Chapter 9 - What A Joke

Fiona knocked at the door and entered when she heard Moriah give her permission to enter.

Hearing the assent, Fiona went in and found Moriah sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Moriah, dear," Fiona called out to her.

Moriah turned towards the owner of the voice and put down the book on the coffee table.

Moriah smiled. "Mom, do you need something?"

"I want to go shopping, can you come along?" asked Fiona with puppy eyes.

Seeing her imploring eyes, Moriah can't say no to her mother in law.

"Mom, give me a bit of time to get ready," she headed to the closet to change.

She undressed facing the mirror. She gasped upon seeing numerous hickeys on her chest, the valley between her breasts.

Moriah gritted her teeth seeing her reflection, her fury burned all the more.

She needed to buy a night gown for tonight's black tie event as the concealer couldn't hide the marks Ethan left on her body.

"You don't need to worry about the evening gown, your gown will be delivered in the afternoon," Ethan said while he stared at her intensely.

She covered her body and whispered - yelled at him, "Get out of here!"

Ethan advanced as Moriah backed away. Ethan held her back to prevent her from falling.

"Don't be shy, I've seen it all," he bent over and sealed her lips with his own, greedily kissing her.

A burst of metallic taste spread in his tongue when he was bitten by Moriah.

Unlocking their lips, Ethan licked his lips. Moriah's forest green eyes blazed with fury which made her more alluring.

He leaned over to kiss her again, but Moriah pushed him, saying, "Your mom's waiting for me."

Ethan's phone rang, he answered, walking out on Moriah. She heaved a sigh of relief as she watched Ethan leave.

Fearing that Ethan would come back, she quickly dressed up and exited the closet.

"Young madam Miller, the old madam Miller is already waiting in the car,' butler George told Moriah as she came down the stairs.

"Thank you, Uncle George," Moriah spoke to the servants with great respect that her parents told her to treat people with the utmost respect, regardless of where they stand in life.

Fiona told the chauffeur to drive them to the shopping mall.

As they arrived at the shopping mall, Fiona wanted to have coffee first before going to shop. She wanted to have a chat with Moriah first before shopping.

"When did you meet Ethan?" asked Fiona when they were waiting for their coffee.

"When we were in high school," Moriah answered.

"Really?!" Fiona was surprised, she never saw Moriah whenever they had a party.

"Did you date at that time?" She asked again.

"No, we didn't," she felt uneasy talking about his nemesis, now her husband.

"How long did you date?" Ethan never mentioned any woman to her. She only sees her son on the news with different women each month.

But she never saw Moriah in any of them.

"We didn't date that long and got married instead," Moriah felt bad telling lies.

How could she tell her mother in law that Ethan married her because his best friend left her at the altar.

"My son fell head over heels for you that's why he married you at once," Fiona chuckled.

It took all of Moriah's will to hold back from rolling her eyes.

She laughed from within hearing that her sworn enemy fell in love with her.

What a joke.

After finishing their coffee, they went from shop to shop.

The bodyguards who were with them carried the paper bags containing the bags, clothes, makeup, jewelry and shoes Fiona bought for Moriah.

Moriah couldn't get Fiona to stop buying. Fiona reasoned that she wasn't able to buy gifts for Moriah before she married Ethan.

According to Fiona there should be an engagement party and a grand wedding, but Ethan didn't give her what she deserved.

So she's making up for her son's shortcomings.

Moriah had sore feet after walking too much as they went from shop to shop. She had to soak her body in a warm bath to alleviate the soreness.

Two hours later, a servant came and told her that someone came to deliver her gown. Two women came inside the room.

"Madam, I'm Renee, I'm your hair and make -up artist for tonight's occasion," a lady the same age as Moriah introduced herself.

"Hi, Renee, I'm Moriah," she offered her hand for a handshake.

Renee was surprised that she wasn't a snob like Hazel. She's the wife, but she's down to earth, she thought.

Renee held Moriah's hand for a handshake.

"And your companion, what is her name?" Moriah asked.

"Hi, I'm Riley, stylish at Crescent Fashion", she reached out knowing that Moriah was no snob.

"Moriah here," she smiled and shook Riley's hand.

"Renee, I don't like heavy makeup, I'm a doctor and I'm not in the habit of putting on makeup," Moriah said, heading to the dressing room.

Renee and Riley followed suit.

"Don't worry, it will only be a light makeup," Renee told her and let Moriah sit on the stool.

Moriah, Renee and Riley had a good chat while they were doing her makeup and hair.

"Your hair and makeup are done, now let's help you put on your gown," Renee said to Moriah.

"No need, I can do it, myself," Moriah didn't want to expose the mark's Ethan left on her skin.

"Fine, we'll leave you then," Riley said, Moriah was relieved that they readily agreed with her.

"Thank you very much," Moriah hugged both of them before they left.

"Dear, you look exquisite in your gown," Fiona said adoringly, she looked around and asked, "Where is Ethan? He's not coming with you, is he?"

"He got a call a while back and needed to attend a business meeting tonight," the guilt racked her up for telling another lie to her mother-in-law.

"Off you go now," Fiona tenderly said.

"Thanks mom," Moriah said as she hugged Fiona.

Moriah was late for a good one minute as she was stuck in a traffic jam due to a minor car accident on the road.

She spotted a few guests making their way inside the hall as she emerged from the elevator.

She was walking as fast as she could to get in with the other guests, as she did not want to enter the hall by herself.

However, she didn't make it as the last guests she saw entered the hall.

She took a deep breath before pushing the enormous door.

As she entered the spotlight stopped where she was. She shielded her face with her arm as she was startled by the blinding light.

Soon her eyes adjusted to the light, gradually she dropped her arm.

All eyes were on her when the floodlights stopped on her.

Moriah was bewildered why these people were looking at her. She walked and roamed her eyes to look for Cindy but couldn't find her.

Ethan's blue eyes became dark seeing his wife in her dark purple gown, her green eyes more beautiful than ever.

The gown didn't show her cleavage and neckline, but the two side slits almost reached her behind. She's incredibly beautiful, yet she had no idea.

Hazel raged with jealousy as she followed Ethan's gaze. Again, his eyes were glued to Moriah.

A slow smile crept on Moriah's face when she saw Denver approaching her.

"You're so beautiful," Denver could not help but to sing his praise. He took Moriah's hand and kissed the back of her hand.

"What a flirtatious woman," murmured Hazel, Ethan's body became stiff.