Chapter 23: Sudden Encounter

All her worries earlier were gone as she saw Michael's polite treatment towards her daughter. During lunch, Marga and Jane chatted with each other happily. However, Michael and Bianca rarely glanced at each other as they seemed to feel awkward. They just sat there quietly and barely talked.
After a while, Michael couldn't stand the atmosphere anymore. He found an excuse and walked out of the box.
As soon as Michael left, Jane held Bianca's hand and said, "Bianca, Michael is always cool. Please don't blame him. You are his fiancée. You can be more enthusiastic, honey,"
Bianca smiled and nodded obediently. The truth is, she was upset that Michael didn't bother to chat with her nor ask something about her.
"Bianca is quiet, but she knows what she should do." Marga smiled and proudly proclaimed while giving her daughter a side glance. She needed to put pressure on Bianca, so her effort to set up this lunch won't be wasted.
"I like her so much." Jane smiled and began to told Bianca many things about Michael.
Michael, who stood outside of the box, heard their conversation, he frowned immediately. It seemed that Marga wouldn't tell his mother the truth. He wanted to marry Kendra, not Bianca. How should he tell his mom the truth, that Bianca wasn't the one who's his fiancee? Michael felt annoyed and grabbed his hair. When he turned around, he accidentally crushed on someone, and his shirt was poured with some tea.
Michael looked down at his shirt that was stained with black tea. Enraged, he was about to say something to that person when he heard her voice.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to crash on you." The person apologized to Michael immediately and helped him wipe his shirt without looking at him.
Michael thought the voice sounded familiar. His eyes flew to that person, and he smiled immediately when he recognized the woman who was anxiously wiping off the stain. "Kendra?" He asked softly.
"It's you," Kendra said surprisingly. Eyes wide-opened, and she even blushed more, clumsiness at its finest, she thought.
Michael's bad mood suddenly disappeared. He looked at Kendra and asked curiously, "You work here? I thought you were at school?"
Hesitantly looking at him, she bent her head, "Yes. I am sorry. Your shirt…" her voice was a bit worried, eyes were looking at him apologetically.
"Don't worry. It's okay," Michael smiled and comforted her. "You're working here?" He repeated his question.
At that time, the door of the box opened when Kendra was about to answer.
"Michael, what are you doing here?" Bianca walked out of the box and chimed, "What happened?"
Seeing Bianca, Kendra suddenly knew why Michael was here. She lowered her head and turned, "I am sorry. I have to go now."
"Kendra, don't go." Michael stopped her and called her name.
"What do you call her?" Bianca looked at Michael and asked shockingly. Did she hear it right? Her half-sister Kendra was here?
They stood there embarrassedly as if time stopped for a while as both girls looked at each other. A few seconds passed, no one dared to talk; suddenly, Marga appeared behind them, witnessing the deadly silence.
"What are they doing? Are they talking to each other secretly?" Marga suddenly asked.
Hearing Marga's voice, Kendra felt uncomfortable and said, "I really need to go." She couldn't let Marga see her. Kendra left immediately.
Michael felt upset. He couldn't continue this lunch anymore. He was pissed off that he's forced into an arranged situation. Obviously, the culprit is Marga; however, he can't upset his mom.
When Michael went back, Jane saw his wet shirt and asked, "What happened?"
Michael and Bianca looked at each other, and both chose to lie.
"A waiter crashed on me and poured some tea." Michael said casually and put on his jacket, "Mom, I have to go."
"Okay." Jane nodded and pushed Bianca, "Let Bianca walk you out, son."
Bianca walked to Michael awkwardly. She glanced at Michael and lowered her head.
Michael and Bianca walked out together. Bianca felt nervous and wanted to say something, but she didn't know what she should say.
Finally, Michael spoke first.
"I know you are not Kendra," Michael said calmly, trying not to humiliate her.
Bianca trembled and bit her lips, saying nothing.
"I doubted your identity the first time I saw you, so I looked up into it and found out the truth," Michael explained casually.
Bianca frowned. No one knew what she was thinking about.
Michael stopped walking and turned around to look at Bianca. "Your father wants you to replace Kendra and lie to me. Isn't it ridiculous?" He asked seriously. It was not even feasible. Did he look like a fool to them? He was a lawyer and good at investigation.
Bianca's face turned pale. "Michael, it's…" She wanted to explain.
"Wait." Michael interrupted Bianca and said, "Just call me Mr. Baker. We are not so close. You aren't even my fiancee," Though Bianca seemed mild and thoughtful, Michael didn't like her, he could sense something bad about her.
Bianca felt embarrassed and calmly said, "We shouldn't lie to you, but we don't have a choice."
"What?" Michael sneered, couldn't believe Bianca's reasoning, "I don't care if you have a choice or not. I hope you can tell your parents that I don't want to continue this mistake. Be a decent woman,"
"What do you mean?" Bianca asked confusedly.
"I want to marry Kendra, not you," Michael said directly. He couldn't hold his temper anymore while looking at Bianca, who seems eager to replace Kendra.
"How can you be sure? You don't even know Kendra." Feeling aggrieved, she immediately retorted. Michael met her and Kendra on the same day. They just had a different name. What did Michael like about Kendra? She is also pretty like Kendra, why she still didn't pick his interest.
"I am sure with my own feelings. I should decide on my marriage. And it should be willingly done not by force, Miss Bianca. By the way, I wonder if you are willing to replace your sister. Do you agree with it? Taking away your sister's future husband?" Michael harshly said, and his eyes were full of annoyance.
Bianca was speechless. How would she convince Michael? She liked him so much the first day they met.
"Anyway, I just hope that you can tell your parents what I have told you now. If they force me to marry you, I'm afraid to tell you, I have thousands of ways to withdraw from this marriage." Then, Michael turned around and wanted to leave.
"But Kendra has been kicked out from our house." Bianca bravely informed him.
"I know. It's not a big deal. I don't have to marry a daughter from Miller. I just want to marry Kendra." Without looking at her, Michael said.
Looking at Michael's back, Bianca frowned and felt upset. She wanted to yell, but she chose to calm herself down. She will seek her Mom's help to get Michael.
It made Kendra so nervous that she met Michael at Hilton. She didn't even dare to walk out to avoid bumping into Marga. After a day's work, Kendra felt so tired.
When it was time to get off from her duty, Kendra went back to school immediately.
The driver appeared at school at 6 pm on time. When they went back to the castle, Curtis waited for her at the gate.
"Miss Miller." Curtis bent his head, greeted her.
"Curtis, what's wrong?" Bianca got off and asked confusedly.
"I have something to show you." Curtis took a note out of his pocket and said.
"What's this?" Kendra took the note and asked. She opened it and found it was a list of menu .
"You broke the contract last night. Mr. Martin wants to punish you." Curtis explained.
"So he wants me to cook all these for him?" Kendra asked, looking annoyed while staring at the list.
Feeling helpless, Curtis could only nod, "Yes, Miss Miller. You need to prepare all these before Mr. Martin comes back."
"It's too much of him." Kendra's voice rose. She quickened her pace to the main door. She wanted to find Lendon to complain, yet she heard he went out.
Curtis abruptly followed her and insisted, "Don't worry. Just do what Mr. Martin wanted,"
Kendra felt so angry. Lendon was really a genius in torturing people. She rubbed her forehead; defeated by the annoying punishment, she said, "Okay. I will go to the kitchen right now. Your lord is a psychopath," She added.
"Wait." Curtis stopped Kendra from leaving.