Chapter 006

Vivica’s POV

My stomach churned loudly the second I stepped into the dining hall.

“I thought you were never going to come down,” Adrian  stood up as soon as he sighted me.He left his seat to pull out a chair for me.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling uneasily as I took my seat. 

“This is my aunt, Miranda,” he pointed to the woman sitting  directly opposite. “Aunt, meet Vivica, my mate.”

“Hello, Ma’am,” I said with a polite smile.

Miranda only nodded, refusing to look up from her plate. 

“And you’ve  met Arella already,” Adrian added. 

“Yes, I have.” I nodded.

A servant approached us with a plate and carefully placed it in front of me. “Alpha Adrian initially  asked me to take your meal  to your suite, but since you are here, I guess you’ll be eating with the others.”

“Sure.” I answered politely.

“I thought you got lost on your way here” Adrian picked up his cutlery and wiped it with a serviette.

“I actually did. I had to ask one of the guards for directions.” 

He paused,  glancing  at me.”Wait. You came here by yourself? What about  the maid assigned to help you?”

“Uh…” I looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to say. “I asked her to leave because I needed some time to myself.”

“Oh. Okay. You should have called her when you wereready.”

“It didn’t cross my mind.”

“It didn’t cross your mind, or did you just not know how a smart home works?”

Arella mocked. 

“Arella,” Adrian’s voice called in a low, warning tone. “Don’t do this.”

“What?” She sip from the  glass of water in  front of her. “I only asked her a question. Why are you making it seem like an attack?”

“That’s enough, Arella,” Miranda spoke for the first time. She added a piece of meat onto  Arella’s plate . “What did I tell you about talking while eating?”

“I’m grown now,Mom.” Arella returned the meat to her mother’s plate. “And stop picking things from your plate and dumping them in mine. There’s more than enough meat on the table.”

I lowered my head to avoid their gaze as they continued their exchange. I had other things to struggle with anyway—like using a knife and a fork. It had never been my thing; even when I was a kid, every effort  my late parents had made to teach  was useless.  I’d rather use a spoon.  

“You don’t even know how to use cutlery?” Arella scoffed. “This is hopeless.”

When she looked up and saw Adrian’s gaze strained on her, she instantly apologized, to him, not me.“Sorry. I’ll keep shut and mind my business.”

“Better.”

We continued our meal in silence. When we finished eating, tea  was served. Arella and her aunt wanted theirs at the yard instead, leaving only me and Adrian at the table. 

“Did you enjoy your meal?” He asked the moment his family left.

“Yes. Thank you for the meal. It was sumptuous.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Viv. You are my responsibility, okay?”

I nodded.

“Good.”

I picked up the little tea cup and sniffed the content.

He chuckled lightly. “It’s chamomile,”

“Smells delicious” I said as I brought the cup to my mouth.  

“Careful. It’s still very—“

“Ouch!” I cried out. The  steaming liquid bit my tongue, and I nearly spilled  the rest on myself.

Adrian stood up quickly and took the tea from my hand. 

“Are you okay?” He looked very concerned, but his face showed he was suppressing a strong urge to laugh.

“Go ahead and laugh. It was stupid of me to drink it that way.”

“No. I wasn’t going to laugh,” he lied,  keeping  a straight face. 

“If you say so.”

***

Adrian accompanied me back to the fourth floor. Once we reached the entrance of my suite, he stopped.

“Where is your phone?” He asked.

“I didn’t bring it.”

“Why?”

“Because you dragged me here, telling me I didn’t need anything.”

“Oh. I did.” He muttered to himself. “Will  get you one tomorrow.”

“I can ask Celia to bring mine, if that’s okay with you,” I suggested. 

“It’s not an issue.”

“Thank you. I should go in now.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”’

I watched as he entered a suite at the far end of the hall before I went in myself. Just as I was about to shut the door, someone held it open from outside. Miranda’s face appeared through the gap,  and I was forced to let her in.

“I didn’t know it was you,” I said, trying to smile. “Please have a seat.” 

Miranda didn’t spare me a glance, just like she had done in the dining hall.

“I see you are boldly reaping where you didn’t sow” she walked around the living room with a dangerous precision, her eyes scanning the suite like she was seeing it for the first time. “I can’t believe he gave this place to you after I  pleaded  with him to let me have it.”

My eyes widened,  unsure of what I had just heard.

“And now he’s letting you, a total stranger, who has zero idea of what luxury is, have it. “

She whipped around to face me. “I doubt you even understand what you have here, let alone know how to appreciate it.”

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. I had no idea you wanted this place. This is even too much for me. I’ll ask him  for  a smaller place so you can have this.” I spoke abruptly.

“Enough of the fake innocence, Vivian.” 

“Vivica, Ma’am.”

If stare could kill, the  one she gave me after I corrected would have sent me to hades.

“Girls like you act naive and innocent, pretending not to need anything whereas your aim is to hoard everything. Which is normal for people like you who grew up with nothing. You might be able to fool Adrian, but not me. I’ll expose the real you before you sink your greedy claws into his life.”

“You  are definitely wrong about me. I don’t want anything from Adrian, he brought me here himself and told me—“

“Quiet! You don’t talk until I’m done.” She pinpointed. “Like I said, I’ll make Adrian see you for you really are and have you thrown back to the gutters where you belong.until then, enjoy while you can” 

She scanned me from head to toe before storming out of the room. 

I closed my eyes and sighed aloud. “Looks like this circle isn’t ending any time soon.”