Chapter Eleven — Classless Bride

Third Person Pov

"Hello Mother," Brian greeted with a curt bow as he walked into the dining area with Emerald by his side.

Emerald didn't know what she was expecting to see in terms of the mother and son interaction but she definitely did not expect that Brian would just greet his mother so casually without any sign of enthusiasm and then proceed to just take a seat like he was about to have a business meeting.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Huxley," she managed to greet with a small smile. She was now standing face-to-face with the woman who was soon to be her mother-in-law. As much as she wished she could get rid of her nerves, she couldn't because her mother-in-law's gaze alone was intimidating enough and she couldn't predict what the lady was thinking because the expression on her face said absolutely nothing.

"You must be Emerald. Please sit," she finally responded, directing Emerald to the empty seat beside Brian.

Emerald couldn't even dare compare the dining area to the one back home because it would be an impossible comparison especially since Huxley's dining area was almost three times bigger than her entire bedroom and her bedroom back home wasn't even small.

She couldn't help but compare her family to the Huxley family not because she was intimidated by them or by their wealth, but because she could now slowly understand why and how they were powerful enough to take everything from her family and why she had no other alternative but to marry Brian to avoid such from happening.

She quietly sat beside Brian, trying not to make too much noise with the seat to avoid the atmosphere from getting even more awkward. Unfortunately for her, she could sense the obvious tension between Brian and his mother and she already had a strong feeling that they did not get along.

"Well, this is awkward," Brian's mother spoke up, staring back and forth at Brian and Emerald with an intrigued expression on her face.

This wasn't the first time she had been in such an awkward situation with her son so it wasn't anything new to her but she didn't like the fact that Brian wasn't even respectful enough to at least pretend to be happy to be around her especially since a stranger was sitting with them.

"We wouldn't have to be dealing with such an awkward situation if you did not suddenly request that she and I showed up for an unplanned lunch schedule, mother," Brian responded, not caring that Emerald was witnessing him speak rudely to his mother.

He could tell by the look on her face that she was horrified by how he was speaking to her in front of Emerald but he couldn't bring himself to care about how she felt also, he was enjoying the horrified look on her face because it always amused him how his mother always wanted to be viewed as a perfect mother that had a perfect relationship with her son when both of them barely ever say anything to each other except when necessary.

"There's a stranger in the room, Brian. You may not respect me but you should at least respect the other person in the room and mind the way you speak to me," his mother snapped and Brian struggled to hold back his eye roll.

"Let's not do this, mother. Why exactly did you invite Emerald and I for lunch? Please just get to the reason why we are here so that we can get this over with and be on our way," he replied, completely uninterested in dealing with his mother's dramatic nature.

He didn't like the fact that he was back in this house because this place absolutely terrified him and he just wanted her to say whatever it is that she had to say so that he could be on his way.

Emerald quietly watched as Brian and his mother argued back and forth and to her, it certainly had to be the most uncomfortable situation she had ever been in. She didn't know where to look or how to react so she just had to sit quietly and wait for them to round up their back and forth so that they could get to the part where they had lunch and the part where lunch would be over so she could leave.

"Emerald dear, I deeply apologise for the scene but as you may already know, my son has no manners whatsoever and he mostly speaks without thinking. Forgive him," his mother said, ignoring Brian and turning to face Emerald.

"It's not a problem, Mrs Huxley," Emerald replied, trying not to show that she was extremely uncomfortable even though she was.

"Call me Reina dear," she corrected, wearing an unreadable expression on her face.

"I'm pretty sure you're wondering why I called you here and honestly, I intended on meeting you for the first time on the wedding day but then I realised, you're marrying my only son and it wouldn't make any sense if I didn't speak to the woman who is soon going to have the privilege of carrying my prestigious family's last name. Don't you agree with me, dear?" Reina asked, directing her question at a nervous Emerald.

"I understand what you mean," Emerald managed to respond. She noticed her hands were starting to shake uncontrollably so she quickly placed them on her thighs and hid her hands under the table to avoid getting caught.

Brian had seen Emerald hide her hands under the table and he felt a little sorry for her cause he knew his mother hadn't even gotten to where she was headed but regardless of how sorry he was, he already made up his mind that he wasn't going to get involved since it had nothing to do with him.

"Good dear. So, I heard you're a nurse?" Reina resumed her questioning.

"Yes, I am ma'am," Emerald answered.

She was starting to feel like she was being interrogated at the moment and unfortunately for her, she had to make sure she gave the right answers only because she had no idea what would happen if she said anything that wouldn't impress her soon-to-be mother-in-law.

"How long have you been a nurse?" Reina questioned.

"For almost three years," Emerald answered.

"Hmm, interesting. I hear you won't be allowed to work at all while you're married to my son and at first, I almost felt sorry for you but then I realised that you must be ecstatic that you don't have to do anything to earn money in for the next few months since you'll be marrying into one of the richest families in the country," Reina stated calmly causing Emerald's eyes to widen briefly.

She wasn't expecting her to make such a comment and although she was surprised at first, she quickly realised that she should have been expecting such a comment and it won't only be coming from his mother, but also the entire country once they found out she was marrying into the Huxley family.

"As much as I'm honoured to be marrying into your family,..." Emerald was about to reply but Reina cut her off.

"You should be, dear. It would be disrespectful on your part if you didn't feel honoured to be marrying into my family especially since many girls out there would wish to be in your shoes but you're the lucky that's gonna be carrying our last name which means, you'll soon be elevated from your poor status and you'll also be privileged to wine and dine with people that you could have only dreamed of meeting. People with actual class unlike you and your classless background," she chirped excitedly intending to make Emerald feel uncomfortable.

Reina never agreed with her husband when he said that he wanted Brian to marry Emerald over some business that he had with her father and to her, the entire idea of the wedding was completely ridiculous because Emerald was nowhere near Brian's class and she believed that having someone like her join the family was only going to make her son look tasteless and create a dent in her family's reputation.

Brian wasn't surprised by all the things that his mother was saying because he knew exactly where she was headed from the very beginning and that was why he had told Emerald earlier that he wasn't going to get involved.

"With all due respect ma'am, you do know that I never fully gave my consent to marry your son, right?" Emerald responded, trying not to get too upset.

The fact that she had dared to call her family classless upset her but she wasn't going to give her the privilege of seeing her act out of character.

"Consent?" Reina scoffed. "Sweetie, you're marrying my son, a man that's one in a million and way above your league and you dare talk about giving your consent?" she hissed, finding Emerald's response irritating.

"Unfortunately for me ma'am, I wasn't even given an ultimatum as to whether I could avoid this marriage from happening, so the fact that someone like me that doesn't fit into your classy family is unfortunately for you, becoming a part of it, has nothing to do with me. If you don't like that I'm marrying him or you believe I'm not in his league, feel free to call off the wedding. I'd be more than grateful to pass on your last name," Emerald retorted, unintentionally sounding sharper than she intended.

"What did you just say?" Reina asked, clenching her fists hard and just when Emerald was boldly about to repeat herself, Brian slid his hand under the table, grabbing her hand suddenly and squeezing them gently to stop her from talking and the sudden body contact made Emerald unconsciously shiver.

"You heard her loud and clear, mother. So now that you've said all you wanted to say, I see no reason why my fiance and I should proceed with having lunch with you since you're only interested in insulting her. Have a good day and the next time you meet her, you better watch what you say to her," Brian warned, still holding on to Emerald's hand before getting up to leave.

"You better not let that gold digger sink her hungry teeth too deep in you, son," Reina voiced out loudly but Brian simply ignored her while Emerald was confused by how quickly things were happening.