The In-Law

The Winter couple were standing and welcoming Ayana as they stepped inside the living room.

Luca's mother has fair skin and blonde hair that will make her look like an angel if she has blue eyes, though she has a bright red pupil that makes her look brave and strong. Luca's father, who stood beside his wife, looks just like Luca. He has a handsome face with a strong jaw and black hair. The couple looks great together.

Ayana showed her best smile as she approached the couple and bowed down a little, greeting the couple.

Whether it was just her imagination or not, Ayana saw the wrinkle in the middle of the woman's brow when her eyes landed on her red dress.

Ayana sighed in frustration at this situation. Her peaceful life as the rich daughter-in-law might be over after this. She would be thankful if they did not bother her after this.

Irene felt Ayana's distress as she took the girl's hand and whispered reassuring words, "it's okay, dear," Irene said as she squeezed Ayana's hand.

"Good afternoon. I am Ayana Winter, Luca's wife. It's nice to meet you," Ayana said with the best smile she could show when she was right in front of the couple.

"Oh, then, welcome to the family, dear. I am Luca's mother. You can call me Brigitte or mother. This is my husband, Mark. Although he looks scary, he has a kind heart," Brigitte said as she approached Ayana and hugged the girl briefly.

Luca's mother looked at her with a bright smile as her frown a second ago was just a dream.

"What a beautiful dress. It turns out that you have a great fashion sense which is very different from the rumor," The woman said with a friendly tone, but Ayana could sense an underlying meaning behind those compliments. Her bold red dress caught everyone's attention and made Luca's mother, the host of the dinner, look plain.

Ayana just smiled to hide her bitter thoughts. She also did not want this to happen. If she could, she wanted to have a great relationship with her in-laws. Meaning, she did not want them to bother her and she would do the same by ignoring them. She really wanted to live quietly as a good, obedient daughter-in-law and was planning her revenge in the shadows. And when she was done with her revenge, she would sign the divorce paper and go somewhere to live peacefully. 

"There is a stupid misunderstanding between me and the boutique that sent the dress to Ayana. I hope you don't mind, sweety," Irene said as she looked at her daughter with a helpless expression.

"Stupid misunderstanding? I was really curious to hear about that, mother," Bridgette frowned a little, seeming curious. Although Ayana could see a bit of sarcasm in her eyes.

"You know dear, it seems that she thought that I was ordering the dress for you and chose this color. I did not mention that the dress was for Luca's wife," Irene lied effortlessly.

Ayana almost nodded her head in agreement since the excuse sounded possible. Bridgette was a petite woman and their body size seemed similar.

"I see. They must be thinking that way since you still buy dresses for me sometimes," Bridgette looked at Ayana again and observed the dress with a bit of envy. She actually likes the dress. She rarely wore that kind of color, since she always thought that red would make her appear arrogant, but when Ayana wore it, she still looked elegant and stunning.

"Did Eugene make this dress?" Bridgette asked.

"I forgot who it is. I will check that when I get back," Irene smiled when she found Bridgette nodding her head.  Irene quickly took a quick note to ask Luca where he got this dress as she took another look at the dress. Now that she was more relaxed and paid more attention to the dress, she noticed that the dress looked elegant and also expensive. It was understandable that Bridgette wanted to know who made it.

"Where is Luca? Isn't he coming?" Luca's mother said as she observed Ayana once more before changing the topic.

"He got a phone call when we were just a few steps from the door. He must be somewhere talking on his phone," Irene said as she took a look at the empty door.

"That boy is always so busy," Brigitte said as she shook her head. Ayana just followed the conversation by nodding her head and showing a polite smile.

"You are right. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about that since he is the general of District 2," Irene said with a hint of pride.

Ayana tried hard not to roll her eyes as she heard her in-laws talking. Besides all the topics she did not understand, all they talked about was how great Luca is.

Unlike his wife, Mark did not make any attempt to approach Ayana and only showed a mocking smirk before ignoring Ayana completely. Ayana can feel the pure hatred in the man's eyes toward her, but she ignored them and pretended that there was nothing wrong. She believes that others must also feel hatred toward her, but they just laugh it off and look at her mockingly.

From the helpless look, Brigitte gave Irene, Ayana can guess that the man was there because he was forced by the two women.

It seemed like Luca's hatred toward humans was a genetic trait given by his father, Ayana thought as she looked around the room. She found several people that seemed like other guests not far from where they stood.

"You don't have to take it to your heart, darling. Mark always behaves that way toward new people. When he knows you for some time, he will get close to you eventually," Brigitte said, but her words did not sound that convincing in Ayana's ears.

"Yes, mother," Ayana said with a smile. She did not care about Mark. She even preferred that Mark would stay away from her. People would not change that easily.

Brigitte took Ayana's hand and started to lead the girl to meet other people in the room.

"We are sorry that we couldn't attend your wedding since we were having another important meeting on the same day. I hope you are not offended by that," Brigitte said as she walked Ayana to a group of people who were sitting on the other side of the room.