Unexpected facts

Livy felt uncomfortable with Arthur's words, but she couldn't ask what he meant at all. Until finally an hour later, the car that took them arrived at the Main House.

The existence of the main house is far from the bustle of the city and not too many houses are there. Why it was built here the reason is the family wants a calm and quiet atmosphere at night. In old age, parents don't have much to do, that's why they want to spend their old age relaxing in such a place too.

One large plot of land was turned into a yard so wide that the area of ​​the house could not be seen. The car spun several times in circles until it finally stopped in front of the house.

Livy got out of the car and quickly walked to Arthur's side. She nervously helped open the door, reached out her hand and said, "Come down carefully."

The driver who was just about to get off was shocked. Arthur who was sitting in the car was equally surprised by this. This feeling of being protected and cared for was a bit unfamiliar.

Arthur stretched out his hand, placing it in Livy's.

His hand was long and slender, having a bit of muscle that bulged when he squeezed it. She held on to the car while pulling Arthur out slowly.

"Thank you."

Livy removed her hand from him, hearing those words, her ears slowly turned red.

The two of them walked towards the large white double doors. Arthur walked in front and Livy behind with her head down. Two maids greeted them both and said that the host was waiting.

Before actually entering, Arthur backed away, grabbed Livy by the waist, which nearly made her jump in surprise, and pulled her closer.

He lowered his head and whispered coldly, "If we make some distance, we'll be caught in a few seconds."

Livy immediately got the point; they have become husband and wife, so why are they far apart.

Yeah, what did she expect?

After remembering the marriage contract, Livy came into play.

Inside the house, they were greeted by Arthur's mother who looked beautiful in a simple red dress. It was a homely dress that didn't go overboard, but even so, it still looked good on her mother-in-law's body.

Livy remembered that her father-in-law was quite old, while her mother-in-law still looked rather young.

Was their age difference big enough when they got married?

"You've come. Come in and have a seat, let the maid prepare the drinks."

Arthur invited Livy to sit down. Along the way he didn't let go of her waist one bit, she felt overwhelmed by the heat of Arthur's hand as if it was burning her skin. Once they sat side by side, she breathed a sigh of relief that Arthur let her go. Then at the same time the maid came with some snacks and tea. Livy skipped lunch, although before leaving she didn't feel hungry, she was hungry after seeing the dish.

Apparently Arthur took the tea for her first. "Drink this. I heard you missed lunch."

Livy didn't expect that the maid would report this to Arthur too, she shyly took the glass and drank it. "I'm too busy reading in the study room to forget a lot of time."

"Do you like the study room arrangement?"

"Very! I think the book selection is exactly what I needed. It's a week away from the university scholarship test, I think the books can help."

Arthur frowned, starting to think about gathering materials that could be used for the entrance test in his head.

"Good, if you like it," he said.

The two of them said nothing more. Livy was a bit uncomfortable with their conversations which always ended in a stalemate. Arthur didn't say much, so instead she had to be good at figuring out the topic so they wouldn't stand still.

She looked at the decoration of the mansion and asked, "How many people live in this house?"

"Three."

"Uh, there are only three people in a house this big? I thought there were eleven people in it. Too bad."

Hearing that, Arthur smiled. "It only has six rooms here. If eleven people lived here, where would they sleep?"

Livy was shocked. "Aren't there a lot of maids? Where do they sleep?"

"There's a special room for maids and they'll sleep there at night."

Well, of course. The rich always had many servants and they were bound to be given a special room in another corner of the house. The rich man's arrangement really irritated him. They are so rich that what they do is always beyond the minds of the poor. She guessed there must be more servants here than at Arthur's own house.

"So are all those maids going to report any incident in the house to the host as well?" Livy asked sneeringly.

Arthur knew Livy was deliberately spitting out sarcasm. "Are you angry?"

"Huh? Why am I angry? Did you do something to me behind my back?"

"..." Arthur was stunned.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It's not that I mean to accuse you, I ... I just don't understand what you're saying."

Mature appearance didn't make Livy an adult either. Come to think of it, she is still twenty years old, which is why she is still innocent.

He couldn't resist teasing. "If I do something, will you really be angry?"

