CHAPTER 18: MOVING IN
Breakfast was eaten in harmony, and with the plates cleared, Briar personally handed the kids their meal bags before taking them to the awaiting car.
As they boarded the car, Briar didn't forget to make her daily speech. "Remember to take care of yourselves. Don't let anyone bully you. If you get bullied for no reason, you know what to do. Don't you?"
Logan watched this with interest. Despite listening to this crazy speech most of the time, he found it very funny that even now, she would continue to encourage the kids to commit violence, even if it was for their safety.
"Don't worry, second mother! We know what to do!" they all cheerfully responded.
Briar, listening to that, gave them thumbs up as she added, "And if no one starts trouble, then contain yourself. We still advocate to live peacefully with others. Don't forget that."
"We won't!"
Logan sighed inwardly as he listened to the second final part of the morning cheering routine. Everything about it was contradictory and yet it made sense.
Anyway, there wasn't any harm in keeping to oneself and maintaining harmony. And no problem in defending yourself when attacked as well.
Briar sent off the kids. She was in a good mood. She kept waving at them until the car was out of sight.
With them gone, she turned around, ready to enter the house and see what she needed to do for the day, but then as soon as she did that, she froze in her steps.
'Why is he not gone yet?' she wondered as she felt her cheeks getting hot at seeing her husband standing there as if waiting for her.
Logan had never waited for her in the morning, actually. Although he and the kids left around the same time, she could only steal a peek at him, and that was it. But now, there he was, waiting for her. Was that how marriage was like?
She couldn't help but pump her fists victoriously as she walked towards him.
Since he was standing there, it meant he wanted to see her, right?
Logan, seeing Briar coming towards him, maintained his expressionless façade, curious to see what she would do now that she was his wife.
Briar, unaware of what Logan was thinking, pasted a smile on her face as she stopped a distance away from him. If she went any closer, she didn't know what kind of mess she would do.
Ever since she married, her body had been reacting weirdly towards him. She didn't think that she would be able to contain herself. She didn't want to expose herself pretty quickly. Three years was a long time to do so.
"Si…., L-Logan!" she nervously called, correcting herself the second the sir nearly came out of her mouth, her cheeks hot from calling that name directly.
Logan, seeing her being shy at just calling names, his mind couldn't help but wonder whether she would be able to survive once they shared the same room tonight. Honestly, he was looking forward to it.
"Um!" he hummed at her as his brows rose, not a single word escaping his mouth.
Briar, seeing him acting like that, nearly threw a punch at him, but as a meek wife, how dare she be violent?
"I …. Have a safe journey to work and is there anything that you want to eat for lunch? I will cook it!" she nervously asks, her eyes shining through.
Logan felt a bit disappointed when he didn't hear the kind of words, he was expecting but simultaneously, felt that it was probably appropriate. If she were to act out of the norm, wouldn't the way he looks at her change?
She might not have such deep feelings for him. Was that really the case?
"No need. I have a business meeting that will last until after supper. So don't bring lunch or keep my dinner!" he responded as his gaze calmly remained on her.
It was because of that he waited until the kids left. Since he wasn't able to tell her yesterday, this morning was perfect for it.
Upon hearing that, Briar nearly sulked. After getting used to doing the chore, to suddenly not do it. She felt a bit empty.
"Oh! Okay, I will do so!" she absentmindedly responded and Logan, saw that his lips curled into a smirk before he walked towards his car.
At least that reaction spoke volumes.
Before the car drove away, he called out to her, "Briar, don't forget to move everything to the master bedroom. And when you have time, go shopping. We will be going to my parents' house this Friday. Don't forget!" and said in reminder.
Briar, who was lost in a bit of stupor, was jolted awake by those words; she couldn't help but stare at the departing car with a shy expression on his face.
"Did he really have to say that out loud?" she coquettishly complained as she patted her cheeks while glancing around to check if anyone had heard that.
When her eyes landed at the door, Briar's shy expression disappeared as it got replaced by a solemn one.
Cursing under her breath as she walked back to the house, seeing the butler smiling kindly at her, obviously hearing what they were talking about earlier, she felt as if she had lost her face.
When she passed the butler, she nodded politely at him before walking into the house, leaving the butler with a mysterious smile on his face.
'Things are about to get interesting!' he thought to himself as he closed the door, ready to continue with the chores.
On the other hand, Briar escaped to her room and sighed heavily as she looked at the ceiling.
The way the butler had been looking at her, could it be that he knew something?
"It doesn't matter. We are married now. So, what if I showed something? I would be a fool if I couldn't even show some infatuation with Logan, right?" she spoke to herself, cheering herself just in case her feelings got exposed.
It was already scary that the two people in the whole city who knew about her real feelings towards Logan were tricky.
The other one was no longer in this world, while the other one hated her to the core.
Just thinking about going to the ancestral house, a smile blossomed on her face.
"Rather than fearing for what will come. I must use this chance to engrave myself better into those people's minds and hearts!" she excitedly said to herself, her eyes sparkling as a scheme formed in her head.
Instead of stressing about getting caught. She just needed to make sure that she attacked first. As for getting along with the other person? She would see how things progress after this trip.
Talking about the trip, if she hadn't been reminded, she would have forgotten.
Logan's birthday was next week, Monday, and the family was going to hold a small banquet with family and friends.
She was never in charge of hosting the birthdays. Her job was to make sure that the kids were all ready to attend their father's birthdays. Unlike the previous birthdays, this time she would be appearing as his wife.
But would he even introduce her as his wife?
Suddenly, she started getting worried.
'It seems I need to do something major to make him feel sympathy for me. I just need to appear in public as his wife, and the rest will fall into place!' she nervously thought.
Even if she was his wife now, without him acknowledging her out there, her title would be meaningless. If she wanted to secure this marriage, and Logan, then getting herself known out there that she had been promoted from nanny to wife, was the best choice.
With that in mind, Briar became even more determined to move into Logan's room.
She had packed everything she wanted to bring to his room before going to sleep. So that morning, with everyone gone, she started moving her bags from the third floor to the fourth floor where Logan's rooms were.
Badum. Badum. Badum.
Pulling her carrying bags towards that room, she visited a handful of times in the past decade. Her heart couldn't stop pounding with excitement though her eyes retained calmness.
The fourth floor was dangerous. There were cameras all over the floor and she wasn't even sure where they were placed.
She learnt about that when seven years ago, Selena lost her diamond earrings. When they were looking for the thief and whether they might have been misplaced, Selena at that time showed her the CCTV recordings, and some were LIVE.
That was the first time that she learnt that there was such a thing happening. Thankfully, that kind of monitoring wasn't on the other floors.
Of course, that was what she thought. How could they not include the other places when the house was just one?
Unfortunately, Briar greatly believed in that.
Because of the cameras, this floor became the floor she dreaded visiting the most. Unless it was serious, she didn't bother to go there and now here she was with her bags.
Briar stopped in front of the master bedroom door, a bit hesitant to hold that handle and enter inside.
Looking at this door, a memory suddenly surfaced.