Taming My Arrogant Husband novel Chapter 5

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

"Mrs Kelley."

I nodded and turned to my students who were now dancing.

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

I said before rushing to Craig.

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

"Sure."

I walked into 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 this evening? 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."

"Ohh..." I bit my lower 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 tonight."

"No ma'am, it's okay. I'll just use my car."

"Are you sure, sweetie?"

"Yes, ma'am. May I have your address?"

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

"You're welcome, Mrs Kelley."

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

"Thank you, ma'am."

I sighed loudly after ending the call. It just means I'm going to see him again.

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

"Dinner meeting," I told him even though he hasn't asked me 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 hilarious laugh before going out and closing the door.

~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~

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

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

"Sophia."

I turned around and saw Mrs Kelley standing in the glass door entrance of the mansion. I gulped and took a deep breath before walking towards 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 will pop out of their sockets when he sees you."

I just gave her an awkward smile.

"Did you find it difficult to find our address?"

"Not really, Mrs Kelley, I used the google map."

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

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

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

And there he was 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 towards us. "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, soon to be your father-in-law."

"Mr Kelley, nice to meet you, Sir." I offered my hand for a handshake, but like what his wife did earlier, he also 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 smiled awkwardly and looked at the grinning face of his wife behind him. He also gave me another nickname.

"I've 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 in your case against that Joseph De Lucca."

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

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

"She's right, Sophie. By the way, I also heard your first impression with my son."

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

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

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

"Yeah, 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 a family dinner or any occasion, he always comes late." Mr Kelley complained as we all make our way to 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, sweety," 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 now it's the only place I can feel comfortable since I parked the car earlier.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

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

~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~

Daniel's POV:

"Dude, aren't you feeling excited to see your fiancée?" Andrew winked at me when we were out of the car and headed for the entrance to my parents' house.

"Why should I get excited? This is just a formal dinner. I'm sure my Mom will introduce me to that 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 into the dining room with Andrew trailing behind me.

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

"Hi Dad, Mom." I kissed my mother's cheek. "I'm with Andrew, we'll go straight to our late meeting after this," I said giving way to Andrew to greet my parents, but I can't deny 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 snorted and rolled her eyes.

"This dinner isn't really for me, this is for your fiancée, Daniel."

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

"Wow!"

I followed his gaze and my jaws dropped at 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 he was observing my reaction. And when my mom called the angelic-faced woman, I can't help but glance at her again.

"Sophia."

"Wow! So, she is Sophia?" Andrew asked with wide eyes.

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

"Are my eyes joking on 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 knitted in confusion, especially when I saw Dad and Mom exchanging glances.

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

I felt a tap on my shoulder before Andrew whispered something in 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 close to her and take 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 this house.

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

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

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

"Ops! Sorry dude, I didn't notice you're jealous." and they all laughed again.

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

"Son, you can sit next to your fiancée." I heard my Dad who ended my death glare at Andrew.

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

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

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

I sit across my mom's seat and Andrew across her.

~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~

Sophia's POV:

Throughout dinner, I can feel the pair of brown eyes staring intently at me. I know the person who owned those eyes but I acted oblivious. I also know that he's observing my moves, he's observing the way I talk to her parents. And I'll consider myself a big liar if I say, I wasn't affected by his creepy stares.

"Where are you from, Sophie?" I glanced up to the person who had asked me that question. It's Mr Kelley---the old Kelley.

I smiled before answering him. "Actually I was from Italy, Sir."

"Oh, call me Dad already, Sophie."

My eyes automatically darted to Daniel who dropped the spoon noisily onto his plate. This is really more getting awkward.

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

"No, I'm half American and half Italian."

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

I chuckled with his punchline, but I noticed how Daniel gave him a deadly look.

"By the way, let's talk about the engagement party." Mrs Kelley gets 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 looking directly at me.

"More private, it means no media coverage and no public announcements. Let's just get some professional photographers to cover the whole event. And even at your wedding, let's just invite some relatives and close friends."

"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 by mentioning his full name in unison. Actually, I've already guessed what he really wanted to say, but I just smiled at him. It hurts to hear those kinds of words, but I don't want to give him a chance to insult me more.

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

"Stop those nonsense questions of yours!" and he received a scowl from both of his parents.

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

He turned to look at me with a deep frown on his forehead but I just raised my eyebrow at him. I didn't miss the way 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 at me at that moment, made me quite brave, so I answered her with a wide-ranging smile.

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

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

I smiled. -'Okay, she said to 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 organized my daughter's wedding before."

"You have a daughter?" I asked surprised, she didn't mention she had a daughter to me before.

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

Rian. 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 while hugging me tightly. We are now in the living room with Daniel and Andrew and I'm currently saying my goodbye to them.

"Let Daniel drive you home, Sophie."

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

I know Daniel was right behind me, so I made my voice loud and clear.

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

"Of course! I got here on my own earlier, so I'm sure I can  drive again back to my apartment."

I know he still has something to say, I can read it through his eyes but he was interrupted by his mother.

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

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

When I reached my car, I saw the now-familiar figure leaning against the door of 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 my sweetest smile.

He didn't utter any word, but he walked over to me. I gulped when he stopped a few inches away from me.

"What was the real reason why you accepted this deal?" I looked directly into his eyes to see that they were both blank and serious.

"Oh, so now you're interested in my reason, huh? I thought for you my only reason for marrying you was because of your money?"

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

"You already have an answer to your question, so why are you still asking me and why do you need to hear it exactly from me? What's 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 in his pants' pocket and after a long pause, he opened his mouth again.

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

That was a long speech, but if you're going to make it short, he only means that he hates me and he really doesn't want me to be his wife. I admit that hurts, to be judged by someone who doesn't even know your real story, but 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 the justice for what Joseph did to me.