Arthur's face was suddenly too close to hers, Livy immediately looked away. "Are you cheating behind my back? Do you actually have a lover and pretend to be married to me? Even if this marriage is fake, it's called an affair after all."

Arthur didn't expect this answer, but that wasn't what he meant. So he frowned even more. Luckily there was no one around them and no one heard the remark. Before he could answer, the sound of footsteps was heard, he saw someone coming.

"You must be hungry by now. Your father is waiting at the table. Come on, let's go."

Livy stood up first. "Okay, M-Mother."

She turned to Arthur who had also stood up, he nodded at her, so she quickly walked over to his mother and walked along.

One person was waiting at the dining table, it was Arthur's father. There were nine chairs, two of which were the main seats, one of which was filled by the middle-aged man.

"Livy, is this food to your liking? I don't know what you like, so I asked the kitchen to cook a lot of food. You finish it, ok?" Arthur's mother said.

"I'm not picky, Mother."

"Call me Nancy, so we can get to know each other better. We're family now. You're my daughter too."

"Thanks, Nancy." Livy was a little embarrassed.

There were so many side dishes on the dining table, all of them were enough food to fill a party of many people. Could Livy finish all of this?

Arthur glanced to the side, it wasn't clear what he was seeing, but he knew Livy had a hard time being asked to finish all of this. Arthur scooped up some side dishes and put them on her plate. Some of it was her favorite food, so she was surprised.

'Does he even know my favorite food? Or is this just guesswork?'

"Eat slowly. Don't push yourself." Arthur said.

"Ok."

Albert Finnegan, Arthur's father, saw this happening and kept an eye on Livy from time to time. At first he never cared about who would marry his son. But Arthur was a quiet and cold man, he rarely spoke or paid attention to those around him. Seeing him treating Livy at this time, he was a little curious about her. Moreover, this matchmaking was actually not his choice, it was what Arthur himself chose.

When Arthur wanted an arranged marriage with Livy, he was very surprised.

They eat quietly. During that time, Arthur didn't eat as much as usual and he just helped Livy get her own side dish. So it appeared that he was serving Livy.

Nancy said, "Arthur, son, Livy can get her own food. You don't have to help her. It makes her uncomfortable."

Livy who heard this was a bit awkward, unexpectedly Arthur didn't seem to care about this and kept putting food on her plate. She glanced at Nancy, saw the unhappy expression on her face, felt that this situation was not so comfortable.

"Arthur, your mother is right, this is enough." Livy tried to lighten the mood.

Arthur paused and attentively asked, "Are you full?"

"It's fine, I'll spend what you took for me." Livy scooped up the salad and placed it on Arthur's plate. "You eat too. Is there anything you like besides salad?"

"I'll eat what you pick up."

Even though his words sounded nonchalant, Livy was happy that she found it useful. So she took some side dishes for Arthur and he ate them all.

Livy didn't think about how Nancy's expression would look, could it be that her actions were too embarrassing in front of her father and mother-in-law?

When they finished eating they all gathered in the living room. Only the four of them. Livy wondered why Arthur's brother was nowhere to be seen. Is he not home?

"Arthur, I heard you went back to work today. Is that true?" Nancy asked.

"Mn."

"Why so rush? You could ask for a few days off, didn't you guys just get married?" Nancy chuckled a little stiffly, she continued, "Look, there's a lot of people in your company right now. Your uncle and cousins can help, ask them for help. You can ask for a honeymoon and such."

'Honeymoon?'

Livy was a little embarrassed when she heard that. They're just a contract marriage, what's the need for a honeymoon?

She nervously turned to Arthur waiting for the man to answer.

Come to think of it, why didn't Arthur take a day off after getting married? Every couple out there takes at least a few days off, even thinking about going on a honeymoon. Even if they were faking it, taking time off would release others' suspicions about this marriage contract.

“If I leave the company, someone will start messing up again,” Arthur replied calmly.

Nancy froze, her expression became ugly, although she looked restrained, her face still looked annoyed.

"Ah, are you still thinking about that problem, son? Isn't it proven that they weren't the ones who did it?" Nancy forced a smile.

Arthur didn't answer, sipping his tea as though unaffected.

