The practice of yoga could help improve one's strength and endurance, which were beneficial for pregnancy.Summer was speechless after hearing Holly's explanation. Yoga was an exercise that she liked, yet Caroline had used it for such purposes. Because of that, Summer was rather turned off by the remainder of the lesson.Summer took a shower after the lesson was over. Then, Luca led her elsewhere. This time, it was for a piano lesson. According to Luca, it was imperative for an outstanding lady of the Quigley household to be proficient in at least one musical instrument. That way, she could perform for guests whenever.Summer wasn't too pleased to hear that. What was this about performances? If these so-called guests wanted to listen to some music, they could just hire a professional orchestra or band. Why did she have to go through all this trouble learning an instrument?Luca coolly countered her, telling her that it was one of the Quigley family's rules. Learning how to
"I don't think I can accept this," Summer complained. She puffed out her cheeks, looking upset."I'm sorry," James said."You should be. I wouldn't have to suffer like this if not for you. Why did you have to marry me?"Though it was precisely because of her marriage to James that Charter Corporation's crisis had been resolved, she never would have agreed to it if she'd known she'd have to suffer like this.James didn't know how to coax others. He raised an eyebrow, not knowing how to respond. Ultimately, he said, "Those lessons shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, they're exactly what everyone else had to go through.""Everyone else"? Summer figured he was probably referring to the children of the four most prestigious families. She couldn't help asking, "Do you rich kids from the four most prestigious families have childhoods?""Childhoods?""Yeah, like memories of playing hide-and-seek, going on trips with friends, or even going for classes with your classmates.""No,"
James and Summer didn't know each other too well. They'd slept in separate rooms when living at the apartment. Even now, despite being at the Quigley residence, they continued to sleep in separate rooms.When Caroline heard about this, she was furious. Summer had just gotten into bed when Caroline came knocking on her door.Summer wanted to open the door, but before she could get close to it, Caroline had already opened the door. She had a spare key, so she'd unlocked the door and barged inside before Summer could let her in. The first thing she said was, "What's wrong with you, Summer?"What was wrong with her? Summer could ask her the same thing. Wasn't Caroline supposed to be the almighty lady of the Quigley household? Wasn't she aware that she had to wait for someone's permission before entering their room?Summer didn't question her, though. She asked gently, "What's wrong, Mom?""How can you and James be sleeping in separate rooms? How are you going to have children like
James didn't say anything. He nodded silently and walked Caroline out, successfully making her leave. On the other hand, Summer looked woeful. James had mentioned earlier that they would share a room starting tomorrow, which meant she would have to sleep in the same bed tomorrow night.Who knew what would happen when a man and a woman were alone in a room?When James returned, Summer asked, "Do we have to sleep in the same room tomorrow?""Yes.""That won't do! You know what things are like between us now." Summer meant that they hadn't consummated the marriage. Heck, they hadn't even done things that regular couples did.James was considerate enough to say, "Don't worry. We'll share the same room, but not the same bed. I'll sleep on the couch."He pointed at a black leather couch in one corner. It looked long and wide; it wouldn't be half as bad as a bed. But was that really appropriate?Summer appraised him, looking worried. James was the president of a company and the scion
Summer waited for half an hour before Caroline dragged her feet to the table. She wore a loose, red outfit. She said coldly, "Oh, you're already here. Let's eat.""Alright." Finally, they could eat. Summer was ravenous after having waited for so long. She excitedly picked up her cutlery.The Quigley family was quite particular about the way cutlery was used. Fortunately, Summer had gotten a lot of practice when eating with her parents.She stabbed a slice of foie gras, wanting to put it into her mouth, when Luca cleared his throat. It made her falter. She looked up to find Caroline staring sharply at her. It was as if she was trying to spot even the slightest mistake in Summer's actions.Summer didn't know what she'd done wrong. She smiled bitterly and asked, "What's wrong, Mom?""Is that how you usually eat?"Wasn't this the only way to eat? Summer didn't understand what she meant. She recounted the things she'd done but was still unable to find anything wrong. "Yeah. I eat
"Uh… not really." If Summer had known what the problem was, she wouldn't have given Caroline a chance to pick on her. It was precisely because she had no idea that she felt so on edge.Caroline shook her head, looking disappointed. "Honestly, I don't know why there are so many issues with you. Don't you even have basic manners? Look at how you eat—you don't seem like an educated woman at all!"Summer wanted to rebuke that. She'd graduated from university. How was she uneducated? If she had to say someone was uneducated, it would be Caroline. After all, no one with proper manners would point at someone while criticizing them.Still, she was Caroline's daughter-in-law. She couldn't be rude to her mother-in-law. She lowered her head and asked, "Mom, could you tell me where I've gone wrong?"Caroline scoffed and stopped berating Summer when she saw that the latter's attitude wasn't too bad. She said, "Remember to be elegant and refined when you're eating. You should learn from me."
Time was of the essence? What bullshit!Summer wanted nothing more than to refute Luca. If time really was of the essence, why had Caroline forced her to spend an hour on breakfast?Still, she had no choice but to grin and bear it. She struggled to her feet and followed Luca to her piano lesson.Just like that, a day passed. Summer probably wouldn't have felt so horrible if she'd only been subject to manual labor. But after spending the whole day being tortured physically and mentally, she could only flop onto the bed like a wilted plant.It was 7:00 pm. Summer lay on the bed, her eyes shut, enjoying her rare hour-long break. The break didn't go smoothly, though. She heard someone knocking on the door again.It probably meant that Luca was coming to her for something again. Summer was so exhausted that she didn't even want to speak, so she said sternly, "All I want to do now is rest. Leave me alone, okay? Whatever you have to say can wait until later."As soon as the words
Summer thought she could just get away with it. That way, she wouldn't have to see Caroline. She'd underestimated the situation, though.As she sat by the bed and played with her phone, feeling a little better, Luca called out to her from where he stood by the door. "Madam, please head downstairs for dinner.""Dinner? Didn't I already say I wasn't feeling—"Before she could finish, Luca cut her off. "Madam Caroline said that it's only right for a family to eat together. It won't do to have even a single person missing. If you're still alive, you'll have to head downstairs for the meal."James had probably already spoken to Caroline about how she was doing, right? Summer couldn't believe Caroline was still insisting on her heading downstairs despite that.Summer gave in. She should've known there was no way she could win against Caroline, especially since she was on Caroline's turf. She had no choice but to go along with whatever Caroline wanted while staying here.Summer cont