All Chapters of Secret Billionaire CEO Daughter-in-Law: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

*Anna*“You call this clean! What the hell is the matter with you, you numbskull?” Hattie shouts, tossing the skirt I just labored over for five hours in my face. “If you can’t get that stain out, then go down to the department store and buy me another skirt! With your own money!” My sister-in-law stomps away. I can only assume she’s glaring at me. It’s kind of hard to see with her 3X skirt draped over my head.With a grimace, I pull it off and take another look at the spot where she spilled wine at dinner last night. I honestly don’t see one trace of the red stain now, but who am I to argue? This is the Young household, and she is a part of the family. Granted, she isn’t any more a Young than I am since we are both married to brothers whose grandmother owns this enormous estate, but for some reason, Hattie is accepted into the family, and I’m… well, I’m just Anna.“Do you need another brush?” Winnie, the head housekeeper, who is one of the only people who lives here that is ever kind

*Anna*I eat dinner in my room by myself. I get ready for bed in my room by myself. When I pull the blankets over my shoulder on my sofa-bed, I’m by myself. Down the hallway, the rest of the family is either finishing their dessert and coffee, laughing and chatting, or they’ve moved to their respective rooms together to share an evening of television or conversation–together.Not me. I’m always by myself. Even when another member of the Young family is with me, I am alone. They certainly don’t see me as part of the family.A single tear slips down my cheek, but I don’t wipe it away. Crying has never done me any good. All I can do is keep trying to prove myself to everyone that I am worthy of my new last name, that I can make the other family members proud.I’m beginning to doze off when I hear voices outside of the door. I recognize Grant’s voice as he says, “That’s not true,” but I don’t know who he’s talking to at first.Grandmother Trudy's voice is impossible to mistake for anyone

*Anna*The clanking of silverware against fine China fills the air, making my head ring. I should’ve taken a Tylenol before dinner, but I was so nervous, I hardly remembered to put on matching shoes, let alone do anything not completely necessary.Grant sits next to me, like he always does when I attend family dinner, but something seems slightly different tonight. His chair isn’t quite as far away from mine, and every once in a while, his knee bumps into mine. Rather than pulling his leg away, he leaves it for a moment, as if he doesn’t find me repulsive.Around me, the rest of the family discusses their day, and I listen. When Hattie tells Fred that she found those diamond earrings he gave her for her birthday, the ones she thought she lost, he’s proud of her. I bite my tongue–I found those earrings when I was on my hands and knees picking up crumbs next to her nightstand. She ate tacos in bed while watching her favorite daytime television show and didn’t want to get bugs in the bed

*Anna* Something is wrong with my husband.Even though Grant rarely talks to me, and we hardly ever spend more than a few moments awake alone in a room together, as he goes about getting ready for bed tonight, I can tell he’s troubled.I did not go to family dinner tonight. After what happened last night, I may never show my face there again. It’s been difficult for me to put a single bite of food in my mouth since the family humiliated me about that cake–even though both my eyes and the scale tell me I’m not overweight. Nevertheless, it’s easier to believe a lie told by others than it is the truth we find in our own heart.I lie on my little bed, listening, as my husband goes about getting ready for bed. This is the same routi