Chapter 28: Shock on Suspense
' I knew this place was heaven on earth, if a family house can be this beautiful, I wonder what is left in paradise ', Clarisse said in her mind as she gazed through the window, watching the garden in the compound, it looked so beautiful as she watched from above, its garden of flowers and plants was protected by a glassy wall.
She decided to take a break and enjoyed the view after sowing the dress she had always been working on but the moment was interrupted when she heard a knock on the door. She has chosen not to leave her room afraid to come across any of the family members so her heart skipped hard when she heard the knock.
" Come in", she said blinking her eyes and her breath changing.
The old man who had come to wake her up in the morning strode in a long with some maids.
They bowed slightly before her and she also bowed back unsure of what was going on. They came in with a rail of clothes.
" Good evening ma'am",
" Good evening sir",
" Clinton ma'am, please call me that",
"I..I..",
" Unless you want my master to fire me",
" Ho. Okay".
Clinton smiled at her and paved the way for her to have a proper look at the dresses.
" We are instructed to get you prepared for the dinner", he said maintaining his smiling face.
" Dinner",
" Yes ma'am, you're having a family dinner this night and the Master has instructed us to get you prepared ".
Clarisse felt herself stop breathing for a second, the moment she feared was here, she blinked her eyes several times and tried to calm her breath. Should she pretend that she was having a fever? Or having cramps? What if that pissed them off more?
" We should start getting ready ma'am, Master is already on his way to pick you up", Clinton's words interrupted her thought,
" Ho, okay", her voice came off trembling.
Clinton could see the fear written all over her face, he knew some daughters-in-law might be nervous when meeting family but hers wasn't nervousness, it was fear.
" Don't worry ma'am, I can assure you that it'll go well, don't worry about anything ", he said trying to calm her down but that didn't work at all.
' what can he understand ', she said in her mind.
The maids pulled her closer sat her down in front of the mirror and began to work on her face, using the brush, eye pencil, mascara, and lipstick.
They brushed and styled her hair before dressing her up and by the time she was done, they placed a standing mirror in front of her to have a proper look at herself.
Clarisse's mouth pouted, looking at the mirror in disbelief, she couldn't recognize who was standing in the mirror.
" Do you like it, ma'am?", Clinton asked,
" Is..this..me?", she asked staring at the mirror as tears welled up in her eyes.
" Please don't cry ma'am, it'll ruin the make-up", one of the make-up artists said but she just nodded, unable to look away from the mirror.
She looked so different, her brown hair was styled into wavy hair, and her ears felt weird was wearing earrings after twelve years and not just any earrings, beautiful earrings, her face looked so beautiful and the pink lips stuck added to the beauty, she touched her face in awe, and then her eyes moved to her body.
She was wearing knee knee-length blue gown, the upper part hugged her while the lower part was flared, and the neck of the dress of of asymmetric neckline. The dress was of shiny and expensive fabric and looked so beautiful that she smiled at herself.
Gracing the dress were the silver stilettos that shone on her feet, looking down at her feet, the tears finally dropped to the ground but she quickly blinked back the rest as she didn't want to ruin the artist's effort. She was busy admiring herself when Clinton received a message and he turned to her.
" Ma'am, the master is waiting for you outside".
Oh shit! She forgot about the dinner for a minute.
She took a deep breath, ' the night might end badly, I might get dismissed to become invisible, and they might say anything to me this night, but I'll enjoy this while it lasts, this image of me in the mirror will stick to my head forever ', she said in her mind as she kept staring at the mirror.
She turned to Clinton and nodded that she was ready to walk her out.
Christian was waiting in the car pressing his phone when he thought of what he and Ryan discussed during the day when he asked him why he was back from his honeymoon already.
(Flashback)
" You came back faster than I expected", he said and laughed mockingly, " why? Your bad character made your wife cancel your honeymoon? Well, I guess, judging by the fact that you attended a meeting on your wedding night",
" Not in the night",
" Tah! Whatever, tell, or you don't like her?",
" You ask too many questions",
" Normal, when it comes to you", he said and winked at him but he eyed him in disgust,
" I can understand though, you've never met her before, getting married to a stranger, meeting for the first time on the wedding day, it's so crazy, I hate arranged marriage",
" That's not the first time we're meeting",
" Huh? What do you mean? You've met her before?",
" More than that, more like I know her", he said and looked at Ryan, " I knew her personally".
(End of flashback)
His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed some figure approaching and he turned his head towards the direction to see Clarissa, Clinton, and two maids following them but he only saw Clarisse. It was only her image he saw, that stood out like the beauty goddess was walking towards him, she looked so different that his lips parted, she was exceptionally beautiful.
He didn't realize when he opened the door and stepped out, meeting her blue ocean eyes that held him captive, stunningly belittling her beauty, even though she looked lean, it couldn't hide away the gorgeousness, but one thing was amiss.
There's a smile he had seen, if only he could see that smile again on her face, that smile that always soothe his day, the way he was always looking forward to seeing, they were gone now. When he thinks he will have it back, the owner's face becomes blank, empty, and expressionless but Christian smiles still and says in his mind,
" I'll get them back, those smiles, I'll bring them back".
He took her hand gently and said, " You look so gorgeous and I'm sorry that's an understatement".
Clinton's eyes widened in shock, ' did I hear that right? Did he...just say... he's sorry '. Clinton felt like he was going to faint.