08 Thanks but no thanks

Hours later. Mara left as it was getting late, she needed to run some errands for her mother. Before she left, she encouraged Tessa to be strong as all of this would be over soon.

Tessa shrugged back on her bed after Mara left. Her mind reminiscing on the day's event, she could recall the hurt in Aaron's voice as he made those dreadful promises to her on the altar. She knew he didn't want to be married to her, Lisa remained his only true love.

It hurts for someone you love, to love another. She only came into his life a few days ago, so it was understandable if he didn't see her in the way she wanted him to.

She stared at the mirror and wondered how long she had to put up with Aaron before he found the woman he loved, Lisa.

As she lay on the bed, gradually drifting off to sleep, a knock came on her door, which made her open her eyes and let the person in.

Deep down, she wished it was Aaron knocking, probably coming to check up on her. Tessa knew that her wish was futile. Aaron would never come to check on her, not after he made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with her, and she was only here to stand in as his substitute bride until he found the woman he truly loved.

The door slid open and Eleanor walked in. "Hey Tessa, why are you in here all by yourself? This is your house now and you should be comfortable. I know you don't want to be here but consider me as a family now and do not hesitate to let me know if you need anything" Eleanor said, bearing a comforting grin on her face.

Tessa looked up at her and was taken aback by the warmth in her eyes. "She's such a nice woman. If only Aaron could be this nice to her" She muttered inwardly.

She smiled and replied "Thank you so much Eleanor for being so kind to me and thanks for checking up on me but I'm exhausted and would rather get some sleep"

"Alright. See you in the morning then" Eleanor said and left, leaving her to get some sleep.

………

The sun shone brightly into Tessa's room, coursing her to open her eyes. She winced slightly, trying to adjust her eyes to the rays of light.

She had slept off on her wedding dress. She struggled to get down from the bed and entered the bathroom thereafter to shower. 

She wrapped the towel around her body and walked to the wardrobe, ready to change into something casual. 

She opened the wardrobe and all her clothes were gone! She was about to search the room for her clothes when Leilani walked in, carrying bags filled with clothes.

"May I know where my bags are?" Tessa questioned, bearing an unreadable look.

"The young master asked me to replace them with new ones. Here" Leilani said, bringing out her hand to hand the bags over to Tessa.

"How come l wasn't informed? Please can I get my bag back?" Tessa retorted.

"I'm sorry ma'am but that won't be possible as the young master instructed me to burn them and l have," Leilani said, stuttering a bit on seeing the angry look on Tessa's face.

"Whatt? How dare he give out such orders without letting me know? Where is he?" Tessa fumed.

"In his room ma'am," Leilani stuttered.

Tessa left her room furiously, muttering words that Leilani couldn't hear, oblivious to the towel wrapped around her body.

Without knocking on Aaron's door, she badged in.

Aaron looked up and smirked on seeing her, one could tell he was waiting for her confrontation. 

"Look who we have here. To what do l owe this surprise? Never knew you would be in my room this soon" Aaron said sarcastically. Annoying the hell out of Tessa, who glared at him angrily. 

"Why did you ask Leilani to burn my clothes without asking me first?" Tessa asked, ignoring his tantrums. 

"Oh, l see she told you already. Well, l don't think you need those rags anymore, so l have them replaced. You should be grateful that l did, what's the big deal about burning your old clothes? I didn't think you would have a problem with that Tessa" Aaron replied, giving off an evil smirk.

"Next time, don't just assume Aaron. They are my clothes and is right you'd inform me first before burning them. So thanks but no thanks" Tessa said and walked out on him, even before he could say anything. 

Aaron was livid as she left. "How dare she talk to me in that manner. She must really have some nerves" Aaron muttered inwardly, clenching his fist hard in anger.

Tessa walked into her room. Not so happy about the way he talked to Aaron. He just has a way of getting on my last nerves. She thought to herself. 

"He was rude to me. But why do I feel bad, talking to him that way? Maybe I should be grateful that he changed my clothes" Tessa thought to herself. 

She made a mental note, to apologize to him later and thank him for the new clothes. 

After Leilani informed her that breakfast was served. Tessa went downstairs to join Aaron and Eleanor at the dining table.

As she entered. She greeted them and pulled out a chair and sat down. 

"Hope you had a good night's rest, Tessa," Eleanor asked as she sat down. Aaron ignored her completely. 

Aaron had this look of disdain plastered on his face. He looked as if he was going to skin her alive for what happened earlier.

A few minutes later, Eleanor got a call and left, leaving the both of them at the dining. Tessa could feel the tension between them, she tried hard not to say a word.

She occasionally stared at him. Wondering how a man could be this cute, he looked like a Greek god and his physique was alluring. One minute, she's angry at him and the next minute her anger manages to go away merely looking at him. It was so hard to stay angry at him for too long.

"Is he just going to sit there and not talk to me?" Tessa wondered inwardly. 

She cleared her throat and broke the awkward silence between them saying. 

"I'm sorry about how l spoke to you earlier"