I can barely recognize myself in the mirror when the make-up artist finally steps away from my face.According to mum’s order, she had made me look a bit mature with the powder and concealer just to fit Mr. Austin.I guess she is ashamed of the man just like I am for her to go to this extent.“I have a few jewellery pieces, I will bring them now,” Mum says to the makeup artist and leaves immediately. Few minutes later, she returns to my side with three different jewellery pieces “Which one would suit her outfit from amongst these pieces?” Mum inquiries, in deep contemplation. Then I see her eyes linger on the pearl necklace.A scoff escapes my lips. I would never have believed that she would one day care about my looks enough to give me something from her expensive jewellery collection if a day like today didn’t come by.Anyone who doesn’t know Mum will think she loves me so much and want me to be presentable, not knowing that she has a selfish reason behind her attitude.Some
“Go on!” I snap. “Go ahead and rip it so you can finally prove to mum that things go horribly wrong when you are with me otherwise, I’m well behaved. Also, the maids are outside and can clearly hear out conversation.”Rolling my eyes, I add, “Even if they can’t hear out conversation, the subject remains that the jewellery ripped after you walked into my room. Let’s see how long Mum will continue to feign ignorance.”Instantly, the smirk on Brenda’s lips disappear and finally, I can exhale in relief, knowing that my threat worked.Although I’m not confident about finally proving a point to mum because it might end up backfiring since she is so biased, I don’t take any risks.“I don’t need to cause any troubles for you today because you are already in one,” Brenda sneered, folding her arms below her chest. “You are getting married to an old man who wouldn’t even treat you well, so it’s fine if you play a little dress up game today with Mum’s stuff. I can put up with that.”“Get the
Mum’s actions doesn’t surprise me. I was never expecting her to punish Brenda after all, she has loved her for almost twenty years.It would be an impossible thing to expect her to suddenly punish or hate Brenda. But I am content with the seed of doubt that has been successfully sown.Arriving at the private tea house where the family meeting was scheduled, one of Dad’s bodyguards holds the car door open for me, something that I have never experienced.Brenda snorts and walks past me to go hold Mum’s hand, but right as she is about to cling to her, Mum turns to me. “Hurry up and come here!” As soon as I get to her side, she takes my hand. “You better put up a smile today. Don’t look like a robot in there and disgrace your father and I.”I don’t say anything in return as my eyes search for Brenda, wanting to know how she must be feeling to not receive our parents attention. I see her with a scowl sitting on her face immediately my eyes find hers. At least she hasn’t fainted yet.
Tessa, Christopher, Brenda, Mum, Dad and I are overwhelmed by different reasons known to us, but I try to take a guess starting from me.I had prepared my mind that I was meeting an old man based on the facts Brenda had spewed, but to my surprise, it turned out that she was mistaken. But the shocking fact is that the arrangement is with Christopher, my Boss.Now, Christopher is not just my boss, he is my one-nightstand partner! And I had just submitted my confession to him yesterday. I’m not even sure he has watched the clips, so who dare I try to gauge his current thoughts?A breath gets caught in my throats as the waiters start to serve the dishes and I immediately grab the glass of water sitting in front of me to chug it down.I don’t even dare to lift my gaze feeling Christopher’s eyes on me. I bet he wants nothing more than to murder me.There is a high chance that he will reject this arrangement. My job is not even safe, then how can it be a marriage with him given the weig
The ambulance soon arrives, and Mum goes with Brenda first while I stay with back with that for a few minutes.“My apologies, Chairman Moore, for the disruption. Brenda has not been well lately. And with your permission, I will take my leave now,” Dad says to Tessa’s grandfather and I catch a tinge of regret and embarrassment off Dad’s eyes.It must have shook his pride to experience this abrupt situation in the Moore family’s, and he is in no way happy about it.“The situation is understandable. Give me a call after you have settled your family’s business,” Grandpa Moore says to him.Dad bows gratefully to me before taking me along as he left the private room.I somehow manage to catch Tessa mouthing ‘I will call you later’ before Dad drags me away.Dad doesn’t say a word to me on our way to the hospital. He is both anxious and annoyed but as for me, I sit back and relax without a care in the word.I think that Brenda chose this moment to faint just to ruin the meeting. She de
Today must be one of the happiest days of my life because what in heavens is going on here?I was eavesdropping to know if Brenda will say anything bad about me so I can know their next step, but instead, I got something wonderful.Who on earth will believe that Mum and Dad will scold Brenda and blame her at the same time and ask her not to join in the next family meeting?I chuckle within myself and straighten my back with a big smile on my face. Finally, there is something more important to Mum and Dad than Brenda, and that happens to be the connection with the Moore family.At this point, I’m not even worried if Christopher will cancel the engagement or not, I just feel so happy to know that Brenda doesn’t rank the highest in Mum and Dad’s life.I reel in my happiness for a moment, but when I press my ears to the door again, I hear Brenda crying and sniffing.“It’s all my fault,” she says, taking the blame. But I know that she has only got started with another emotional bla
