Liam was taken into a room and told to make himself comfortable. The room was obviously occupied due to it's fresh appearance. Moreover, the bed was not even made!
He could guess that the room belonged to Valeria so he quietly sat on the bed. He wondered what the old couple's plan was. They were not even married, yet he was already thrown into her room.
"What are you doing here?" Valeria asked coldly. She had a robe on, seemingly from a bath.
Liam sighed, "They left me here," he said. Valeria was a bit surprised, he was different from the shy man she had earlier met.
"You should get out," her voice was icy.
"I don't want to," he claimed surprising her once more. She was used to people obeying her.
"Are you serious?"
"Yap," he said leisurely and even adjusted himself to sit properly. He looked at the stunned Valeria and sighed again, "We are getting married tomorrow."
"I knew that much."
"What good will it be if we start fighting when we didn't even do anything to each other?"
"I was not fighting."
"We should start knowing each other better."
"Sure. Hi, I'm Valeria and I hate men," she said sarcastically.
"I don't like women either so you can say we're similar." This made her laugh, not genuinely though.
"You're interesting," she said as if it was a relief for her.
"Of course I am," he paused, "So, why is a man like me getting married to you?"
"It's none of your business."
"Ain't I the one getting married?" He mused, "Anyway, are you barren or something?"
Her eyes immediately darkened, "Did they tell you that?"
"I can tell," he immediately said, not wanting to sow discords. "So how many are you in this family? And why don't you like them? You should stop being like that."
"Who do you think you are? You can't come here telling me what to do and asking questions."
He stood, "I'm getting married to you, so it's only fair." He was suddenly roughly pushed against a wall making him hiss in pain. "You're strong for a woman," his words hit right where it hurt. She pressed his right shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear,
"I thought you said we shouldn't fight," she paused and pressed his shoulder even more, "I especially hate the men who think they rule the world just because they are men." She finally let go and right at that moment the door was knocked.
"Excuse me madam, sir, dinner is ready," a maid said behind the door and left.
"If you're really getting married to me, you should get ready to face dominance. I don't care what my grandparents said, " she then smiled. "You should go first. I'll join you after I wear my clothes."
...
The dining room of the mansion was next to the kitchen. There was a large rectangular brown table. The table at that time was full of various types of food which made Liam's stomach rumble.
He was seated next to Valeria on the dining table. At the head, Jake sat with Sofia at his right. On his left his firstborn sat. Jake had a total of four children.
First, Harley Telever. He had a wife, Peris and three children. Next, Kara Telever, who was a loner till now. Pamela Telever was the third born who convinced her husband, Gerald, for them to stay with her parents. They had two twins.
Finally, there was Leon Telever, a single dad with two children, Valeria being one of them.
The whole family, fifteen people plus Liam were seated on the table. It was rare for them to be like this, it was obvious that Jake had gathered them.
"I called you all to celebrate Valeria's marriage to our newest member, Liam Frost," Jake went direct to the point.
"Wait, he's marrying into our family?" Peris asked.
"Yes," Sofia answered.
"You not only found someone willing to marry you despite your condition but also someone who's willing to marry into your family?" Peris scoffed.
"Of course he was told about our family's identity," Pamela said.
"That should be true, after all, trash and garbage are one and the same," Peris laughed. Valeria clenched her spoon but remained silent.
"Ladies!" Jake warned in a deep voice.
"Dad, do you think it's a good thing for Valeria to marry. We all know her habits," Harley said.
"I trust her," Jake said.
"She comes home drunk everyday and sleeps with anyone, be it man or woman," Harley said with pursed lips. Liam, shocked, looked at Valeria. Of course, Harley noticed this, "Oops, I seem to have revealed what I shouldn't have," he smiled when saying this. It was obvious his intentions were impure.
"That's enough Harley," Jake said, "What's wrong with you all today?"
"You shouldn't shut them up when they are stating facts grandfather," Valeria said as her spoon finally snapped and landed in her food, splashing it to her face.
She scanned everyone on the table. Her eyes stayed longer on her father and brother who stayed silent the whole time. She chuckled and stood to leave, "Dinner was terrible by the way," she left those words.
"Excuse me too," Liam too left, it was awkward to stay anyway.