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Chapter 5

After dinner was over Althea went over to her room. She walked over to her bed and laid down as she wondered how she was ever going to cope in the new environment. Her mind went to the look on Xavier's face when his father introduced her to him. He didn't look pleased or unpleasant. He was just expressionless throughout the dinner. And, the worst of it all was that he didn't even bother to spare her any glance until the introduction and even after the introduction he didn't bother sparing her a glance either.

How was she even going to cope with that kind of a man who doesn't pay any attention to her but pays all attention to his cellphone? She wished she could just say no to this marriage but what could she do?

Her opinions have never counted all her life even when she was still with her aunt and now this. She wished she could just go back from her boring life which wasn't this complicated but no that can never happen again. She was now in this new environment and a soon-to-be wife for a weirdo who only pays attention to his cell phone annotating any wife that was given to him.

She kept wondering how she was ever going to cope alone with that kind of a man. She slowly pulled herself up as she made her way to her dressing table. She needs to take off the make-up before going to bed and also change into something more suitable for bed.

She walked over to her dresser and grabbed her face wiper. She had her seat and turned to the mirror in front of her and started cleaning off the make-up slowly from her face and dumped the used wiper on the trash can. She stood up and walked over to her closet. She opened it and picked out a nightgown. She quickly undressed from the red dress and wore her nightgown before taking the dress to the bathroom. She dropped it in the laundry basket and walked back to her bedroom. She climbed into the bed and relaxed back as she put on her bedside lamp and pulled the duvet over herself as sleep took over almost immediately.

It was another morning and Althea slowly opened her eyes as the morning sun rays shone brightly into her room through the open window. She yawned loudly and stretched herself before standing up. She sighed as she stood up reluctantly from her bed and was walking over to his bathroom when she heard a knock on her door.

"Yes, who's there?" She asked from inside.

"It's m,e ma'am, breakfast is served." The cook announced.

"Ok, I will be in the dining room shortly." She said,

"O,k ma'am." The cook replied and she could hear her footsteps fade away.

Althea knew she wouldn't be in the dining room anytime soon and she knew that was a bad thing. She couldn't possibly Skip breakfast because she was new there and that wasn't a good recommendation. She rushed into the restroom and eased herself before grabbing her toothbrush. She added paste and rushed out of the restroom. She walked into her bathroom and saw the maid there already mixing her bath.

"Good morning ma'am," the maid greeted.

"Good morning, how was your night?" She asked.

"It was fine ma'am, I'm sorry I was late, I overslept." The maid apologized.

"It's fine." She replied and walked over to the bathtub. She was already done brushing her teeth and she quickly handed over the toothbrush to the maid who quickly took it and left the bathroom.

After bathing,g she walked into her room and saw her clothes already arranged on the bed. She quickly got dressed and the maid helped her with light makeup as she hurried over to the dining room. She wasn't so late in the dining room because Costello didn't arrive at the dining room early either. But they were all complete in the dining room now and the cook dished out their breakfast as they started eating immediately.

Costello pulsed for a while from his food and took a glass of water before he finally spoke up. "Althea's wedding to Xavier is fast approaching, so preparation will be made immediately."

Althea gasped as she turned over to Xavier who was seated at the other seat beside her eating his food silently without saying anything. Costello asked Althea about random things and she just smiled and nodded in response without saying anything in particular.

Xavier didn't bother saying anything either as his focus wasn't really on any of those things they were talking about. But Costello kept talking about the preparation stuff with Althea and how she would like her wedding to look.

Xavier wasn't interested in the marriage, so he allowed them to do as they wished. He can't object to the marriage either because his father has made it known to him that if he doesn't get married he wouldn't be entitled to any of his business or properties. So it was best if he goes through with the marriage and he was not ready to go out there and find a wife for himself. So it was a relief that his father has helped him out with wi. And it was also good that it was the lady sitting beside him right now because she was totally beautiful and present as a wife.

So he doesn't have anything to worry about because all the things he was seeing were ok to him.

After breakfast,t Xavier left the dining room for Althea and Costello who were busy making arrangements for the marriage.

"So Althea, how about we go and see a designer make your wedding dress?" Costello asked.

"It's totally fine with me." Althea faked a smile.

"Ok then, it's settled, let's go to the sitting room, o I can call the designer to come over," Costello suggested.

"Ok, that's fine." She smiled, and they both stood up and started walking out of the dining room. The cook who had been there waiting patiently quickly walked over to the table and started cleaning up the dining room.

Costello and Althea walked over to the big sitting room and they had their seats on two different couches as Costello took out his cell phone from his pants pocket and started screwing through his contact. He placed a call across to a designer and dropped back the cell phone and turned it over to Althea and sat showing her some designs on his cellphone. The designer walked into the sitting room after a while.

"Good morning sir," she greeted with a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Good morning, dear, did you bring any design notes with you?" Costello asked.

"Yes sir," she answered and started checking her bag for the designer note. She brought it out and handed it over to Costello who called Althea and the both of them started checking out the designs in the book.

"But sir, don't you think her soon-to-be husband should also check the designs too?" The designer asked.

"No it's ok, I can't check it out with her besides he isn't home right now and I don't know when I will see him home," Costello said,

"Oh ok." The designer sighed and allowed them to make their choice.

They both spent some time checking out the designs for which they were going to pick. Althea kept checking for the perfect one. She knew she wasn't interested in the wedding but she had no choice but to do all that she needed to do for the wedding to be held. If she could choose her own she would have made so many choices in her life but that is not possible. Even though she wasn't happy about this whole thing. Because everything seems so wrong to her but she would just try and do something right. She would pick a very beautiful and amazing dress, so she would know for once she had decided for herself.

Althea finally settled for a wedding dress and she showed it to Costello who also supported it and handed over the book to the designer showing her their choice of dress. The designer also liked the choice of wedding dress and stood up and brought out her measurements tape.

"Ma'am please come closer, I need to take your measurements." The designer said,

"Ok," she replied and walked closer to the designer.

The designer started the measurements on her immediately. But honestly, Althea wasn't really happy that she had to pick her wedding dress with Costello instead of her soon-to-be husband. She wasn't comfortable with all the process with Costello but the man she was getting married to wasn't around and he doesn't even show interest in this marriage preparation.

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