. "These are the presents given by the guests at your wedding, Miss.""Wow.
CopperI stared at him for what must have been seconds before responding. "Yes. I figured you wouldn't want to be stuck with me on a tropical island. Do you mind?""Nah. Too busy for that, anyway." Kenny set the sandwich on the table and sat on the other end of the sofa with a sigh. He nodded to the colorful pile. "I see that you've already started sorting through the goods.""No, I was waiting for you.""Really?" He raised one eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. "How sweet of you."I shrugged, pretending to be oblivious to the sarcasm in his tone. "And since you're here, do you want to start?"By the time night fell, the room was littered with expensive colognes, bags, men's shoes, spy invites, and… two smartphones with a brand I never heard of. They came with a black card congratulating us and placed a request for us to review the product."What's this?" I turned to Kenny and showed him the card. He read it then smirked. "What, you've never seen shameless self-promotion before?"I
KennyWhat was wrong with me? What was wrong with her?Sleep eluded me, and for good reason. I still had no intention of getting close to her, not even a little. But it seems that she felt the same. That filled me with an unknown emotion that was hard to describe. While sitting there with her, I expected to be annoyed with her presence alone. Yet each time she unwrapped a gift, each little comment she made wasn't enough to make me feel that way. Her eyes brightened when she smelled something she liked and narrowed when confronted with something she didn't understand.It might just be all in my head, but I saw what looked like disdain when she realized the truth about our wedding "gifts". I took off my T-shirt and resigned to sleeping half-naked. Mother and Father got what they wanted, I'm married now. When will they get it that what people think of me is none of my concern? People should be looking up to me for my intelligence, not looking down on me because of some stupid rumours.
CopperThe sunroom had a beautiful view of the outside. The garden can be seen from here. I couldn't care less about it.One of the maids gave me a blanket, which I gratefully accepted. My anger had died down since this morning, but my anger didn't.Another maid was kind enough to give me a simple chicken sandwich when I asked for something to eat. Well, maybe I shouldn't say kind. It was her job after all. But I appreciated that she didn't have an attitude about it like the maids I saw on TV. "You can tell my grandfather that I'm ready to go home now," I told one of the guards standing by. He shook his head. "Not yet, Miss. Mr. Harmony will be with you shortly."Of course, he will. But I don't want to see his face. Or his cane. Or even be in this house anymore.My anger boiled up again, walking hand in hand with my uncertainty. The guard must have seen the look on my face because he quickly cleared his throat and averted his gaze. "Uh, I just received word that your husband has jus
Copper"So that's the boy you got married to," Mom said after Kenny went outside. "He's not giving you any problems, is he?"I brought the used dishes to the sink. "Not at all. He's a little straightforward, but not too hard to handle. He didn't want this marriage either so we sort of understand each other."Except that he keeps his distance from me for some reason. However, I don't mind. As long as he doesn't behave childishly and take out his dissatisfaction on me, there won't be a problem."That's good." Mom chuckles. "He doesn't seem like the talkative type."I shrugged. "He speaks when he has something to say and only then. Quite an odd fellow, right?""You've got that right." She kept smiling. What was that about?"Mom? What's wrong?" She shook her head. "I just never thought that when you get married, it would be like this. This wasn't what I envisioned for you.""It's only for two years." I shrugged and added soap to the dishwasher. "Besides, there's always later. I never pla
*Copper*I poked my head out and checked my surroundings. There were people here but not enough that would be a bother to me. I stepped off the pathway and sat on the closest bench I could find. It was hard, but oddly comfortable. Now that I could be left in peace, all the tension escaped my body. I sighed. Another day of school and catching up to make sure my grades are above passable. Sylvester took one look at my report card and had one of his students, Sher, to give me a test. Once I was done with that, he took one look at my test results, back at the report card, then back at me. We had an hour long conversation about how my grades didn't match up with my intelligence. In my eyes, I did better than most average students. I told him why I repeated a year. That's when he reminded me that there was no longer a need to hold back. That's why he has Sher tutoring me when it's the weekend and during some days of the week to go over what I got wrong. But most of the time I'm listening
*Kenny*I observed the way she watched me, tilting my head to the side.“Is that something you really want to know?” I said. She quickly nodded. “Absolutely! I wouldn't have asked otherwise. I can't help but be curious about you.”There she goes again, acting like a cute wife. I reached for both her hands over the table and held them, my thumbs rubbing the back of them. A smirk formed on my lips.“How could you forget that I fell in love with you the first time I saw you?” I stated boldly. “Your presence has been nothing less than amazing. If only I could have met you when we were children and married you sooner.”I thought my performance was satisfactory. Copper simply rolled her eyes.“I mean it, Mr. Greenland.” She pulled her hands away. I unexpectedly missed the warm feeling of her soft hands. “Why did you go through with the marriage? Were your parents threatening to withdraw your inheritance or something?”I thought about her words. As their only son, my parents wouldn't risk
