Chapter 5: Family dinner

"Who's that?" I asked a little bit louder because of the blaring music inside the studio.

"Mrs. Kelley."

I nodded and turned to my dancing students.

"Guys, please continue your practice. Teacher Craig will guide you for a while."

I said before rushing towards Craig.

"Thanks. Can you watch them please?" I asked him when he gave me the phone.

"Sure."

I entered my office before swiping the answer button.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Kelley."

"Hi, Sophia. Good afternoon. Are you busy?"

"Hmm.. no ma'am."

"What about tonight, do you have schedules or plans for tonight? I hope you're free."

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm actually free for tonight."

"Great! Can I invite you for dinner tonight? It's just a family dinner."

"Ahm..." I bit my bottom lip.

"Please, sweetie? I just want to introduce you to my husband, and of course to talk about the engagement preparation."

"Okay, ma'am."

"So, are you coming?"

I sighed. "Yes, I will."

"Oh thank you! My driver will pick you up at seven pm, tonight."

"No ma'am, it's fine. I can use my car."

"Are you sure, sweetie?"

"Yes, ma'am. Can I just get your address?"

"Oh sure, I'll send you the address after this call. Thank you, Sophia."

"No worries, Mrs. Kelley."

"I'll wait for you tonight. Take care."

"Thank you, ma'am."

A loud sigh escaped my lips after ending the call. This just means I'm going to see him again.

"Aherm!" I turned around to see Craig leaning against the doorframe.

"Dinner meeting." I said even though I know I wasn't asking yet.

"Hmm, are you coming?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Great! Good luck girl! You're going to meet your husband again." he teased me.

"We're not married yet, so he's still not my husband!"

"Yeah, but soon to be." and he gave me a humorous laugh before going out and closing the door.

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I don't know how many times I blinked my eyes when a three-storey luxurious and sophisticated architecture villa came in my full view.

-'Wow!'- I mentally said in awe.

"Sophia."

I turned around to see Mrs. Kelley standing in the glass door entrance of the mansion. I gulped and took a deep breath before walking toward her.

"Good evening, Mrs. Kelley----"

She hugged me immediately as soon as I came in front of her.

"You're so beautiful, sweetie. I'm sure my son's eyes were going to jump out of its sockets when he sees you."

I just gave her an awkward smile.

"Did you have a hard time finding our address?"

"Not really Mrs. Kelley, I actually used a g****e map."

"Oh, that's what modern technology can do. Anyway, let's go in. My husband is also excited to meet you."

She pulled me in and my eyes automatically roamed inside the huge living room. It's a bliss of soft and elegant beige room. The sofa, armchair and the carpets are all a different hue of beige. And some of the wooden furniture contributes to a cosy living space and makes the room beautifully diverse.

"Honey, meet your future daughter-in-law."

And there he stood... the man in his mid-fifties, and the king of the family, Mr. Gregory Kelley.

"Wow! Such a beautiful young lady." He said as he walked in our direction. "You're right, honey. She has a charming face and a smashing beauty." he said smiling at me.

"See? I told you. By the way honey, this is Sophia, and sweetie, this is my husband, Greg, your soon to be father-in-law."

I gulped the awkwardness and extended my hand.

"Mr. Kelley, nice to meet you, Sir." But like what his wife did earlier, he pulled me into a hug.

"Come on, Sophie. Let's cut the formalities here. You can now call me Daddy or dad."

"I agree. You can now also call me Mom."

I gave him a sheepish smile before looking at the grinning face of his wife behind him. He gave me another nickname too.

"I heard a lot about you, Sophie, and don't worry, because my wife and I are willing to help you find the person who can testify for your case against that Joseph De Lucca."

"Thanks, Sir. It's really a pleasure to meet someone like you and Mrs. Kelley in my life." I honestly said with a genuine smile on my lips.

"Oh, don't mention it, sweetie." Mrs. Kelley, held both my hands. "We are now family, and family is always helping one another."

"She's right, Sophie. Anyway, I also heard your first impression of my son."

My eyes widened a little but Mr. Kelley just chuckled at me.

"Why don't we continue our conversation in the dining area? For sure Sophia will love all the dishes I made for her."

"That's a good idea, honey. Have you called your son yet?"

"Yes, he said he's on his way here."

"Tsk.Tsk. When it comes to business, Daniel is always on time, but when it comes to family dinner or any other occasion, he always comes late." Mr. Kelley complained while we were all walking toward their breathtaking dining room.

My stomach churned just by hearing their son's name, it also caused my urinary bladder to kick inside me.

"Mrs. Kelley, can I use your bathroom?"

