"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 now 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 gives me the phone.
"Sure."
I walked inside 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."
"Ahm..." I bite my bottom lip.
"Please, sweety? 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 okay. I'll just use my car."
"Are you sure, sweety?"
"Yes, ma'am. Can I just get your address?"
"Oh sure, I'll text you 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. This just means that I'm going to see him again.
"Ahem!" I turned around to see Craig leaning against the doorframe.
"Dinner meeting." I said to him although he's not yet asking.
"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 give me a humorous laugh before he went out and closed the door.
~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~
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 on 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, sweety. I'm sure my son's eyes were going to jump out of it sockets when he see you."
I just give her an awkward smile.
"Did you find it difficult to find our address?"
"Not really Mrs. Kelley, I actually 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 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 contribute to a cosy living space and making the room beautifully diverse.
"Honey, meet your future daughter-in-law."
And there he stands 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 sweety, 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 awkwardly smiled and looked at the grinning face of his wife behind him. He also give me another nickname.
"I heard a lot about you, Sophie. And don't worry, because me and my wife are willing to help you find the person who can testify for 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 honestly said with a genuine smile on my lips.
"Oh, don't mention about it, sweety." Mrs. Kelley, take my both hands. "We are now family, and family always helping one another."
"She's right, Sophie. And by the way, I also heard your first impression with my son."
My eyes turned a bit wide 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 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's a family dinner or any occasions, he always comes late." Mr. Kelley complained while we are all walking towards 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 comfort since I parked my car earlier.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
"This is it, there's is no turning back anymore. For justice. Yeah, this is all for what happened before!" I sighed again and finally do my real purpose inside.
~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~
Daniel's POV:
"Dude, aren't you feeling excited to see your fiancee?" Andrew winked at me when we were outside the car and walking towards the entrance of my parents' house.
"Why would I feel excited? This is just a formal dinner. For sure my Mom would introduce me to that Sophia."
"I'm so excited to meet your girl. You know, I'm so intrigued with her character."
"Don't worry, you'll gonna meet her tonight."
When we couldn't find my parents in the living room, we headed straight to the dining area with Andrew trailing behind me.
"Here is your son." My dad was the first one who noticed me.
"Hi Dad, Mom." I kissed my mother's cheek. "I am with Andrew, we're going straight to our late meeting after this." I said giving way to Andrew to greet my parents, but I can't deny that my eyes were searching for someone.
"Hi Aunt Sonia, Uncle Greg."
"Hello, Andrew." Dad patted his 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'll promise." but she just huffed and rolled her eyes.
"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 beside me.
"Wow!"
I followed his gaze and my jaws 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, and I noticed that he's observing my reaction. And when my mom called the angelic face woman, I can't help not to glance at her again.
"Sophia."
"Wow! So, she is Sophia?" Andrew asked in wide eyes.
"Yes, she is Sophia. Daniel's soon to be wife." I heard my Mom's answer but I'm too occupied by watching the woman walking gracefully towards us.
"Are my eyes joking on me right now? How can a simple girl transformed 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'm thinking?'-
I felt a tap on my shoulder before Andrew whisper something to my ear.
"You said it out loud, dude."
After hearing that, I started to mask 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 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 takes 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 as if he's really having a heart attack, but the woman seems enjoying this even my parents, who laughed at his old and corny joke.
"Ahem!" they looked at me, but my eyes only focused on 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 that 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 may take a seat beside your fiancee." I heard my Dad who ended my death glare to Andrew.
"It's okay Sir, maybe I can take my seat beside Mrs. Kelley."
My eyebrow raised when 'she' immediately sit on my mother's left side. As if I really wanted to sit beside her!
"Okay, let's eat kids, honey? Daniel, Andrew take your seats now."
I sit down across my mom's seat and Andrew across her.
~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~°~~~~~~~
Sophia's POV:
All throughout the dinner, I can feel the brown pair of eyes that staring intently at me. I know the person who owned that eyes but I just 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'll say, I wasn't affected by his creepy stares.
"Where are you from, Sophie?" I glanced up to the person who asked me that question. It's Mr. Kelley.
I smiled before I answer him. "I was actually coming from Italy, Sir."
"Oh, just call me Dad already, Sophie."
My eyes automatically darted to Daniel who dropped his spoon on the plate in a loud way. This is really more getting awkward.
"Are you a pure Italian?" Andrew asked me next.
"No, I am a half American and a half Italian."
"Hmm.. such a good combinations of genes. You looked like an angel sent from above."
I chuckled with his punchline, but I noticed how Daniel give him a death glare.
"By the way, let's talk about the engagement party." Mrs. Kelley get 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 looking at me.
"More private, it means no media coverage and no announcing to the public. Let's just get some professional photographers to cover the whole event. And also on your wedding, let's just invite some 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 billionai----"
"Daniel Kelley!"
It's funny how his parents stopped him by mentioning his whole 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 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 smirk.
"Stop that 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 bite my lips when Mrs. Kelley used her mother tone to him.
He glanced back at me with a deep frown on his forehead but I just raised my eyebrow on him. I didn't miss how Andrew suppress his giggle with what I did.
"Sophia, what motif do you want for your wedding, sweety?"
Mrs. Kelley suddenly turned to me. I don't know but seeing how annoyed his son at me at this moment, made me brave enough. So I answered her with an all-out smile.
"I actually love white and purple, Mrs. Kelley."
"Oh, please just call me Mom, sweety."
I smiled. -'Okay, she said call her Mom, then I will.'-
"Mom, I love the combination of white and purple."
"Thank you, sweety. 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 asked surprised, she didn't mention having a daughter to me before.
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry I forgot to mention it to you. We actually have two kids, Daniel was our first-born child and our youngest is Rian. She's married four years ago."
Rian. Sounds familiar. I also have a friend whose name was 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, sweety, for coming."
Mrs. Kelley said while hugging me tightly. We are now in the living room with Daniel and Andrew and I am 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 has still 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 clear.
"She's right Dad. Actually Andrew and I need 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 drove by myself here earlier, so I'm sure I'll be able to drive again back to my apartment."
I know he still has something to say, I can read it through his eyes but he was cut off by his mother.
"Okay, just take care sweety. I'll call the wedding planner by tomorrow, so you can start to choose whatever the details you want for the party."
"Thank you, Mom." I kissed her cheek before I finally say my goodbye to them.
When I reached my car, I saw the now-familiar figure who's leaning against my car door.
-'When did he get here? He's so fast!'-
"Mr. Daniel Kelley, you also want to ask a goodbye kiss?" I asked giving him my sweetest smile.
He didn't utter any word, but he stepped towards me. I gulped when he stopped a few inches away from me.
"What was your real reason why you accepted this deal?" I looked directly on his eyes to see they were both blank and serious.
"Oh, so you're now interested with my reason. 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 own question, so why are you still asking 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 inside of his pants' pocket. After his long pause, he opened his mouth again.
"I just wanna clear some things to you, Ms. 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 immediately file a divorce."
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.