Chapter 6 The Unconscious Bride

Ella felt a rush of disgust run through her body. His question really upset her. Or was it the tone of his voice? Like she wanted to be there at all. However, she couldn't deny the fact that it was actually a good and reasonable question, considering the fact that they weren't really married.

"Dressed like that..." Will continued, looking at her from her head down to her feet.

"Your food, Master." She said sarcastically, curtsying as well.

Will frowned. She was trying to make a fool out of him again.

"I asked you a question, didn't I?" He asked again.

"The housekeeper made me do it. I went down to fix up something to eat, and I found her there. She gave me a small lecture about consummating our marriage, and she asked me to bring this up here to you so that we could consummate our marriage." Ella explained.

Will's ears shot up. Why would Ella ever agree to consummate their marriage? They weren't even into each other. "And you agreed to...consummate this marriage?" He asked.

"Wh-what?? Agreed?? Of course not! Just take this tray out of my hand so I can leave. I only brought this up here because it was part of our agreement to make our marriage look believable. I've done my part, and now I'm ready to leave."

Will nodded, collected the tray of food, and loudly shut the door to her face.

"That was rude!" She yelled, hoping that Will wouldn't hear what she said. She wasn't ready for any of his troubles at all.

Going down the stairs, she muttered to herself, "like I even wanted to come to him in the first place." She scoffed.

Will opened the door again, and she thought that he had heard all that she said. "Hey, where's my cutlery in this?" Thankfully she wasn't in trouble, but he had some nerve to order her around like she was the housekeeper.

"My apologies, Master. I'll bring them to you." She replied with a slight curtsy.

"Not you. Send the housekeeper." Will replied, and shut the door again.

She wanted to knock on the door, and make him understand that she was also not interested in him, not even in the tiniest way possible, but she refrained, and just went to deliver his message to the housekeeper.

When the housekeeper asked her why she wasn't in there with him, she just lied that she wasn't ready to have sex with a man just yet.

The housekeeper went on with her advice anyway. Talk about how a man can get it from outside if he wasn't getting it from his wife.

To hell with those rules, and to hell with the housekeeper for making her job a little more tasking than it ordinarily would have been.

Ella wondered if she couldn't just tell the woman to not interfere in her private affairs, but she feared that it would arouse suspicion if she seemed unwilling to get laid by her husband.

When the woman finally went away, Ella heaved a huge sigh, quickly made cereal, and rushed back into her room before the housekeeper found her again.

That was exhausting! Who knew that pretending was that hard. She could swear that she had puked a dozen times in her mouth.

"Consummate my marriage indeed. Eww."

***

Morning came by rather swiftly, and Ella would not have woken up, if not for the bright light that seeped through the window, and rested on her face.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to get a grasp of her surrounding. She woke up with a striking headache, and she realized that it was due to the stress that she went through the previous day, and also because she slept late.

She got up, and opened the curtains. She wondered what she'd do all day. Just then, she heard a knock on the door. She dragged her feet to the door, still rubbing her eyes. It was Will.

"How lazy can you be? It's almost 10am, and you're just getting up?" Will said immediately he realized that she just got out of bed.

She wanted to roll her eyes, but she knew that doing that would get him annoyed, and she wasn't ready to go down that road with him.

"Good morning, Master Will." She greeted. She figured that if she just acted like the other workers did, she would avoid his troubles.

Will nodded, and ushered the housekeeper in. The woman dropped a box on Ella's bed, and quickly stormed out. "Make sure you don't address me like that when we're in front of people." He continued, referring to her calling him Master.

She nodded.

"You look like shit. Do something about that before the ball begins. There's your dress," he said, pointing at the box that the housekeeper just placed on her bed, "a lot of important people are coming to this event. Do not disgrace me. See you at 8pm." He warned, and left before she could say anything else.

Ball? No one told her about a ball! She panicked, because it meant that she would have to associate, and act graceful, and poised, and in all honesty, she wasn't any of that.

She bent her back when she sat, she had a terrible walking posture, and she couldn't hold a conversation with rich people. Look how much she was struggling with Will.

She had to act fast because she had little time to figure something out. Just then, it came to her. YouTube! YouTube could teach her anything, including how to act refined and polished.

The ball was set for 8pm, so she had roughly ten hours to prepare, both physically and mentally. She heard that rich people could be mean, and she had also experienced it when she worked as a waitress, so she had a whole lot of work to do to impress everyone. Despite the fact that she hated being married to Will, she still had her duties to perform, and she needed to do them well. This was a real job, just like every other job she had taken in the past, and she always had annoying bosses.

She spent the entire day in her bedroom practicing all that she was learning on YouTube, and she was doing really well.

It was almost eight O'clock in the evening, and everyone was already downstairs at the ball, dancing, exchanging pleasantries, and basically having a good time.

"Where is your bride, Will?" Anthony, Will's acquaintance asked him when it seemed like Ella wasn't coming down.

"You know how these women can be. I'm sure she's rounding up now." Will responded.

"You're right. You know her so well." Anthony responded, raising his glass towards the direction of the staircase where he saw Ella. "There's your bride. Go get your woman."