"Oh sure, sweetie." she called one of their maids to accompany me to the bathroom.

I sighed and closed my eyes as soon as I entered the comfort room. Yeah, comfort room. Because right at that moment it was the only place I could feel comfort since I parked my car earlier.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

"This is it, there is no turning back anymore. For justice. Yeah, this is all for what happened before!" I sighed again and finally did my real purpose inside.

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Daniel's POV:

"Dude, aren't you feeling excited to see your fiancee?" Andrew winked at me when we were in front of the mansion and slowly walked toward the entrance.

"Why would I feel excited? This is just a formal dinner and I'm sure my Mom would introduce me to Sophia."

"I'm so excited to meet your girl. You know, I'm so intrigued by her character."

"Don't worry, you'll meet her tonight."

When we couldn't find my parents in the living room, we headed straight to the dining area with Andrew tailing behind me.

"Here is your son." My dad was the first one to notice me.

"Hi Dad, Mom." I kissed my mother on the cheek. "I'm with Andrew, we're going straight to our late meeting after this." I said giving Andrew room to greet my parents, but I couldn't deny that my eyes were searching for someone.

"Hi Aunt Sonia, Uncle Greg."

"Hello, Andrew." Dad patted him on the shoulder.

"You still have a late meeting?" my mom asked me with disapproval written on her face.

"Yup, I'm sorry mom. I'll make it up to you next time, I promise." but she just huffed and rolled her eyes at me.

"This dinner is not actually for me. This is for your fiancee, Daniel!"

"Mom, I know----" but I was cut off by Andrew's loud voice next to me.

"Whoa!"

I followed his gaze and my jaw dropped with what I saw. A beautiful woman walking her way towards the dining area. She has an angelic face and her curves were visibly seen in her long floral dress.

"Oh God! Am I seeing an angel?" Andrew nudged my elbow.

I heard my father's chuckle and when I turned to him, I noticed that he was observing my reaction. And when my mom calls the angelic face woman, I couldn't help but glance at her again.

"Sophia."

"Oh, wow! So, she is Sophia!" Andrew exclaimed in wide eyes.

"Yes, she is Sophia, Daniel's soon to be wife." I heard my Mom's answer but I was too occupied watching the woman walking gracefully towards our direction.

"Are my eyes joking with me right now? How can a simple girl transform into an angel?"

"So I look like an angel to you right now, Mr. Kelley." she said smiling at me. And my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, especially when I saw Dad and Mom shared a look.

-'How did she know what I was thinking?'-

I felt a tap on my shoulder before Andrew whispered something to my ear.

"You said it out loud, dude."

After hearing that, I started masking my face with a serious expression.

"Hi Sophia, I'm Andrew." and he literally walked around the table just to get closer to her and took her hands.

"Hello Andrew." she smiled at him.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful----no, how gorgeous you are?"

I gripped the backrest of the chair when he took her hand and brought it to his lips. If we're not in front of my parents, I'm going to drag him out of the house.

"Thank you, Andrew. You're not bad either."

"Ouch! Don't smile too much or I'm gonna have a heart attack." he acted as if he was really having a heart attack, but the woman seemed to be enjoying it even with my parents, who laughed at his old and corny joke.

"Ahem!" they looked at me, but my eyes were only focused on him. "Andrew, you can now come back here so we can start eating. We still have a late meeting tonight, remember?" I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oops! I'm sorry dude, I didn't notice you were jealous." and they all laughed again.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I wish I could fire him as my friend.

"Son, you may take a seat beside your fiancee." I heard my Dad who ended the death glare I was giving Andrew.

"It's alright Sir, maybe I can take my seat next to Mrs. Kelley."

My eyebrow raised when 'she' immediately sat on my mother's left. As if I really wanted to sit next to her!

"Okay, let's eat kids, honey? Daniel, Andrew take your seats now."

I sat down across my mom's seat and Andrew across her.

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Sophia's POV:

All throughout the dinner, I could feel the pair of brown eyes staring intently at me. I knew the person who owned those eyes but I just acted oblivious. I also knew that he was observing my moves, he was observing the way I talk to his parents. And I would consider myself a big liar if I say, I wasn't affected by his creepy stares.

"Where are you from, Sophie?" I glanced up at the person who asked me that question... Mr. Kelley.

I smiled before answering him. "I came from Italy, Sir."

"Oh, just call me Dad already, Sophie."

My eyes automatically darted to Daniel who dropped his spoon loudly on his plate. That was really more awkward.

"Are you a pure Italian?" Andrew asked me next.

"No, I am half American and a half Italian."

"Hmm.. such a good combination of genes. You looked like an angel sent from above."

