THE HEIR'S UNWANTED BRIDE のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 6

CELESTE'S POV "Look at the state of these glasses," Margaret said, loud enough for the people closest to us to hear every word. "Can you not do anything right? Anything at all?" I held my cheek, the stinging pain of the slap burnt on my face. This was not the first time she was slapping me this hard but this time it felt a lot more painful. I looked down at the tray. The glasses were fine. They were perfectly aligned and polished and there was nothing wrong with any of them. I knew that and she knew that and the three guests who had turned to look knew nothing except what they were seeing, which was a woman in a uniform being corrected by the lady of the house. Even when that lady of the house was your stepmother. "I'm sorry," I said. "Sorry does not impress our guests," she said, already turning away. "Fix it." She walked back toward the center of the room and the conversations around me slowly resumed and I stood there for a moment with my burning cheek and my perfectly arran

CELESTE'S POV"I don't need your help, I can do it myself," I said.The man looked at me for a moment, rain running off the edge of his umbrella in a thin steady stream."Are you sure?" he asked."Yes."He looked at the bags, at the soaked box in my hands, at the rain coming down between us, and then he nodded once and walked away without saying anything else.I watched him go for exactly one second and then turned back to my bags.It took three trips in the rain to get everything inside the gate and stacked under the narrow overhang beside the side entrance where at least the worst of the water could not reach it anymore. The cardboard box was already falling apart. I held the bottom of it together with both hands the entire way and set it down as carefully as I could and then stood there looking at the wet corners coming apart and breathed through my nose until the tightness in my chest eased down.I checked it, the things inside were okay.That was what mattered.I went inside and

CELESTE'S POV"I'm so sorry," I said, moving to the sideboard to set the wine down because I was getting tired of holding it. "The merchant didn't have the 2018 immediately, they had to go to the back, it took longer than I expected and I should have called ahead to check the stock before going and I—""Sit down," my father said, cutting me off.I sat down in the empty chair, the one that had clearly been set for me, which meant I had been expected at this table tonight and nobody had thought to tell me that until the wine errand. I kept my eyes away from the man across the table and fixed them on my father."This is Damien Chen," he said. "He's here to discuss a business arrangement. A merger. And a marriage proposal."I nodded like that made sense.And then, slowly, i began to put the pieces together.The wine. The way Vivienne had been vibrating with excitement all morning. The announcement at dinner last week about an arranged marriage to one of the wealthiest men in the state. H