Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Copper

I walked downstairs after my nap with the intent of going to the kitchen. Hopefully there would be something I could drink. Kenny wasn't here. Sylvester had yet to come back, and I had no interest in creating small talk with the maid who's name I had yet to remember.

Not that I had an issue with her per se. We haven't even talked. Maybe we should. Maybe that would help put my mind at ease.

When I arrived at the last step, the front doors swung open and four men dressed similarly to my grandfather's butler marched inside. My jaw dropped.

They strode by both sides of a large trolley stacked high with gifts of all colours and sizes. They stopped in the middle of the foyer. I blinked. "Um..."

"Is something wrong, Miss?"

I jumped and held my arms up defensively. After seeing it was the maid from earlier, they went down. "Oh, nothing. But what is this?"

She stood close to me as her blue eyes took in the gifts. "These are the presents given by the guests at your wedding, Miss."

"Wow. All for me?"

"They should be for both you and your husband, Miss."

"Right, right."

"My bad. I forgot to introduce myself." The maid bowed at her waist, strands of her strawberry blonde hair escaped from her bun. "My name is Gloria, but you may refer to me as Glory if you so choose. I'm the maid that was sent here to look after you while you get accustomed to your new living arrangements."

I took her in. She appeared to be a bit older than me, which meant she was quite young. Her face bore a slim nose with a button tip. Brown freckles littered her cheeks. I couldn't find her face in my memory box, though I'm sure I've seen her before back at the mansion.

Gloria turned to the men. "You may go ahead and bring all of them to the gifting room."

Gift room? We have a gift room?

She looked back at me with a smile. "Is that alright, Miss?"

I tried not to let the surprise show on my face. "Yeah, that's fine. I'm kind of hungry, is there anything in the fridge?"

The maid suddenly stood straighter. "Would a chicken, avocado and cheese sandwich suffice until dinner, Ma'am? I'm sorry that we don't have something better for you prepared."

I giggled. It was like she shifted into a new person the moment food was mentioned. "That's more than enough, thanks. Hold out on the avocado, though. I'm not a big fan."

Gloria nodded. "Should I bring it to the gifting room, Ma'am?"

"You know it." I smiled. As soon as Gloria scurried off to the left of the foyer, I followed the direction the men took so I could find out where the heck that room was.

All the presents were removed from the trolley and carefully stack in the middle of a white fur carpet. I stood to the side while they did their thing. Once they were done, they nodded their heads as they passed me one by one. Except one last man who paused before leaving.

I joined my hands in front of me and lifted my head to gaze at his face.

"We've brought everything as per Mr. Greenland's request," he stated.

My ears perked up. "Kenny?"

"Uh, no. Your father-in-law, Mrs. Greenland."

"Oh. Well, thank you for your hard work."

"It's no problem. The bigger gifts will be waiting for you at the Greenland manor. Please feel free come retrieve them when you're ready. Have a lovely night, Mrs. Greenland."

He bowed his head and I waved goodbye. Finally, I was left alone.

And with a whole bunch of stuff I have to sort through. And I'm not just talking about the presents.

I sighed and landed my butt on a dark grey loveseat.

Though I didn't want to admit it, this room was beautiful.

Sliding glass exposed a garden with flowers in full bloom. Bits of sunshine managed to break through the cloudy sky. So comfy and cool, but not cold. There was even a wide flatscreen television on the same wall as the entrance to this room. The only fault I could find was that it was too boring.

White walls, expensive but lifeless grey and white furniture. No decorations. I wondered if I was allowed to make changes as I pleased.

My gaze focused on the pile in front of me. Should I wait until Kenny comes? Probably. I don't want to be accused of being greedy and materialistic. From the little I know about my new husband, he would use any excuse to justify his bias towards me.

For the rest of the evening, I managed to locate the remote and breezed through channels while munching on the sandwich Gloria brought to me.

My browsing only stopped when a familiar building appeared on screen. The image shifted to a reporter in a lime green suit.

"Thank you, Robert," she lowered her hand from her ear. "You heard him folks! Have you ever had a wedding crashed? I'm Linda Stewart and I'm outside the venue where billionaire and heir Kenny Greenland got married today. A beautiful day for the happy couple, or at least, it should have been. Witnesses have informed me that an unknown female burst through the church doors and claimed to be the groom's mistress! And she's pregnant! We have yet to find out if these rumors are true, but for now we'll be playing a video one of the witnesses managed to film right when the accident took place."

As the video played, my thoughts from before I went to sleep reappeared. Did what she say have some truth to it?

To be honest, I'm afraid I'll just be shut down if I ask again. It's their business, not mine. But I need to regardless. I can't be expected to just sit here and have no idea about what's going on around me. I'm involved now as Kenny's legal spouse, whether he likes it or not.

In an effort to reach the remote to change the channel, my half-eatened sandwich's plate tilted over the armrest. It nearly fell.

Before I could register that my food was about to hit the floor, two hands caught my plate right on time. I breathed a sigh of relief until I realized who those hands belonged to. I glanced up. Hard humorless eyes stared right back at me.

"I heard you denied the honeymoon," Kenny said.