2- Not Beautiful

Justin De Luca's pov:

The way she fell on her mattress made me smile. Taking off my shirt I turned a little when I felt her eyes on my back.

Her face was hidden by her palms and her eyes were squeezed shut.

Didn't somebody tell her that shutting your eyes doesn't make you invisible?

Well. I think granny did a great job in training her.

After a shower, I put on a t-shirt paired with denim and went out of the room without glancing in that corner where my so-called wife was resting.... or should I say hiding?

"Here comes the groom, man. Congratulations! Liked your wife?" Sean never failed to irritate me.

"Shut up! She is NOT my wife." I snapped at him.

"Justin. Ignore them. You tell me. Did you feel that someone else is living in your room? If she did anything to make a pass at you I swear I will slit her throat." My granny was always this sassy.

"No, granny. To tell the truth, she is trained well. Thanks!" I kissed her cheek.

"Is she beautiful?" I heard my cousin Sean's dreamy voice and all I wanted to do was punch him in his face. There was still that scar on his left cheek which I gave him when we were twelve.

"I don't know, Sean. I haven't seen her yet. Can you please stop it? Or do you want another scar on your face?" He knew when not to push me any further.

He threw his hands in the air, "Hey. I am sorry. I was just teasing you."

I was about to shoot him with another insult when granny intervened.

"Sean. Stop it. Will you?" Then she put crackers on a plate and slid a bowl of soup along with the plate towards me.

"Don't worry at all, dear. She just reached here and doesn't know much about our family. I have asked her not to gossip with any of the helpers." Then she looked at Sean, "And no. She. Is. Not. Beautiful!"

The conversation ended with finality.

I must have hardly taken a few spoons of the soup when my phone started vibrating. It was a video call from my fiancée Sarah.

“Hey! Congratulations baby.” I could hear insecurity behind that excitement.

“How is your trip, Sarah? Enjoying?” I tried to act normal. She was the one who forced me into this marriage along with granny.

“I can never enjoy without you, baby.”

“I know, babe. Want to talk to granny?” I rotated the camera towards granny. Sean practically pasted his cheek to granny,

“Sarah! We are missing you. When will you be back?” Granny had hardly waved her when Sean started the conversation. He and Sarah shared a great bond. They both were buddies.

 “I know. I miss you too, Sean. Granny! Tell me about her. Is she pretty?”

Now, what was that obsession with prettiness? Sean asked the same thing now it was Sarah.

“No. She is not my dear. She was quite dirty when she reached here. After a long journey, the poor girl didn’t even have time to wash her face.”

I didn’t like it. She was not given a chance to freshen up?

“Granny. She should be sent to the bathroom after her arrival. Whatever she is doing, no matter how much we are paying her. We can’t strip her of her basic rights.”

I liked it when Sarah spoke my heart out.

“Oh, dear. Do you think I would do that? She is supposed to stay in that room for ONE YEAR. There is a big bathroom which she will be using throughout. Her meals will be sent to her. Isn’t it enough?”

“Oh. That’s good.” Sarah was satisfied. I was a bit more possessive about my bathroom. Due to some reasons, I had to agree to share my room and bathroom. That was just for one year.

Even Sarah knew that after becoming my wife, we would share our bedrooms but no bathroom sharing.

Call me a weirdo. But I could not bring myself to share my bathroom with anyone. That was the reason I hardly used public bathrooms.

After saying our goodbyes and exchanging flying kisses, I disconnected the call.

"Granny. I need to go. Thank you." I jogged outside to meet my friends.

I didn't realize that I let out a sigh of relief while going out.

I was not ready for this marriage but my grandma convinced me that she would choose a poor and ugly girl and would make her agree by paying her a good amount.

She also promised to train the girl. Whoever she was, I didn't want to see her face. She was just here for one year and then we will go our separate ways.

After that, I would be free to marry my fiancée Sarah. She would be the only one to enter my life as my lawfully wedded wife.

Little did I know that fate had other plans.