Chapter 5 My in-laws

Ava

I sat still on the stool as I watched Caleb walk away. It's only my first day there and it was already on to a rocky start.

How could he boldly tell me no one would hurt me when that beautiful woman threw a mug at his head and she looked ready to kill someone?

I've never seen such pure rage in someone's eyes before. What Bryce had in his eyes for me was mostly disgust and hatred. And Caleb... Hm, I can't really tell what's going on in his head through his eyes, he's kind of unreadable.

But at least he was being nice... I think.

"You're really Mr. Morano's wife?" The chef asked me, snapping me away from my thoughts.

I nodded once.

"Oh my! Miss Valerie won't like that at all."

I wasn't sure if I should ask the questions running wild in my head, but I was curious.

"Is she his girlfriend?"

"That's what she thinks, but Mr. Morano never introduced her as his girlfriend. I heard they grew up together and have one of those friends with benefits relationship."

Ah, so she's his lover. And since she was dressed in a bathrobe, that meant they spent the night together.

I may not know much about love and marriage, but do you really sleep with other people on the night of your wedding?

Not like I could call what we had a wedding. We just went into a court, signed some papers and got out. Oh, and we kissed. More like he kissed me... and I liked it but was too scared to enjoy it.

"She's a really scary women." The chef went on. "We're always on our toes whenever she's around. I heard her family is really wealthy, almost at the same level of Mr. Morano."

"She's pretty." I muttered absentmindedly. When the Chef grew quiet, I looked at her noticing the look she was giving me. But I didn't understand it.

"You're also pretty, Mrs. Morano. I think you're even more pretty than she is."

As if! She's probably just being nice because Caleb introduced me as his wife.

"And since Mr. Morano married you instead of her, I'm sure he agrees."

I didn't say anything to that. I didn't want to tell her that I knew nothing about the man and that marriage was a sham. I was yet to find out why he married me rather than making me a slave, which obviously would have been better for him.

"You should eat." The chef said, giving me another once-over. "If this won't be enough, I could cook something more healthy and filling."

Great way to tell me I'm skinny without actually using the words.

I ate breakfast silently and when I was done, I asked the chef to give me something to do. She blatantly refused and told me there were a dozen maids and three of them barely had anything to do.

I didn't see any maids around, but the spotless house was proof that she wasn't lying. Feeling utterly useless, I returned to my room and sat next to the bed on the soft rug.

It was strange not having anything to do. With Bryce, I was the maid, the cook, the gardener, the plumber... there was always something to do and if there wasn't any, trust Bryce to make something up.

Maybe I had to wait for Caleb to come back and tell me what I was supposed to do for him.

I don't know how long I sat there hugging my knees, but when my door opened, I jumped up to my feet immediately.

It was Caleb.

His eyes trailed over my body, from my bare feet and stopping at my face. I could see a bit of annoyance behind those blue eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked me.

I felt like I was in trouble and I panicked immediately.

"I... nothing... did you... can I help you with something? I was... I was trying to be useful, but the chef told me you have maids for everything."

He studied me, a caught a glimpse of a small smile playing on his lips.

"That's the most I've heard you say. I don't know what you mean by being useful, but Gia's right, I have maids for everything."

"Okay..."

I felt awkward. Why wasn't he mad at me? I was slacking off and he was smiling? Well, almost smiling.

"What have you been doing here all day?" He asked, looking around the room.

All day?

"Nothing... Sitting."

"Come with me, let's have lunch together."

"Huh?"

He came over, took my hand and led me downstairs. His grip didn't hurt at all, it was almost like he wasn't even touching me.

He led me into the kitchen and nodded at a stool. I sat down. Then he went round the kitchen island, opening cabinets and the fridge, taking out some ingredients.

Was he... Oh my God, was he trying to cook?

I sprung up immediately, going over to grab the onions out of his hand.

"Let me do it." I choked out despite the fear I felt.

Would he get mad I was speaking out of turn? Would he think I was trying to poison him?

He handed the knife over to me. "Okay, you can chop the onions."

Huh?

"No, I mean... Let me cook."

He studied me again.

"Can you cook Pollo alla Cacciatora?"

"What?"

"Hunter's chicken."

I've never heard of that before and Bryce usually had a lot of foreign dishes he made me cook for him.

Caleb noticed my confusion and he sighed.

"Then you can help me with the ingredients and I'll show you how to make it."

Okay, he's definitely weird.

I nodded and we set to work. He really did take his time teaching me the recipe and there was not annoyance or anger in his tone.

The dish also turned out to be weirdly delicious. I didn't know men could cook that well. Especially not someone like Caleb who could in fact hire people to do such tasks for him.

We were halfway through lunch when Caleb glanced at his wristwatch and as if on cue, we heard voices coming from the living room.

We didn't move until we were done with our lunch, then Caleb led me out of the kitchen and introduced me to the chirpy women. One was holding a big glittery box while the other held a tote bag. There were four garment bags spread out on a couch.

I had no idea what was going on. I only heard Caleb tell the women to help me get ready and then the women made me take them up to my room.

They made me soak in the bath for a few minutes, then one sat me down and set to work on my hair. When she was done, the other opened her glittery box to reveal a bunch of make up items.

I wasn't allowed to see my reflection until I was dressed in the beautiful dinner gown. They led me over to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room and I gasped.

The green dress looked amazing, and my hair was all... fancy. The makeup made my eyes stand out, and I felt like a totally different person.

I was actually really pretty! I had no idea I could look like that.

"Wait, why am I all dressed up?" I asked the grinning women.

"Because it's time I introduced you to your in-laws."

I turned around to see Caleb all dressed up in a fitting tux, his hair was combed back and looked silky in a way that tempted me to run my fingers through them and...

"Huh? My in-laws?!" I asked with a gasp.