"Wild of you to think that I have ever been in a relationship." She muttered under her breath.
"What did you say? Are you scared to say it out loud? You aren't a coward, are you?" He wanted to force things out of her mouth, and that was the only way he could have provoked her.
"Woah! I guess you just want me to say what I don't want. Stuff like that doesn't work on me anymore." She fired back, and then he smirked. She felt that there was no good reason for him to know that she had never been in a relationship.
He could even get to use that against her, and she didn't want something like that either. After some minutes of driving, Joshua got to his parents' house.
Claire noticed that they had already arrived at their destination. She saw how wonderful the place was, and she was in love with it. She gasped upon seeing the place once more. It was a very large mansion, and there was a fountain in the compound.
They were welcomed by maids and also entered the huge mansion. She was from a rich family, but his was definitely wealthier than hers.
"Just follow me." That was what Joshua told her, and she did what she was told. She followed him right into the house. She looked at the time and saw that they were a little bit late.
He held onto her wrist, and she was shocked that he had done something like that. She tried to fight it, and she then remembered that she was supposed to act with him so they could convince his grandfather.
He arrived in the dining room, and his family was already sitting on the chair. His grandfather was the first to notice that he was holding her hand. He was pleased that both of them were getting along. He couldn't wait to share such wonderful information with his friend, Claire's grandfather.
Claire greeted everyone who was sitting right at the table and sat right on an empty seat. "You are welcome, darling." Joshua's grandfather replied to her. "How are you doing, my dear daughter-in-law?" Joshua's father questioned her, and he smiled.
He wasn't against the two of them; he just wanted the best for his son. He loved his son fiercely and would do anything to improve their relationship.
"Yeah, you two were five minutes late. Do you know how disrespectful that is? We sacrificed our time to be here for you two, but you decided to delay us." Vivian, who was Joshua's stepmother, interrupted their joyful moment.
Claire was already getting scared of her. "She is worse than any other evil stop mother I have read about." She thought.
"Yeah! I'm sorry we are a little bit late. That will not happen again." He apologised without even saying anything. Claire was stunned by his actions. She never expected that he could apologize. She didn't see him as someone who could do such a thing.
"You could be this calm?" Claire murmured, but he heard what she said and shot her.
"I heard your two marriages were sudden ones! Grandfather, are you sure the two are getting along? "What if she came into the picture and took everything that belonged to us?" Joshua's stepsister, Alex, stepped into the picture.
"Watch what you say. You don't get to talk about my wife like that. I can take anything from you, but don't bring her into those miserable thoughts of yours." Joshua reacted, as everyone who was sitting right on the table was surprised by the way he had reacted.
Claire, who was sitting right next to him, was also stunned by his behavior. She thought it was real for a second before she remembered that everything was just acting. "It felt so real; he should just go into Nollywood." She thought to herself.
His grandfather, who was sitting with them, was impressed by his performance. Everything was going their way. "I was just saying..." You know there are a lot of ladies out there, and they are just after their man's money." Alex tried to defend herself.
"You are just defining yourself. Not everyone is like you." Joshua informed her.
"You two should stop the argument. For the first time, there is a visitor here. We came here to eat, not to be in some little petty fight." Their grandfather cut in.
Claire was more interested in their fight than anything else. She wanted to see both of them in more arguments later in the future. She wanted to see the person who was way better with his words than both of them.
She looked around, and she didn't notice any signs of her stepbrother. She had remembered that his maid talked about him having a younger brother. The maids came in with the food they were going to eat that night.
Throughout that night, Joshua acted lovey-dovey towards her, even though they were just acting. No one would have imagined the bite I'd then be taking with the way they were acting.
It was time for both of them to go back home. It looked like it was going to rain, so they needed to go home early.
"Can't you stay here for the night?" His grandfather asked them. Immediately, they announced that they would be going back to their house.
"You don't have to worry about that. We need some things to do at home. We are going to get back to you later." Joshua told him, and then they both walked out of the house after greeting the whole family "goodnight."
"Do your palms usually get that sweaty? It is irritating." Joshua let go of Claire's hand. After they reached where their car was,.
"Are you okay at all? How could you say such things?" Claire retorted immediately, and they got back into the car. Joshua ignited the car's engine and then drove off out of the compound without saying a word to her.