Will and the other guests turned towards her direction.

There she was, dressed in the most beautiful ball gown in the room.

Will gave himself a mental pat on his shoulders. He did that. He did a very good job selecting that dress for her.

She killed the look, and Will almost forgot that she was from the middle class.

He walked over to the end of the staircase, so that when she came down, she would meet his hands, and he would lead her to where others were.

Elegantly, she walked down. Careful about her steps, and practicing everything she had learned on YouTube. She didn't want to embarrass Will, and most importantly, embarrass herself by tripping over.

However, her fear became a reality when she slipped and almost fell, if not for the timely intervention of Will, who caught her in his arms.

"Where is the housekeeper?" Will yelled at the top of his voice.

The woman scurried across the room, and fell at his feet.

"I'm here, master!"

"Did you purposely do this? Do you want to shame my bride? Why did you leave this oil spill here on the staircase? What if she fell?" Will thundered, playing the role of an upset husband perfectly.

Ella was astonished, but she didn't let it show. She just tried to play along, and make their marriage look believable.

"Calm down baby, I'm sure it was just a mistake." She said, the thought of him being her actual baby almost choking her throat.

"Clean it up! With your hair!" He commanded, and the house keeper gasped.

"Oh young master, I am so sorry. I made sure that this hall was sparkling because of this ball. Maybe I am being sabotaged, but believe me, it wasn't me." The woman pleaded.

"Do it!" He ordered, his eyes glaring with fury and rage.

Slowly, the housekeeper did as he asked.

Ella stared at the faces of all the guests present, hoping that she would find an ounce of sympathy in their faces, but they didn't look a bit remorseful about what was happening. They in fact, supported Will with their gestures and hums.

Wow! So this was the class of heartless people she would be stuck with for a year? She still tried to act the part, but deep down, she felt bad for the housekeeper.

"Now leave." He stated in a low but authoritative tone, and she quickly left.

Will put her down lightly, like she had the weight of a leaf.

They walked to where others were, and he introduced her to each and every important person present in the room. She met with men and women of high caliber, people that mattered, heads of states and their wives. Some were welcoming, while others were discriminating; they asked her who her parents were, and other absurd questions that really didn't matter.

Thankfully, no one said anything about the incident that happened the previous day with Tracy. She was glad, maybe the noise was slowly dropping truly.

However, her mood changed when she saw Tracy and Mrs. Maria exchanging pleasantries with other guests. She stylishly moved towards where they stood so that she could hear what they spoke about.

"I don't approve that girl, I tell you. How can I approve someone who isn't from a reputable family, or have any relevance in the society? She," Mrs. Maria said referring to Tracy, "is who I approve of, and I don't know why my son chose that disgusting lowlife woman over her."

Well Mrs. Maria wasn't saying something she had not heard before, so she wasn't at all bothered. However, the response from the guest Mrs. Maria was talking to lifted her spirit a bit. "She looks, and acts like us. Maybe she doesn't want you to know the truth about her background, because from what I've seen tonight, she is definitely a polished woman. May I advise you? Try to say something positive about your daughter in law, it would take nothing from you."

Ella saw the look in Mrs. Maria and Tracy's eyes change to a provoked look. She left immediately the guest said that. She wasn't going to hear what Mrs. Maria's response would be.

The night ball finally came to an end after what felt like another10 hours to Ella, even though it was just two hours. She was exhausted and tired. Every other guest had gone home, but she couldn't find Will. She wanted to ask him how her performance at the ball was.

She walked down the hallway, and headed for the kitchen. As she moved closer, she heard whispers. Who could possibly be whispering in the kitchen? She was eager and curious to know so she took off her heels, and began to tiptoe. As she moved closer, the voices became clearer, they were two people in a conversation.

"She was so lucky I tell you. He saved her."

She knew that voice anywhere and anytime, it was Tracy.

"I can't stand the thought of that lowlife spending another night with my man."

"Calm down. I'm sure the house keeper tried her best. She received so much humiliation from Will out there."

She recognized the other voice as well. It was Mrs. Maria? When she realized, she rolled her eyes, and made to leave them to their bitterness, but she was eager to know what their next line of action would be.

She continued to listen to Tracy rant, and Mrs. Maria pet her. She realized from what they said, how much resentment they had towards her, and she couldn't help but ask herself what the reason was. Why would they be so upset at someone who was a nobody?

She felt her phone vibrate in her hand. Shoot, they were going to hear since the hall was so quiet.

"What was that?" She heard Tracy ask.

"I heard a vibration." She continued, "I'll see who it is."

Ella panicked where she stood. She wasn't scared of Tracy or Will's mother, but she didn't want them to find her there.

She hurriedly turned around to leave but Tracy was quicker.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mrs. Will Sanders." Tracy called out, making Ella stop in her tracks.

"Why're your shoes in your hands, looser?"

Ella sighed. She wasn't ready for any of her drama but she had to face it now.

Slowly, she turned around, face to face with her nemesis, and before she could blink twice, she felt an agonizing pain on her head, and she fell to the ground. Against her will, her eyes closed and her body didn't feel like hers anymore.