Vanessa pressed her ear against the door, straining to listen in on the hushed conversation between Sophie and Darryl happening at the other side of the door.
The muffled sounds and indistinct murmurs filtering through the door enticed her into eavesdropping. What could they be talking about? She wondered as she pressed her ear closer to the door.
Despite her best efforts to eavesdrop, the words themselves remained out of reach of her ears, fueling Vanessa’s curiosity and making so many questions torment her.
With determination to catch even a snippet of the hushed conversation happening outside, she stood frozen behind the door, her ear still glued to the door. But the conversation remained stubbornly out of reach, hidden behind the soundproof walls that Vanessa couldn’t penetrate.
She jolted at the sound of the twisted doorknob, it seemed Darryl and Sophie were done and wanted to come back into the room. Quickly, she ran back towards the bed, relaxing her shoulders and masking the curiosity out of her face like she was never worried about their conversation.
Darryl walked into the room with a forced smile, willing to hide his worries. “You want to leave, right? We should leave then. Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here.” Darryl said to her.
Vanessa’s eyes lingered on him as she stared at him in disbelief. Just a moment ago, he wanted her to stay, now he was asking her to leave, just like that. Something was definitely wrong, but she couldn’t place her hands on it yet.
“What changed your mind?” She inquired, willing to satisfy her curiosity.
Darryl remained quiet for a minute before giving Vanessa an answer to her question. “Maybe I should start listening to you just to make others believe you are my wife.” He lied to her.
He wasn’t willing to tell Vanessa about his mother and her plan to invite Tania to humiliate Vanessa. He wasn’t even ready to tell Vanessa about Tania.
Since he started his fling with different women, this was the only time he had had regrets in his life. Before, he wouldn’t have cared if one of his flings met another one, but now, he was doing everything in his power to keep Vanessa away from Tania, oblivious to him that Tania and Vanessa had already met before.
“Well, well, well. I don’t need you to listen to me anymore because I’m willing to do what you want. I will stay and meet your family before I leave this house.”
Vanessa could sense that Darryl was hiding something behind his suggestion for them to leave. That aside, she was determined to get back at Darryl by frustrating him during their stay at his parents’ house.
Darryl wanted his family to believe they were real couples, but she was willing to do the exact opposite of what he wanted. She would do everything in her power to humiliate him in front of his family.
“Why do you want to stay? I asked you to leave the house. I have already made arrangements for that, and now you want to stay? What are you thinking? Darryl blurted out.
“Maybe I just want to look like a good wife in front of your family. This is the first chance I’m getting to show them, so why shouldn’t I utilize my chance well?” Vanessa said, trying to persuade him into letting her stay.
Darryl had gotten what he wanted right from the beginning, henceforth, it was her time to get what she wanted and nobody would stop her from achieving her aims.
Before Darryl could reply, a rapping on the door interrupted him. He opened the door to see who the intruder was, and the only thing Vanessa heard was “dinner is ready.”
She didn’t see the person, but she could tell it was Sophie, perhaps a maid. Her focus moved back to Darryl as she stared at the disappointed look on his face. He looked helpless and that only ignited her curiosity.
“We can leave now if you want to. Having dinner with my family isn’t your obligation.” Darryl tried to talk her out of her idea of staying.
“Dinner is ready, my dearest husband,” She said with her sly smile on her face. At this point, she could tell that Darryl didn’t want to meet his family, but she didn’t know the reason behind it.
“Lead the way or I will find my way around your house.” She told him with a smug look on her face.
Darryl looked helpless and Vanessa was having fun as she saw the helpless look on his face. For the first time that she had met Darryl, things weren’t going as he had planned and that alone gave her victory over him.
Darryl wanted to talk her out of waiting for dinner, but he didn’t know what to say to her. He can’t just tell her about his baby mama crisis when he’s just got married to her. With a silent prayer on his lips, he led Vanessa downstairs to the dining room.
Every step he took led him closer to the drama about to unfold. It was like he was intentionally taking Vanessa to the den of lions. Only if he could run away with her tonight, but that was a luxury he couldn’t afford tonight.
The aroma of food welcomed Darryl and Vanessa to the dining room. Also, Mrs Peter’s displeased look welcomed Vanessa as her eyes landed on her. She tried to say hello to Mrs Peter, but she shunned Vanessa indirectly.
Vanessa’s confidence dropped low as she noticed Mrs Peter didn’t like her, but she masked her feelings with a smile on her face. Maybe this was the reason Darryl didn’t want her to stay tonight. She consoled herself.
Grudgingly, Sophie sat down at the table, watching her mother closely. Vanessa also did the same, leaving Darryl on his feet, glaring at his mother, a silent plea to stop the impending drama.
“Take your seat, son, before dinner gets cold.” Mrs Peter ignored his protest.
Finally, Darryl sat down at the table, but he had no plans to eat, neither did Sophie.
“Before we start, I would like to introduce you all to a special guest that I’ve invited to join us for dinner.” Mrs Peter said with a smile on her face.
Who else could be joining the family for dinner? Vanessa wondered. Maybe it was Darryl’s father since he wasn’t in the seat at the moment.
As Vanessa sat there, lost in her thoughts, her gaze suddenly shifted to the doorway, where a familiar face had just appeared. Tania?
Tania walked into the dining room, making Vanessa’s jaw drop in shock. The unexpected sight of Tania, the last person Vanessa had expected to see, left her utterly shocked.
Vanessa became unsettled as she struggled to process the surprise revelation. “Tania was the special guest?” she wondered, her thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and astonishment.
The room seemed to fade away as Vanessa’s focus remained fixed on Tania, her eyes locked onto her face, searching for answers to the questions racing through her mind.