“Austin,” Grandpa calls me and immediately corrects himself. “Treat your fiancée well at work. You both will be engaged after the second family greeting.”I don’t say a word in response to that instruction, and he doesn’t bother because he knows that I will not defile his instructions.Tessa chooses to ride with my back to the family residence and I can’t get her to shut up knowing that was the exact reason she chose to join my car.“Wow! I am the happiest woman on earth today. I will go to church for a Thanksgiving prayer and offer arms to the poor. I won’t even get man if anyone offends me today.”A deep breath escapes my lips. This is what I have been hearing her say for the past five minutes since we got on transit.I don’t see a point in her happiness but as a thought occurs to me, I quickly turn my sharp gaze to her. “Did you know Emily was the woman the family arranged for me?”“No!” she denies immediately with a small furrow to her brows. “Believe me, I am as shocked a
SUNDAY.Emily’s POV.Brenda regains control of Mum and Dad’s love at the breakfast table but at least this time, there is peace.Everyone seems to be in a good mood except for Brenda and I.Well, Mum and Dad are happy with the family meeting with the Moore’s and the agreement half-reached that they can’t smiling from ear to ear.Brenda looks a little moody; still feigning weakness and unwell but otherwise, she is eating well. I bet to think that she doesn’t want to ruin the atmosphere today with her usual targets at me after being scolded for the first time in her life.On the other hand, I have no reason to be in a good mood regardless of the peace at the table. Even if anyone makes a rude remark at me, I won’t even battered an eye or be angry about it. I will simply focus on finishing my dinner and leaving.I am yet to get a call from Christopher regarding the marriage agreement or the one-nightstand case. I am very worried because I can’t even tell his thoughts or his plans.
“What’s funny?” Christopher asked in genuine confusion as he met my gaze, but I quickly shook my head, refusing to answer that question. “Nothing,” I smiled at him. “I shall return to my desk. Have a good day, Mr. Moore, and see you at your lunch.” As soon as I made my statement clear, I opened the door and walked out, shutting it with a soft thud. Then it took me a few moments to recover and adjust my emotions before making my way back to my office. Stella was eagerly waiting for my return which was evident from the way she leaned out of her table as soon as she saw me walk back in. “What is Mr. Moore’s excuse this time around?” she inquired with her gaze on me and I told her the exact reason Christopher gave to me. “Oh…” Stella drawled. She had a mixed expression at the news. While she was happy that Barbara wasn’t promoted because she was deserving of that position, she was still a bit dissatisfied with her. Just like me, she must be wondering if there wasn’t any other w
“I just stepped into the office this morning and learned the worst news in recent times since I started work at Transcorp,” Stella started, turning her full attention to me. And I can tell by the way her jaw flexed that she was trying hard to control her emotions. I pretended not to have any idea of what she was talking about just to be on the safer side and probed, “What bad news did you hear?” “Barbara Collins was promoted and moved from the secretary’s desk to the Management department. Didn’t you hear about it when you clocked in this morning?” Stella inquired, narrowing her eyes. I could tell she was just mad at the situation, and not at me, so there wasn’t any need for me to lie to her, especially when she was being so honest with me. “I heard about it,” I admitted as my shoulders naturally slumped. I’ve been tensed all morning since finding out the news, and I still felt that Christopher owed me some answers. “And you have no idea why she was given a promotion she didn
Emily’s POV. As the warm water from the shower splashes on my head and pours down my body, I can’t help but think about Christopher and what he was doing now. We didn’t have much time to ourselves at work today and standing under the shower only made me miss him more. Thoughts of Christopher occupied my mind until I turned off the shower and stepped back into my bedroom dressed in my pyjamas. And in my bid to quickly check my phone to see if there has been any text from him yet, I discovered that one of my bags which I returned from work with, was missing. My brows creased in worry as I began to think of the place where I must have left it because I am quite sure that I took both bags with me while leaving my office. “Did I leave it my car or...?” My thoughts immediately come to a halt when I finally remembered the last possible place where I might have left it. Almost immediately, anger consumed me as I opened my door and stormed out of my bedroom. I can’t imagine that I w
