Chapter 17

Twenty minutes later when I left his office, I could feel myself glowing.

But I tried to down it a notch considering if anyone saw me they would wonder why I was in such high spirits when not even 3 days ago my husband left me for another woman.

Speaking of my husband, there was something I was very curious about.

Or someone. His sister.

Caroline Harvey, my sister-in-law.

She was the more modest and graceful one of the twins.

You have one conversation with her and you will know she is someone who will play gently but can put you in your place when needed.

There was something strange about her.

Both her sister and mother seemed to dislike me but she on the other hand neither showed any affection nor any frugal distaste towards me.

And that wasn't what bothered me, the itch in my head was her acting more of a family to Jason and his dad than her parents and siblings.

I wasn't a fool to not notice the tension between the family. It was subtle but there.

Jason never had any conversations with my mother-in-law or Ella.

He only talked with my father-in-law about business.

And Luke and he had this weird dynamic going. I've seen them avoiding each other more often than not.

They'll pass by the corridor and won't even blink an eye in the other's direction.

And they only had a conversation when it was related to business and if they talked about something out of it which was rare, they would only focus on dissing each other instead of having a normal conversation.

And by the way, Jason always had the upper hand between them and never failed to piss him off, Caroline should despise him for insulting her brother like that.

But she always appeared to be more of a sister to Jason than Luke.

There must be something underneath their perfect harmonious family dynamic that is unseen to the rest of the world.

Now that I'm “somewhat” married into the family, I'm starting to see it's not as perfect as they depict it.


_____^^_____


The rest of the day went by fast and while I wanted to catch Jason one more time, he had to leave for a meeting just an hour after I left his office.

And now I was leaving the company and he still wasn't back.

Having a jovial mood I decided to call Camille and meet up with her since she was already in town and whining about seeing me.


_____^^_____




The evening rush at the Croissants & Créme, a café and bakery was not much.

People were enjoying their sweet desserts and creamy coffees.

Couples made love eyes at each other as they held hands on top of the table.

There were a couple on first dates as well, shy and awkward and restrained, as they tried to have a comfortable conversation with rosy cheeks and shy smiles.

And there were even some (most probably single geeks who neither wanted to have company nor had any) introverts, with headphones in and notebooks and iPads open as they studied (or whatever) and tuned out the rest of the world.

And then there was my best friend, Camille.

Who was gaping at me from across the table?

Her favorite blueberry cheesecake was forgotten as she processed the news I had just fed her.

She blinked her emerald eyes at me in disbelief.

“You didn't!” She exclaimed.

I lazily took a sip of my cold coffee and then raised my eyebrows at her.

“No! Fucking bitch, you didn't!” And then she fell into a joyful laughter as her head fell back and she laughed heartily until the corner of her eyes were filled with tears.

We did receive a few stink eyes for her obnoxiously loud nature but who cares?

As her laughter subsided, she used a tissue to gently soak in the tears from her eyes, still chuckling in between.

I guess she got her fill for the month if she was behaving like this.

“Okay, so let me get this straight.

You fucked– no- YOU let your brother-in-law fuck you because you wanted to take revenge on your “husband”? she asked.

I rolled my eyes but nodded my head.

“Okay. So it wasn't because you might be feeling just a teeny tiny bit of attraction for him,” she asked again with her eyebrows raised.

Her eyes scanned my face for any signs.

Uhmm.. how should I tell her, that the attraction I felt for Jason was far more than just ‘teeny tiny bit’?

But I had a doubt she knew that because she always knew everything about me- said & unsaid, all.

She was only asking me because she wanted me to actually think about what I had gotten myself into.

And I wasn't ready to step into that dangerous territory just yet.

So I shook my head and replied, “No. It's just sex. He's getting his fill, I'm getting mine. That's it.”

Chloe stared at me for a couple of seconds before a smirk formed on her lips.

I sighed knowing exactly what was coming.

“Is he good in bed? And how BIG is he?!!”




_____^^_____




After satisfying Camille's curiosity we bid goodbye with a promise to meet this weekend for dress shopping as there was a party we had to attend next week.

If I wasn't wrong it was the same party, Luke and Jason were talking about.

I was in a good mood the whole day courtesy of my best friend and of course the good orgasms courtesy of a certain blue-eyed man.

Stepping out of the cab, I paid the driver some extra before climbing the steps of the Mansion.

Because I wanted to spend some quality time with Camille, I had sent Edward, my driver off.

I was also sure that it would take some time since we hadn't met for a while. And I was right as it was almost nine when I reached the Mansion.

As soon as I entered the living room, I sensed the tense atmosphere.

My father-in-law was sitting on the couch with an expressionless face while my mother-in-law was pacing the length of the sitting area and stopped as soon as I entered.

Ella was sitting on the armchair twirling her curls, staring at me with a lopsided grin.

“Where were you?” I turned my attention to my mother-in-law who was now standing in front of me with her arms crossed.

I bit my tongue as a sarcastic reply was about to fall from my mouth.

No matter how annoyed I was at her son and this family there was a basic sense of courtesy I couldn't ignore.

So I took a deep breath and replied, “I was out meeting a friend,”

“And who was this friend?” She asked again in a firmer tone than before.

“Someone you don't know?” I replied back, sarcasm evident my tone.

I really can't help it.

She heaved a sigh, “And what were you doing with this “friend” this late in the evening?”

Now it was getting out of hand.

Before I could answer she opened her mouth again, “Perhaps your meeting included cheating on your husband while he is away?”

I stared at her for a few moments. How did this rubbish enter her head? Because last I remember Chloe was neither a guy nor gay.

And me and her? Blegh

“Yes actually, I thought since your son was already decent enough to sleep with another woman as a married man, I didn't see any fault in doing it myself,” I replied nonchalantly.

“How dare you talk to me like that?” She fumed and raised her hand to strike me.

A crisp sound echoed in the living room.