Betrothed To The Cold Billionaire

*AT THE MONTGOMERY’S FAMILY HOME*

An older man in his late forties and a younger woman in her late twenties can be seen seated facing each other in the huge dining hall. The dining table was filled with a variety of food and drinks.

They were digging slowly and elegantly into their food. Halfway through, a teenage girl wearing a shool uniform waltz in.

“Good morning mom…. dad..” She greeted as she placed a peck on both of their cheeks.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

The man had a grimace on his face when she did that but quickly replaced it with a smile so the young girl wouldn’t notice. He still wasn’t that fast because Susan, the girl’s mother noticed how he looked.

“Emily, come seat beside me.” She called so her daughter wouldn’t disgust the man more.

“Okay mom.” Emily answered without thinking too much and ran to sit beside her mother.

Her food was dished out by the maids around and she digged into the food immediately. They were eating in silence until Emily decided to break it.

“Dad..” She called.

“What is it Emily?” He asked lowly without even bothering to look away from his food.

“Don’t you think it has been a really long time since Adrian came to visit us?” She asked.

“So??” He asked in a very nonchalant manner.

“Can’t you call him home?” She asked again.

“And why should I do that??” He asked back, while trying to hold back the irritation that was slowly building up within him.

She was taken aback by his reaction. She didn’t expect him to talk like that. All fathers are supposed to miss their children or even try to call them if they’ve been away from them for too long. All fathers do thet except William Montgomery.

Susan noticed that he was slowly getting angry so she signaled her daughter to stop talking but Emily didn’t notice what her mother was trying to say.

“He would listen to you if you call him home. Afterall, you’re his fat…”

“Emily honey, Adrian just got married to his wife. Why don’t we just let them enjoy their time together as newlyweds?” Susan cut Emily off when she noticed that William was about to say something, obviously lash out at her.

“But mom, they aren’t even in love with each other so how….”

“Who told you that??” They looked up in surprise when they heard that voice. When they saw who it was, they stood up from where they were seating and bowed in respect as they greeted him.

It was none other than Grandpa Henry, William’s father and the oldest man in family. He nodded as a way of answering their greetings before taking his seat in the dining hall.

“Don’t keep standing, continue what you were all doing.” He ordered when he noticed they were still standing.

They obeyed and sat down on they various seats but still didn’t continue eating until he took a bite from his own food before they started eating. Slowly, the tension in the room died down and they ate silently.

“So, Emily what were you saying earlier?” Grandpa Henry asked when he noticed mother and daughter had finally gotten comfortable with his presence.

“What did I say??” She asked back slowly. The tension that had left earlier was slowly coming back.

Amongst everyone in the house, she was most scared of Granpa Henry. Not because he was wicked, scary or heartless but only because he was a very hard man and only him determines the fate of her and her mother.

So she did everything within her power to try and please him even though he really scares her.

“You mentioned something about Adrian and Ariel, his wife.” He reminded.

“Did I??” She asked as she scratched her hair. She was a trying to play dumb but a glare from William was enough to make her compose herself immediately.

“I did sir.” She said immediately.

“So what made you think that he doesn’t love his wife?” Grandpa Henry asked again. She shivered slowly because of that question.

She turned to stare at her mother for help out of this plight. Her mother understood so she opened her mouth in a bid to say something but was cut off by Grandpa Henry.

“I asked your daughter a question not you. Are you now her mouth piece?” He asked. She shook her head and held back what she wanted to say.

“I asked you a question Emily.” Grandpa Henry muttered with impatience written all over his face. Emily gulped when she realized that there was no one else to help her.

“Uhm…. I read about it on the net..” She explained.

“Continue….” Grandpa Henry muttered as he listened with rapt attention. Emily turned to face her mom while Susan nodded for her to continue talking.

“Everyone thinks she got married to him for his wealth.” She added.

“And that’s what you think too?” He asked her while she nodded slowly.

“Emily, how old are you?” He asked. She was taken aback by his question.

“Uhmm.. I’m seventeen.” She muttered in surprise.

“Seventeen.. and you still haven’t matured enough to know not to believe rumors on the internet?” He asked.

“They aren’t rumors.” She argued.

“Really? How would you know that? Do you live with them?” He asked but she remained quiet. She didn’t know what suitable answer to give him.

“You’re quiet now. You don’t know anything and you keep talking like you do.” She bowed her head as she took in all of his insults.

“Whether Adrian and his wife are in love or not, we’ll find out when they come visiting.” William who had been silent all through raised his head up the moment he heard that while Emily’s face brightened up.

“What do you mean by that dad?” He asked.

“I want you to invite Adrian , his wife and her family home for a small get together. Adrian has been married for almost a month now and he hasn’t even thought of bringing his wife to see me.”

“I’m sure he’ll do that soon.”

“And when will that soon be?? Just do what I asked you to. Afterall, you’re his father so he’ll listen to you.” He said, repeating what Emily had said earlier.

“Okay dad.” William surrendered but still had annoyance written all over his face.

“And be quick about it.” Granpa Henry said as be stood up from his seat.

“Caarry on with your food.” He added before he left them alone in the dining hall.

Emily had a huge smile plastered on her face while Willaim was frowning. His frown deepened when he noticed how happy Emily seemed.

“You must feel really fulfilled after you’ve ruined everything.” He muttered, making the smile on Emily’s face wipe off immediately.

“What did I do dad??” She asked slowly.

“You just don’t know when to keep your useless mouth shut. What a nuisance.” He muttered before leaving the dining hall angrily.

“Why is he angry? What did I do so wrong mom?” Emily asked as her eyes turned wet. She was already at the verge of tears.

“Just ignore your father. You know how he always acts. You don’t need to let this get to you.” Susan answered.

“But I just told the truth. Why iss he mad at me?” She asked again as a lone tear slipped down her face.

“Just ignore him. Don’t let him ruin your day. Stop crying huh.. You can’t go to school looking like that.” Susan consoled as she wiped her tears.

“Okay mom, I’ll stop crying. All that matters now is that Adrian is finally coming home.” Emily muttered as she sniffed.

“Good, now eat up. You don’t want to be late for school.” Susan said. Emily nodded and continued eating her food. When she was done, she gave Susan a goodbye kiss before she left.