“Honey, you should know my sister doesn’t care about how long she has known this Christopher before deciding to marry him,” I said to Oliver, my tone dripping with honey. “So, she only cares about taking revenge on me?” Oliver asked, meeting my gaze with a scowl sitting on his face. He looked very displeased as if Emily didn’t have any right to do as she pleased with her life. I smirked to myself and slowly nodded in response, as innocence contoured my face. I have to sow more discord why pretending to be oblivious to them. “I believe that’s what she is thinking about. Also, like I said, this Christopher Moore is from the famous prominent Moore family. Emily will definitely pick him as her partner as along as she feels he’s better than you.” As I made that striking statement of indirectly calling Oliver inferior, I laughed inwardly as I watched him gnash his teeth from the corner of my eyes. But then, I had to go into another coughing fit as my expression grew weary. Almost i
Brenda’s POV.I have been sitting in my bedroom, impatiently waiting for Oliver to come find me since I heard of his arrival, but I have no idea of what has been keeping him downstairs. If I didn’t have to pretend to be totally helpless, I would have already found my way to the living room long ago. But as if Oliver could sense my displeasure, he knocked softly on my door and came in when I weakly approved. “Babe,” Oliver called me softly as he quickly rushed over to my side with concern laced in his brows. “How are you?” My eyes turned teary as I attempted to sit up on the bed, but he quickly assisted me saying, “You don’t have to struggle to do this while I’m here,” While I enjoy this, I can’t help but actually hope that his mind is still divided. It would be futile for him not to be concerned about Emily and her impending wedding after my efforts last night. I won’t even let it happen.“I have been waiting for your visit. What took you so long?” I asked weakly, allowing m
Emily’s POV.Work was a lot tasking today. I felt so exhausted that I could use a full body massage to relax my tensed nerves. But this is something only a phone call from Christopher would have solved. Sadly, he is pretty occupied today.As soon as I finished the last document I had to review for the day, I shut my computer and left the company, expecting to get home and get some rest only for me return home and see Oliver and his parents sitting in the living room chatting with Mum and Dad.Honestly, I had no idea the Jones’ would be in our house today even though Mrs. Jones had phoned Mum last night. Although I had heard Mum’s happy voice from the door as I walked a minute ago, it never occured to me that there were only a handful of people she invited home and had this kind of reaction with while chatting, and that the Jones should be the more appropriate family.My stomach churned, especially at the sight of Oliver. I don’t know why he still affected me so badly even though
Barbara was a bit uncomfortable with my out-of-the-blue question. Her lashes fluttered lightly as she looked towards her father for help, but he either didn’t see her since he wasn’t looking her way, or he pretended not to have seen her subtle gesture.Whichever one it was, I am still waiting for Barbara’s response because I won’t let her get away with this. Her actions are annoying and the sight of her is irritating.Seeing that she couldn’t get away with my interrogation she smiled sheepishly and returned her gaze back to me.“I took a half-day off from work today.”“Why?” I probed, leaning out of my seat with all manner of curiosity as a deafening silence hit the room. And I’m glad that everyone apart from Barbara knew better but to be silent.Barbara looked anywhere but at me as she answered my question. “I wasn’t feeling too well, but I’m all good now.”A scoff escaped my lips before I could gauge my reaction. Nothing infuriated me more than this woman’s nonchalance at my
THURSDAY. Christopher’s POV. Thursday was a busy day for me and I barely had the time to check on Emily. But to make up for it, I invited her to have lunch with me during lunch break. Emily looked a bit stunned by the offer as she set my food down. “I have my lunch already. Also, while it’s true that Stella won’t say anything since she knows we are together, we can’t disrupt the work ethic” Emily said to me with slightly furrowed brows. If this had been any other day, I would have let her escape unfortunately for her, I’m not in that mood, so I pinned my gaze to her and ask, “Are you sure you don’t want to have lunch with me, and would prefer eating with others?” I asked her that question, I rubbed my jaw subtly with my fingers and licked my lower lips without doing as much as blinking. How could Emily resist this temptation? I am not always proud, but some special occasions calls for it, like today. Emily let out a deep sigh and plopped herself on the couch.
Emily’s POV. “I see that you are happy and satisfied with your best friend,” Christopher said with his gaze on me as he crossed his leg over the other while sitting on a chair as Tessa and I walked into the room and shut the door. From the shameless attitude he displayed back in the dining room, I thought that I would see him on my bed by now, but it turned out that he could be a gentleman when he wanted. “Of course, she’s always proud of me,” Tessa jumped in before words could form in my mouth. “Are you jealous that you don’t have any good friend like they way we do?” “Who said I don’t have good friends? What do you take me for?” Christopher retorted. Meanwhile, Tessa pretended to think for a moment before saying, “Oh... I remember now. All your friends are living abroad, so you are back here alone and lonely.” Tessa wriggled her eyebrows playfully after finishing her remark and I bet she’s very proud of herself while Christopher remained unaffected with her teasing until th