*Kenny* I grew annoyed with myself. This was not the time nor place for my sexual frustration to catch up with me. From what I could gather, Julia listened and pretended that we weren’t there. As long as we kept quiet, then it shouldn’t be difficult to go unnoticed. The problem with that was that I couldn’t guarantee I could maintain that position for much longer. Her scent kept flooding into my nose. Our eyes met. I stiffened. She mouthed something to me. “That’s not your stepmom, is it?” I thought twice about how much I should tell her. It’s not like she is actually a part of this family. If I lied to her then there wouldn’t be an issue. “No, it isn’t,” I decided to tell the truth instead. Copper nodded in acknowledgement, but instead of going back to looking at the door, she kept her eyes on me. I found myself subconsciously counting every lash, taking in her heated cheeks along with the stray hair that had detached itself from the rest when I pulled her in here. I fel
KennyI remembered what my mother said. If there were any problems in Caroline's and his marriage, then I should tell her right away. Georgina had never had any respect for Caroline. I knew she gossiped with her friends as to how long their marriage would last. She delighted in seeing his life fall apart. And for the most part, I didn’t disagree with her.Up to this day, I didn’t know the reason for my parents’ divorce. They told me a bogus lie, something about them falling out of love, but it wasn’t enough. I’ve long since stopped trying to find out. But after seeing my father’s behavior firsthand in adulthood, I think I finally understood why.They were speaking to one of the store clerks. I recognized her as Mandy. “Give her whatever outfit she wants. Treat her well,” Hunter said with a smile. The words were directed at Mandy, but a flirty smile was targeted at that woman. The way he held her, her hushed conversations, and so tenderly she rubbed his arm told me that these two didn
KennyA woman dressed in a black tux approached us as soon as we entered the building. “Good afternoon, Mr. Greenland!” She bowed briefly to us both. “What a pleasure to see you once again! What are you looking for this fine evening?”I laid a hand on Copper’s lower back. “I’m just looking for something for my wife today. I’m thinking elegant, something that can help me show her off. Do you have anything like that in mind, Julia?”I could feel Copper tense but she didn’t say a word as she kept that smile on her face. Julia swept up Copper’s appearance, choosing to linger on her school uniform. It took only one look from me for her to stop. “Of course!” She quickly gestured for us to come further into the store. “This way! We received a new line of dresses not that long ago. I’m sure they will suit her quite well.”Copper and I followed her without complaint. Julia kept her face forward as if he was trying to hide her embarrassment. During our walk, my hand never left Copper back. T
*Caroline*I sat on the bed, bored out of my mind. But I had to stay here. He would be back soon and it had been a while since we slept together. When we first met, Hunter couldn’t keep his hands off me. And now, I could only silently wait until he was in the mood to receive affection. But I had to be patient. I couldn’t complain and make him upset. When we argued, I could feel him slipping through my fingers. I felt like I was losing him. That’s why I learned how to adopt a persona and attitude that would suit his tastes. With my freshly showered body in a white nightgown and my hair flowing over one of my shoulders, I tried to relax. Hunter entered the room. I smiled, feeling a huge weight off my chest. “Honey.” I got up. “You’re back! How was work?”Hunter gave me a swift nod. Instead of answering right away, he loosened the tie around his neck and walked over to the dresser. “It was fine. Did you talk to the salon owner about securing that dress you wanted?”He had yet to spar
Mary SueHe was wrong. I planned on getting away from him and quickly. Whatever he wanted from me wasn't good.I pushed my chair back. “If you leave, your full name, photo, address, and past job history will be posted on social media. Including everything you’ve done while working these… ‘acting gigs’. I have a strong feeling that I’m not the only one who wants to find you.”Gingerly, I sat back down. “I don’t know who you think you’ve found, but I was only leaving because some weirdo is acting like he knows me.”“Are you saying I don’t know you, Mary Sue?” He looked into my eyes. “I mean, you made such a fuss at my wedding. Don’t you want to talk about child support?”I swallowed a ball of spit. Sealing myself, I asked, “What do you want from me?”“Tell me who you’re working for,” he stated plainly. “And what they want with me and my family.”I scoffed. “Right, ‘cause everything is about you. I swear, you rich people make me sick.”The bell above the door rang. I stiffened, thinking
Copper I gave him a polite smile. “I’m fine. Kenny just let me know. What perfect timing.”His smile returned to his face. “Oh, yeah. He isn’t the best at communication.” He laughed and scratched his head, but it seemed forced. After getting no reaction from me, he cleared his throat and opened the passenger door. Once again, I smiled at him and entered. The ride was silent, but not in a peaceful way. I could tell that behind that smile Justin was struggling to say something. The windows were rolled up and the a/c was on, giving us complete privacy.“Do you want some music? I have plenty of new songs in storage so you can play anything you like,” Justin suggested. It would put the silence to rest but I didn’t feel like it. At least not here. I liked listening to music when I had the quiet and peace to enjoy it. There is no way I could get into the mood here.“No thanks,” I said. “I’m fine like this. But if you want to play something I won’t mind.”“You don’t need to worry about me,
CopperI raised my eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure I just told you.”“No, like…” Emily tapped on her bottom lip. “Everyone who’s anyone knows all the things I just told you. It’s not realistic that you claim to be from the Harmony family and yet not experience any of the benefits having that kind of money brings.”Oh, I see. That’s what it is. I kept my calm. “I haven’t lied, if that’s what you’re insinuating. I simply wasn’t raised to be concerned about that stuff.”“Yeah, I bet,” Emily giggled. Sabrine reached forward and whispered into her ear loud enough for me to hear.“I bet she’s some poor scholarship student who’s lying about her last name to seem interesting. If that’s not the case, she’s probably the daughter of a staff member. The ones that clean up after the important people.”I could feel my anger rising to the surface. I breathed in, then breathed out. I’m not at my old school anymore. I made a promise to my grandfather and my parents that I would be on my best behavior. Being