Chapter 5

Darin's POV

When I reach the mansion, I see my parents are already out and are waiting for me by their SUV. I look at my watch and it is two minutes past seven. I sigh. I know all too well that my father is a very, very punctual man. Unlike me. And I am in for some damn lecture now! I park my car and get out of it. My dad has a serious expression etched on his face and I know that he is about to lash on me. But I am just two minutes late for crying out loud!!

"Hey! mom, dad." I say with a sheepish smile across my lips trying my best not to be a victim of his oncoming outburst. My mom shakes her head at me.

"Had your mom not called you earlier to remind to come by before seven, young lad?" Asks my father in a cold tone that is enough to make me gulp. Yes, she had called me but what can I say? That it slipped my mind? No damn way happening!

"Uhmm...I am going to have a seminar, dad. So, I was preparing for the same and kind of forgot to take notice of the time. Sorry?" I say sheepishly.

"Okay, that is enough, Ben. Now, are we not getting late?" I let out a breath of relief. My mom comes to my rescue, as always. "Come on, get into the car now, both of you." My mom hollers us to the car.

My dad does not say a word again after that. He loves and respects my mom too much to go against her decision. And I admire him for that.

After a good ten minutes of drive, we reach at Rossi mansion.

"Be in your best behavior tonight, Darin." Says my father in the same cold tone and I just nod weakly at him. What wrong have I done now? He has always been strict, but loving. But nowadays, I feel like I don't know him anymore. My mom comes up to me and hugs me from the side in a reassuring way and I pass her a small smile. I won't let her think that I am by my dad's behavior towards me, even if it is true.

We are invited in by a maid. A few moments later, an elderly couple come into the big hall where we stand.

"Oh, hello! Mr. and Mrs. Morellis." Says the man.

"Hello to you too, Mr. and Mrs. Rossi." Oh! So they are the Rossis. "Please come, this way." Mrs. Rossi leads us into the big dining hall. I sneakily look the way of the dining table where so many delicious dishes are placed. I can feel my mouth water. It has been a while since I ate somewhere other than our cafeteria in the university or sometimes my mom's cooked food at our mansion.

I force myself to look away as I remember my father's warning from earlier.

"Hello, son. How is it going?" Mr. Rossi asks me I whip my head towards him and smile tightly.

"I am doing good, Mr. Rossi." He nods and whispers something into his wife's ear. She nods and walks away. I wonder what they talked about!

As we sit there on the lavish couch in the living room, I let my eyes wander around. I am taking in the beauty of the pictures hanging on the wall when my eyes meet those deep chocolate brown ones. My eyes widen in surprise. Is it real?

I see a girl coming into the living room along with Mrs. Rossi. She has those same set of chocolate brown eyes which I had seen that night. But her hair is long and brown. Is she not D? No, she can't be!! They both just have the same eyes. It can be a coincidence, right?

"Come, Ara." Mr. Rossi calls her as she comes near to where we are sitting.

"This is our daughter, Arabella." Her eyes settle on me and she smiles warmly at me after a moment. Though I am more than surprised right now, I return her smile coming into my right mind.

"Hello!" She squeaks and I frown. Her voice is nothing like D. Hers was deep, strong and dominant which I love to hear. She is definitely not her!

"Hello, dear. Come, sit with us." She nods before making herself comfortable on the couch infront of us.

"So darling, tell us something about you, what you like and what you don't." My mom starts the conversation. She smiles.

"Sure. I am currently planning to pursue my graduation in zoology. I have always wanted to do something for animals. And I like painting too."

"Oh, that is great. You know, our son here is also into science. You two are really connecting somewhat." My mom informs her.

"Really?" Arabella looks in my direction and I nod slowly. "Oh, then can we meet sometime again? I need some guidance."

"Ofcourse, you can. After all you two are getting engaged soon." Says my dad. Her eyes widen and her cheeks get flushed as she smiles shyly. Is she blushing? Is she really okay with all this engagement drama? I shake my head. She has not even started her first year in graduation yet.

Hormonal teenager!

I scoff internally, ofcourse, I don't need my dad to get any more mad at me than he already is. So, I need to play along.

I look at Arabella to find that she is already looking at me through her lashes with a shy smile. As much as I want cringe at that, I can't. So, I smile back at her and her smile gets wider showing me her perfect white pearls.

"Alright, so let's have dinner then. Shall we?" Asks Mr. Rossi. I look at my father while praying to God for him to say yes 'cause I am damn hungry. I can eat a man right now. And looks like my prayers are answered as he nods his head. I control the loud cheer of 'yes' that was threatening to come out of my mouth and stand up as Mr. and Mrs. Rossi lead us to the dining table containing all the delicacy waiting to be devoured.

As I am making myself comfortable on the chair, I feel an intense stare on me, and as I look up, I see that it is Arabella boring her eyes into my soul, with an unknown expression. She notices that I have caught her staring me and averts her eyes. I frown thinking why she was looking at me like that but that is pushed to the back of my mind when food is served.