CHAPTER 03

At night.

Almost everyone from the family gathered at the dining table and began eating, all except one who was still standing and serving food for others.

He was the only son-in-law of the Sterling family, yet taunts and mockings were flung at him every other minute. Even the children took part in it enthusiastically.

Sunday was a cheat day, so Selena was gorging on everything her hands could get hold of. While everyone sitting ate their fill to the point of burping twice or thrice, nobody offered Benjamin food or told him to sit and eat, not even his wife.

He was hungry, but he was fed their trivial talk peppered with lies. He had to listen to them exchanging lies to one another. For instance, the children lied the most by hiding things they were doing. Lisa was chatting with her boyfriend since afternoon, but she lied about that. Roshan was watching exclusive stripping videos since evening, yet he acted like he was doing his homework. The other two children, who were much younger, also prepared their own share of little lies when in fact they had been watching gory videos on the internet.

After everyone finished with their meals, all except Jacob started speaking about the good or worth-mentioning things they had done on that day.

Selena said she pulled off an excellently emotional acting scene of blackmailing her ex-husband in the movie, and it indirectly gave Jacob goosebumps.

Shawn, the eldest son of Jacob, said, “I’ve received 70% commission after two of my clients applied for their life and vehicle insurances.”

Louis, the second son, spoke, “I and my wife were focused on our business, as usual.”

“I’ve created a new bikini model,” Rebecca said. “Waiting for it to be accepted.”

Veronica grinned and showed off the bikini she was wearing through her see-through dress, “I have been testing out sis’ new bikini prototype since the past week, and tomorrow, I’ll leave a professional review for her!”

Lisa and Roshan talked about their school experience. The other two children mumbled as usual.

“That concludes today’s dinner,” Jacob said, slightly burping.

Everyone was about to get off their seats, but Selena said, “What about you, Trashmin?”

Benjamin was the only one standing, and he didn’t hesitate to say, “I’ve delivered pizzas, of course.”

Lisa chuckled. Roshan shook his head. Veronica smirked. Rebecca stayed silent.

Shawn glanced at his father. “How much longer should we put up with this, father? I don’t want to see an incompetent guy’s face every day in this house. He has a bad influence on our children, too, with the way he carries himself without much care in the world. When will you kick him out? After the world finds out that he’s your son-in-law?”

Jacob wiped his mouth extra clean with a handkerchief tucked at a maid’s waist. “You think I take pleasure in seeing this nobody every freaking day in my villa? I’m bearing this disgrace only because of my daughter, because she kept him by her side.”

Shawn’s gaze quickly shifted to Rebecca. “When are you going to divorce him?”

“Why should I tell you?” Rebecca spoke back in a sharp tone. “Will you tell me when you’re going to divorce your wife?” she cast a brief glance at Elizabeth, the long-haired blonde sitting next to Shawn. Her curly hair and chubby face made her look very motherly and appealing to the eyes, but the same couldn’t be said about her character.

“What?” Shawn stood in haste, smashing his palms on the table, startling almost everyone, except the one standing. Benjamin was ready to rush in if Shawn were to attack his sister.

“Shawn, calm down!” Jacob and Selena quickly said, almost standing up in the process.

Shawn gritted his teeth before coldly barking, “Don’t forget that I’m your elder brother. I may not earn as much as you do right now, but I will definitely inherit more of Father’s business and wealth than you do.” Saying that he left.

“Hmph,” though Rebecca didn’t like what she was hearing, she knew Shawn was speaking the truth. Jacob loved his two sons more than his two daughters. Both of his sons were older than his daughters and shared his facial features, so Jacob naturally doted on them since they were young. Rebecca had to work hard to prove herself in order to receive some love from her father. Veronica, on the other hand, was too busy with her own life to care if her father liked her or not.

“If you don't want to divorce him…” the second son, Louis, advised, “you can just keep him in the shadows and marry a capable rich man. This guy can still serve as a bodyguard to you and your new husband. Nobody will ever doubt that he was your first husband. That would solve everything.”

Benjamin didn’t like what he just heard. He couldn’t help but cast a hateful glance at the curly-haired Louis, whom he believed was the most mysterious and dangerous candidate of this family. Even though Benjamin tried to find what work Louis exactly did, he couldn’t find a single detail in the eight months he had been in this villa. Louis wouldn’t even reveal his earnings to his parents, after all. But since Louis was taking care of his wife and children well, neither Jacob nor Selena pressured him into revealing what work he exactly did these days.

Louis looked like an innocent man wearing glasses. One could easily mistake him for a librarian who never consumed eggs or meat, but Benjamin, with his experience, had the feeling that this guy was a snake living in a suit. His orange-haired wife, Bella, was also as mysterious as her husband, if not more. She would rarely speak even to her own children.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Louis pursued his sister. “If you want, I can find you a capable husband. A man you deserve.”

“Why are my brothers always trying so hard to show that they care for me?” Rebecca asked them back, a hint of resentment flowing through her voice. “If you really cared for me, you would have guarded me properly so I would have never slept with such a man! And, you guys…” She looked at her parents, “you are responsible for this, too.” She stood at once and strode away in quick but heavy footsteps.

Soon, everyone left for their rooms.

Benjamin sat down at the table, but he wasn’t feeling as hungry as he was before the dinner had started. He couldn’t digest the fact that his wife still saw him the same way she did on the day of marriage. “You vowed in the presence of God, to love and to cherish me till death do us part, yet you still seem to hate that I’m married to you. I know I took your virginity, but how long are you going to punish me for that one night? Even the moon gets to shine brightly once every month, but why am I suffering here for eight months straight if not to experience an inkling of your love? When will you understand my feelings? After my heart breaks?”

He stood and walked off without eating.

A couple of minutes later.

Benjamin knocked on a door twice before entering a room. There were two beds fixed six feet apart. Rebecca was laying on one of those and was reading a fashion magazine. He came to his bed and fell at once and closed his eyes.

She briefly glanced at him before getting back to reading.

Benjamin opened his eyes quickly. (Did she look at me just now?) He could see she was immersed in reading the book. (Nah, she couldn’t have.) Still, he kept watching her, and it reminded him of the time he first saw her in the bar, wearing a splendid green dress, when her beauty that could make even lilies and jasmines envy bound him in an invisible cage, and her smile burned his chest and burdened his breath. Men had surrounded her like bees would surround honey, yet she ignored all those male bees and came up to him who was sitting at a corner table and revealed herself like the moon revealing itself through the clouds and cast his darkness away. That was the shortest yet the most memorable night Benjamin had ever experienced.

He shut his eyes again.

As seconds turned into minutes, he began to murmur in his sleep. “I love you, Rebecca. I really do.”

His murmur was loud enough to reach her ears in that silent room. It made her eventually close the magazine she was reading and put it away. She got down from her bed, came up to his bed and pulled the blanket that was at the end of the bed so that it now covered him up to his shoulders. Without looking at his face any longer than a second, she went back to her bed and switched the lights off.

A few seconds later, the lights turned on again. She came up to his bed and pulled the blanket down to one end of his bed before switching the lights off.