Lauren suddenly began to suffocate. This wasn’t happening, was it?
This definitely wasn’t real.
She was supposed to be married to an old, ugly, fat man—according to her imaginations—and not to the most powerful figure in the entire city. She looked at her poor signature that now looked like a piece of rubbish beside his polished one. Why didn’t she realize it from start? The blue eyes would have told her so but she had been so convinced because it was rare for a commoner like her to ever come so close to him.
Unperturbed by her frequent glances, Malcolm added some ice to his glass of whiskey and gave the glass a shake before taking a sip of the strong liquid. “You seem surprised, Ms. Byrne.”
“H..How can it be--?” She stuttered.
“What? Am I not up to your class?” He threw back, catching her off guard.
Lauren was at sea. He always had a way of forcing someone into
It was barely 6 a.m when Lauren woke up the next day. She had barely slept the night before; not when she was scared he might pounce on her. Grabbing her robe from the bed stand, she headed downstairs. She might as well give herself a tour before Mr. High-and-Mighty awoke. Walking into the sitting room, she bumped into Michael “Good morning, Michael.” She greeted. It was funny how she had thought he was her husband the day before. “Good morning, Ma’am.” He replied with a slight bow.She looked around the empty sitting room and chuckled, “Seems I’m the first to awake.” “The Master doesn’t come down until 8 a.m.”She mouthed an ‘oh’ nodding repeatedly, “And Bunn—I mean, Bryan?” “Breakfast is usually served by 8, so they both come down by 8.”Lauren’s brows creased, “Bryan doesn’t go to
Kate helped Lauren turn off the tap while she grabbed a towel from its rack to wipe her wet palms.She turned and flashed a smile at Kate, “Thank you, Kate. I’ll just go upstairs and shower before breakfast.” “Yes, Ms.” Kate replied.Just as she was about to turn the doorknob and open the door, she heard the main door open, followed by loud bickering. Her brows creased, she peeped through the small opening in the door, to see a man and a bickering woman. “Who are they?” Lauren whispered to Kate, not wanting to be noticed. “The master’s parents.” She replied.Huh? Parents? She might not be an ardent follower of the Knight family but she knew their last family head looked nothing like the man standing in the sitting room. “Are you sure? How comes…” Her voice trailed off. she didn’t know if it was okay to mention it to the mai
Malcolm coughed lightly. Michelle did what?!According to her file, she was the spoilt brat of the Byrne family and those words perfectly translated into she can’t do domestic chores. Perhaps she paid Kate to lie. That was the perfect explanation—she bribed Kate to lie. “So, tell me dear, who taught how to cook?” Joyce asked.Lauren smiled. “I lived my whole life learning it from my mom and our nanny…” Lauren coughed realizing what she had just done. She gave an awkward smile, “Actually, what I meant was that I used to sneak into the kitchen when I was younger and nag the chef until she agreed to teach me a few recipes. Behind my mother’s back of course.”Joyce smiled, “I see. She must have been a very good cook.”Lauren remembered her mother and smiled unconsciously, “She was the best.”The sound of a chair being drawn back attracted their attention.
Lauren spent the entire day doing nothing and she hated herself for it. Maybe because she was used to eating herself up with work. She had joined the servants to wash the dishes against their wishes but she was careful enough not to join them in preparing dinner—not after Malcolm’s reaction that morning. He had left the table the minute Kate had spilled the beans. Did the thought of her irk him that much? Or was it to tell her that she had no busy whatsoever preparing his meals. Bryan stayed in his room the entire day. It seemed he was avoiding her too. She sighed. Should she tell him?Tell him what in particular?That she was the girl by the pond? That they had met twice? Or that the old skank she had told him about was actually his father? But he wouldn’t believe. Unless she was willing to take off the mask and show him her real face but she was scared. what if he ended up telling his father and blowing up the entire cover? Her family would on
Lauren walked down the street with a sigh, knowing the guards Malcolm assigned to her wouldn’t let her out of their sight. Two blissful yet boring weeks had passed since their contract marriage. During the first week, she had stayed indoors trying to get closer to Bryan but the little boy’s apathy for the opposite sex had grown so large that it might take a year or more for her to break it.Suddenly, her eyes caught a handsome boy outfit being displayed in a shop. She gasped and imagined it on Bubby’s body. Perfect! She nearly clapped her hands in glee but quickly remembered she was in public and it would be weird to see a young woman of a high social class dressed in an expensive designer dress and shoes clapping like a boy who won an award. Quickly, she half-ran into the shop, afraid if she wasted a bit more time, someone might end up grabbing it. She smiled and gave the attendant a nod to remove it for her but the minute she touched it, she almost let go
As the car pulled to a halt in front of the Byrne mansion, Lauren patted her chest severally and did a few breathing exercises to calm her almost racing heart. she hadn’t heard from Grace ever since she left this house. She hadn’t stepped a foot into the house too; she couldn’t help but wonder why the sudden distress call. Alighting from the car, she made her way into the house, greeting the butler fondly. It seemed Malcolm had really kept his part of the deal that was why the butler had returned. Walking into the sitting room, she met Grace and her father waiting for her. “Hello, father, Grace.” She greeted.Grace scoffed before her father could reply, “Grace? Really? You ungrateful wench!”Sighing, Lauren sat down on the couch, “You asked for me?” carefully, she removed her mask, perhaps to show Grace that she wasn’t Michelle. “You seem to be living so big now that you forgo
As the car entered the Knight mansion, Lauren removed every trace of sadness from her face, replacing it with a smile. She walked in and went straight to Bryan’s room.She knocked quietly, “Bryan? Can I come in?”There was no reply at the other end.She knocked again, “I’ll take that as a yes. I’m coming in now!”She pushed the door slightly open and walked in. Bryan laid on his big bed, playing a video game on his laptop. “I didn’t ask you to come in.” “You didn’t ask me away either. How was your lesson today?” she asked sitting beside him on the bed. “Boring, as usual.” He grumbled.Lauren smiled. She was making progress. Before, his answer would have been a nod of head or a curt reply. “Boring? You don’t like your teacher?” she acted surprised. “Shhhh!” He shooed, “D
Lauren disengaged from the hug filled with smiles.Bryan tapped her shoulders, “I’m so sorry, your dress’s all wet because of me.”Lauren looked at the big wet circle on the shoulder of her dress and smiled, “It is no big deal. You can cry more if you want to.”He shook his head, his eyes were all puffed and swollen. “I’m sorry.” “Stop saying that, will you?” she scolded. “I have to go now. Will you be fine on your own?”He nodded.She smiled, “You’ll come down for dinner, right?” “Will you cook dinner?”Her eyes widened, “You want me to?”He nodded. Lauren laughed, feeling smug. “Fine. just make sure you come downstairs for dinner, okay?”He nodded and reluctantly, she left for the master bedroom. The briefcase by the bed told her Malcolm was back. The thought of him re