Arrogant

"That is a beautiful necklace. Where did you get that?" Ayana was surprised after the word escaped her mouth. Her chaotic mind ruled over her emotion she tried hard to cover. She regretted her careless mouth, but she was also curious about the man's answer. Did the man know that she is the owner of the necklace? Did he know that she was the one who intrudes on his tower?

"Did you think so? My friend gave it to me a long time ago." Luca said with a smile as his hand touched the pendant. Ayana could see the mischievous light dancing in his eyes. She tried to control her emotion by reciting the long number of phis.

"Really? Who is it?" Irene asked with a skeptic eyes, but Luca just ignored her question as his eyes were glued to Ayana.

Irene frowned. Luca is not the kind of person who will use some else's gift without any hidden intention. Wearing someone's gift means he was on someone's side.

Irene's suspicions grew when she looked at Luca and Ayana's interaction. Did Ayana have something to do with the necklace?

"Did you also want the same necklace, dear?" Irene asked, trying to find some clue from Ayana's face. Unfortunately, she got nothing since Ayana just shook her head and lowered her head to hide her expression.

Irene did not probe further since the maids started to serve their breakfast.

"Actually, I've been contacting Luca's parents that we are going to visit them today for dinner. They've never met Ayana, so you need to get ready before six this afternoon. I have prepared everything, so you don't need to worry about that." Irene informed Ayana.

Ayana just nodded her head and started to eat her breakfast quietly. She didn't think much about that since Irene will be the one to take care of everything.

Ayana couldn't focus on the piano lesson with Missus Bowman as her mind kept wandering to the event in the dining room. Her fingers kept pressing the wrong notes. She cannot object when Luca said that the necklace was his since she was sure the necklace was lost around the tower.

'Why did he say that the necklace was his? Did he want to test her reaction? Did he really know that the necklace was hers?'

Ayana was confused at Luca's behavior. From the rumor, the man hated humans and killed humans whenever he wanted. She knew that the man cannot kill her since they are bound by the contract, and they have to keep her safe since the period of their marriage. But, Ayana cannot feel even an ounce of hostility toward her from the man.

She applauded the man's great acting. Did he try to collect all the evidence before letting it all explode on her face?

Ayana cannot understand the logical reason for Luca's behavior. The man could ignore her for his own mental health, collected all the evidence in silence, and killed her when everything was over. Did the man want to provoke her and wait until she made another mistake? That must be it. If that was the case, then she would not show any useless reaction when the man provoked her.

"Miss Ayana, let's end our lesson for today. You cannot concentrate on everything I said as your mind keeps wandering somewhere. Something must be bothering you." Missus Bowman said with an understanding smile.

Missus Bowman sighed as she pinched her nose bridge. She felt her ears itch as Ayana kept making mistakes every minute. She even scolded the girl for her mistake, but she felt like Ayana didn't hear her at all even though the girl was nodding her head.

Ayana lowered her head. She knew that people usually felt regret and panic when she was doing this. They thought that she was going to cry, but in fact, she just wanted them to stop talking to her and hid her ignorant eyes.

As expected, Missus Bowman started to feel regret and pity for the girl. She remembered seeing Luca and thought that the man's presence in the castle scared the weak girl, making her unable to focus on everything. The girl's gloomy figure saddens her heart.

"It's okay. You just need to endure everything," the elegant woman said as she stroked Ayana's smooth hair.

Ayana was stunned. She almost reflectively slapped the woman's hand because she was startled. She doesn't know what the woman is thinking, but the woman's sympathetic voice annoyed her a little.

"I am sorry about that, madam. I will be fine," Ayana said, still hiding her face.

"Just call me Elora. I will be here if you need something," the woman said as she kept stroking Ayana's hair.

Ayana was touched by the woman's concern but also felt uncomfortable by her touch.

"Thank you, Elora, but I will be fine," Ayana said as she took Elora's hand.

"Then I will leave you alone. I will inform Irene about this, and I am sure she will understand," Elora said as she started to collect the notes and put them in her bag.

"I will send you out then," Ayana said as she stood and walked with Elora to the front door.

After Elora left, Ayana went back to her room since she had nothing to do. She was tempted to go to the library, but she was worried that she might meet Luca there.

In the end, Ayana decided to sleep since her head started to get dizzy from the lack of sleep. She did not feel sleepy, but she knew if she kept pushing her sleeping hours like this, her health might be affected.

Ayana took her sleeping pill and lay on the bed, waiting for the pill to take effect.

"Miss Ayana?" Ayana was jolted awake as she remembers that they will have to meet Luca's parents.

Her eyes darted toward the clock. It was still 2.30 in the afternoon. She only slept for one hour. Why did they have to prepare so early?

"Miss Ayana? If you do not answer me, I will have to....." The maid's voice was cut off by the sound of the door unlocking.

"Yes?" Ayana said as she opened the door.

"I was delivering the dress for tonight's dinner, miss," The maid said as she was signaling two footmen behind her to move forward.

Ayana stepped aside, give the two men who were carrying a lot of boxes and bags permission to enter her room.

"I will bring in a stylish letter to help you with your hair and make-up, miss," the maid said with a bow.

"Thank you," she said to the maid and the footmen, as they bowed down and walked to the lift.

Ayana locked the door and decided to lay down in her bed for some more minutes before getting ready.

After she took a bath, Ayana opened the package sent by the footmen. Ayana found a beautiful red dress in the biggest box. To her surprise, the red dress fit her body perfectly. It was a simple bareback red dress. The dress looks miraculous in her voluptuous body.

Ayana found a set of very expensive-looking jewelry in one of the bags. Although she was not an expert, she knew that an exorbitant amount of money was spent to get the necklace. The jewelry fitted her perfectly, making her more elegant and a little arrogant.

'Arrogant?'

Ayana started to furrow her brows as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her appearance after getting a hairdo and makeup looks extravagant. It looked like she was attending a big party, not a family dinner.

'Am I supposed to look this arrogant for my first meeting with my in-law?'