I chuckled at his punchline, but I noticed how Daniel gave him a death glare.

"By the way, let's talk about the engagement party." Mrs. Kelley got our attention. "Son, Sophia suggested if we can make the party even more private."

"What do you mean, even more private?" Daniel asked but his eyes were directly on me.

"More private, means no media coverage and no public announcement. Let's just get some professional photographers to cover the entire event. And also at your wedding, let's just invite a few relatives and close friends of the family."

"And why do you want to have such a private wedding? Don't you want to become famous? A well-known woman who married a freaking billionaire----"

"Daniel Kelley!"

It's funny how his parents stopped him just by mentioning his name in unison. Actually, I already guessed what he really wanted to say. I just smirked at him. It hurts to hear that kind of words but I didn't want to give him the chance to insult me even more.

"What? I was just asking!" he shrugged and his lips curled up into an evil smirk.

"Stop that nonsense question!" and he received a scowl from both of his parents.

"If you don't want to express your opinion, then don't! We're going to talk about it, whether you like it or not!" I bit my lower lip when Mrs. Kelley used her mother's tone with him.

He glanced back at me with a deep frown on his forehead but I just raised my eyebrow. I didn't miss how Andrew suppressed his giggle with what I did.

"Sophia, what motif do you want for your wedding, sweetie?"

Mrs. Kelley suddenly turned to me. I don't know but seeing how annoyed his son was at me at that moment, made me quite brave. So I answered her with an all-out smile.

"I actually love white and purple, Mrs. Kelley."

"Oh, please just call me Mom, sweetie."

I smiled. -'Okay, she said call her Mom, then I will.'-

"Mom, I love the combination of white and purple."

"Thank you, sweetie, and yeah, that's really a good choice. I know a great wedding planner, and he's also the one who set up my daughter's wedding before."

"You have a daughter?" I was surprised as she hadn't mentioned she had one before.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. We actually have two kids, Daniel is our first-born child and our youngest is Rian. She married four years ago."

Rian. That sounds familiar. I also have a friend named Rian in college.

For the rest of the dinner, we only talked about our engagement and the simple wedding ceremony. Daniel remained quiet until we finished eating.

"Thank you so much, sweetie, for coming."

Mrs. Kelley said as she hugged me tightly. We're now in the living room with Daniel and Andrew as I was getting ready to leave.

"Let Daniel drive you home, Sophie."

"Oh no, thanks Dad, but I have my car. I can drive myself home and I heard your son has a late meeting tonight, so I'm sure he can't drive me home."

I know Daniel was just behind me so I made my voice loud and sympathetic.

"She's right Dad. Actually Andrew and I need to go now. I'm sure Sophia knows how to drive herself home, right?" he asked emphasizing the words I'm sure and right at the end.

"Of course! I drove by myself here earlier, so I'm sure I can manage to drive myself back to my apartment again." A sarcastic grin appeared through my lips as I stared at him.

I knew he still has something to say, I could read it through his eyes but he was cut off by his mother.

"Okay, just take care, sweetie. I'll call the wedding planner tomorrow, so you can start choosing whatever details you want for the party."

"Thank you, Mom." I kissed her cheek before finally saying goodbye.

When I reached my car, I saw the now-familiar figure leaning against the door to my car

-'When did he get here? He's so fast!'-

"Mr. Daniel Kelley, do you also want to ask for a goodbye kiss?" I asked giving him the sweetest smile I could ever give him that night.

I saw how he was surprised by my question but he didn't utter a word, instead, he stepped closer to me. I gulped when he stopped a few inches in front of me.

"What is the real reason you accepted this deal?" I looked right through his eyes to see his reaction, but they were both blank and serious.

"Oh, so you're now interested in it. I thought you believed the only reason I'm marrying you is because of your money?"

"Yeah, but I just want to hear it exactly from you."

"Tsk. tsk. You already have an answer to your own question, so why do you still ask and why do you have to hear it exactly from me? What would be the difference if I say it or not? It's just the same, right?"

He didn't speak after that, he just put his hands inside of his pants' pocket. And a few minutes later...

"I just want to clarify a few things, Ms. Sophia! When we get married, don't expect me to become intimate and act as your dreamed husband after the wedding because I'm telling you, it's the last thing I will ever do. As soon as we sign the contract with our European investors, I will immediately file for divorce."

That was a long speech, but if you're going to make it short, he only means he hates me and doesn't want me to be his wife. I admit that hurts a little... to be judged by someone who doesn't even know my story. However, do I have a choice? I need him. I need his name. And I'm willing to take all of his words just to get justice for what Joseph did to me.