"Besides, problems between families don't need to be exaggerated. Moreover, it's not proven that they did it. It can make you shunned if you act like this," Nancy said again.

Arthur was still silent. At this point Livy felt the atmosphere was a bit strange again and Arthur seemed to be holding himself back from discussing it. She thought Arthur was just being disrespectful to his mother, but that didn't seem to be the case. When she glanced at Arthur's father, his face was also ugly, like he was about to get angry.

Nancy suddenly touched Albert's arm. "I have discussed with your father, why don't you just move your uncle to another branch if you are not comfortable? You can monitor his work, if he throws a tantrum, you can do anything."

Arthur unexpectedly laughed dryly. "Give him power somewhere else and let him screw up again. Great idea."

It was a harsh sarcasm, Nancy was really angry. "Do you really want to fuss over this? They are your cousins, and your uncle is your mother's brother. Do you deserve to corner them like that? You demoted them with disrespect, but they still volunteered to work there. You should be ashamed! Who helped you grow up like this if not them? You are ungrateful!"

After her mother-in-law shouted like that, Livy became very shocked. She felt out of place to be here.

What? What really happened?

Livy saw Arthur's hands clenched tightly at his sides. His jaw hardened and his gaze cold, he didn't say anything in a long time, but Livy knew he was furious.

"Mother, you misjudged me. The real shameless ones are the uncle and his children, right? They just hitch a ride in the company I raised, not the ones who helped raise it." Arthur answered in the end, with no expression on his face.

“You …” Nancy's face turned blue with anger.

"I spent my own mind and wits so you can use branded goods and luxury cars. It's like I'm taking care of a bunch of useless people."

Livy pursed her lips. Still confused by this fight.

Nancy was getting impatient. "Why do you dare to speak so arrogantly? Are all the people who helped you useless? Are you also going to get rid of your brother from the company later?"

His brother?

Previously, this woman said that his 'brother' didn't care about the company and wanted to work abroad, but actually this woman also wanted to make his 'brother' lick his shoes?

Arthur had expected this, so when he heard it again he was not surprised.

"Brother? Do I have a brother?" Arthur asked coldly.

"You ..."

"Enough!" Albert cut in decisively. He glanced at Livy unintentionally and found her looking down in fear, he continued, "Arthur, you dare speak in high tone to your mother, but we won't be discussing this matter for now. You better see me tomorrow."

After saying that, the father walked in just like that. From his expression he was furious, but probably restrained himself from exploding in front of Livy.

At this time, Nancy also left angrily, leaving the two of them without a word. After the silence fell, Arthur suddenly stood up in a hurry, his feet hitting the table.

"Are you ok?" Livy asked worriedly.

"Mn. Let's go back."

"A-Are we going like this? Without saying goodbye?" Livy ventured to ask. She still didn't understand what had happened.

"No need."

Arthur grabbed Livy's hand unhurriedly, as if nothing had happened and led her into the car. The driver saw the bad face of his boss and knew what had happened inside, because this was normal for him. Without asking, he drove the car back to the house. The rest of the ride was a bit stiff for Livy. She saw Arthur closing his eyes, gesturing that he didn't want to be disturbed.

After the car arrived at the house, Arthur who was supposedly asleep, opened the car door first and entered the house.

Livy froze on the spot.

"Young Lady, don't take it to heart. The boss doesn't seem to be in a good mood. He definitely didn't leave you on purpose." The driver calmed her down.

"I got it." Livy smiled weakly. "Something happened in the main house, maybe he's a little upset."

"It's not that I want to interfere, but their relationship is like that. So I hope you're not surprised."

Livy believed the driver's words because he had worked with Arthur for quite some time.

"That family is so shameless. I wonder why Boss still wants to live with them." The driver grumbled, as if he couldn't hold back his annoyance any longer. "Whereas with Boss' abilities, he can definitely get away from that family!"

Livy was a little curious. "Why did he have to leave his family?"

The driver looked out the car window before whispering, "Young Lady, I can tell you, but you don't tell anyone that I said it, ok? Don't even let Boss find out."

Livy immediately agreed.

"Mrs. Nancy was Mr. Albert's mistress back then. They were having an affair behind his legal wife's back in the past." The driver lowered his voice, "She's Boss' stepmother."

... to be continued ...