The Substitute Bride

CHAPTER TWO Slowly she lifted her head and she saw his expression quickly change from annoyance to concern when she didn't move. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She shook her head slightly regaining her senses. "Ah, er, I...I am fine." She stuttered a response but he stared at her sceptically. Rella cursed herself silently, why was she stuttering? Cindy would never stutter especially in a situation such as this. "Really? It didn't seem that way." She could swear she saw a smirk but she was too displeased at her humiliating slip to care. He extracted his hands from her and she watched him bury them deep inside his pants' pocket.Her face heating up. "Where were you? I got worried when your mom said she couldn't find you." "Oh, um, I was freshening up a bit."For a moment he looked like he was going to say something but he thought better of it and instead he held her gaze steadily. His eyes roamed languidly over her frame and his brows furrowed. Rella s

Stefan adjusted his tie in front of the dressing mirror and gave himself a fleeting once-over, his eye caught his grandfather's in the mirror, he sighed internaly before he turned to face the old man. Gregory Diamond was a hard man to please and his words were carved in stone that no one dares to refuse him. He was a business man who knew what he wanted and how to get it. In a way Stefan inherited some of that hard veneer although he would not like to admit it. "You look handsome." His grandfather commented. "Your parents would be proud." Stefan scoffed. "I doubt it." "You will thank me later. I am only doing this for your own good." "No you're doing this to satisfy your own ego cause you want no one to be able to say no to you." Stefan countered. "Blackmailing me with the inheritance left to me by my parents isn't for my own good you simply want to control me." He argued. His grandfather smiled, the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes became prominent.

"Is he always so unbearable?"Rella turned to face the middle aged man named Henry but he didn't seem fazed by Stefan's attitude instead he smiled at her politely and said, "Hello Madam I am Henry the butler, I will be helping you with anything you need you just have to let me know what. For now let me help you settle in for the night." Rella smiled back at him grateful that someone was at least nice to her in her new home. "Nice to meet you Henry, I'm Rella and thank you so much." Stefan didn't even bother to show her to their bedroom. If they were going to be sharing a room the least he could do is be more accommodating but he was arrogant and condescending. "This way please." She followed the butler up the flight of stairs, her eyes roaming the spacious mansion in awe she couldn't savour the beauty of it because she needed to keep up with Henry. At the second floor just across the hall he opened brown oak door and ushered her in. Rella felt like she

"Nothing is working out."Rella groaned in frustration sipping her wine. It was a bright afternoon and the sun was just the right amount of warm but nothing about Rella's mood was sunny. There were barely days left for the post wedding party and she was overwhelmed. There was the meal, it's hard to choose an appetizer and the main course, for dessert she decided on chocolate troufle. The guest list was incomplete as she had little to no clue on who to invite and Stefan had made it clear that he was having no part in it. "Relax I am here aren't I and I promise to help you." Van assured her. They were on the balcony overlooking the neatly trimmed garden. " I have done a little get together before so this shouldn't be hard." " No offense Van but a get-together in a little neighbourhood with friends is nothing compared to this. Guests from some of the most affluent families in the city will be attending and we can't just serve them barbecue and call it a day."

They finally said goodbye to the last guest at midnight. Rella wouldn't let Chloe leave until she swore to never tell anyone her secret and she was certain the noise they heard outside the door was just the wind because there was no one there when she went to check.Stefan on the other hand was eager to get away from her. "Why don't you help us clean it would be fun?" Christian said to his friend. "That's what servants are for, it's what they are paid to do."If looks could kill… After he said that, Stefan put his hands in his pocket as he made his way up the stairs. Rella found herself watching him go, there was something about the way he carries himself that was fascinating. "I don't think he realises he only has one help." Christian interrupted her thoughts. "I don't think he realises anything that goes on around him." Rella said.Poor Lacy the maid there was so much to clean up and it would be too much for one person to handle Rella was going to hel