★NATHANIEL★
"We are going to see my family on Sunday." I cut through the thickening silence in the dining room. It's been three days since I was contractually married to Raine Mitchell—three days of me not particularly seeing her except when she was asleep, because the fashion empire was at my neck and I had already put investigators on the work of Boniface Mitchell's Media.
Raine looked up from her plate, her blonde straight long hair in a bun at the base of her head, her ocean eyes staring softly at me.
"Is it like a family dinner?" she asked. My eyes zoomed in on the milk drop hanging on her bottom lip. I reached out, wiped it with my right thumb, and sucked it into my mouth. Raine's eyes widened and her neck and cheeks flushed red.
"Yes, Drop, it is going to be a family dinner. I told my brother about my marriage." I said, drinking my coffee. Raine was having toast, eggs, and milk for breakfast while I just did coffee and a few slices of untoasted bread.
Raine nodded slowly, still staring at me. "Drop?"
I knew she was going to ask. "Yes, Drop. Short for Raindrop—that is literally your name."
Raine blinked rapidly, then her eyes widened and her whole cheeks flushed. "Did you just make a joke?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course not. That is your nickname by me, Drop."
"I have a name," she put out with a cute frown.
"I am aware. It is a nickname," I countered. I reached into my pocket and retrieved a card, placing it on the table. I slid it in her direction. "You can use it whenever and wherever you need."
Raine, who was about to pick her remaining toast, used the first two fingers of her right hand and slid the card back to me. "Thank you, but I do not need it. I have some money left."
I rolled my eyes—of course she did. "Do you? If you can send out money from a frozen account, I am certain you do." Raine's mouth opened and closed, seemingly at a loss for words. I slid the card back to her. "This is yours. Do use it wisely, there is no limit."
Raine stared at the black Amex card for a while before she raised her head and looked at me, a beautiful smile gracing her beautiful features and making my heart flutter. Scratch that—I didn't have a heart.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Don't mention." Finishing my coffee in one go, I rose from the chair. "You can have your friend over whenever you want. You're a wife, not a prisoner."
I turned to leave but her excited exclamation paused me. "Really!?" It was the first time I'd heard her so loud. "Thank you."
I turned over my shoulder to look at her. "Don't mention," I said before picking up my keys from the key stand beside the main door and leaving. Lucas was already waiting outside for me, leaning on the passenger's side of the vehicle.
"Sir Nathaniel, Elliot reached out to me. He said he had been calling your cell but you didn't pick up," Lucas relayed.
"He did?" I furrowed my brows and searched for my phone in my pocket. I retrieved it, switched it on, and realized the damned cell was on DND and I had three missed calls from Elliot. "Did he tell you his reason for calling?"
Lucas shook his head. "No. He just said if I managed to reach you, I should tell you to call him back."
I did so immediately. The call connected after three rings. "Uncle," his voice came through.
"Elliot."
Elliot sighed. "Van… Vanessa said you fired her from being one of your perfume models." He sounded tired. Vanessa was probably his new girlfriend—the one he left Raine for.
I closed my eyes, clearing my thoughts away from that. "Vanessa isn't really a stickler for rules, Elliot, and I had warned her so many times and given her privileges I wouldn't dare give my other models, all because of your father's friend." There were some background noises, as though he was speaking to someone, then I heard a soft feminine voice but didn't catch her words.
"Vanessa has promised to be good, Uncle Nathaniel. I promise, and she's here with me. She also promises that if she appears later than the given time or does any immoral behaviour, you will sack her on the go." Elliot pleaded, and I sighed, rubbing my temples.
"This is the last chance I will give Vanessa. Make sure she understands that."
"Yes, yes! Thank you, Uncle Nathaniel." Elliot's tone became a tad brighter. "Wait before you hang up—"
"I do not have time to lounge around in a call first thing in the morning, Elliot. What is it?" I ground out, although my voice wasn't harsh. Although Elliot could be daft sometimes, he was still my nephew.
"Father said you got married? I wasn't invited to the wedding."
I twitched my lips. "That is because there was no wedding."
"Oh… oh." He responded, and I could practically see him doing his usual nod once something sank in. "So are you coming with her to the dinner on Sunday?"
"Yes," I answered coolly. I wondered what his reaction would be when he found out that Raine is indeed my wife. Although Raine didn't give much outward expression or reaction when I told her about the dinner, being married to her ex's uncle while dining with the whole family would have an effect on her.
"Oh sweet, I'll come with a girl too." He said, and I could pick up Vanessa asking, "Who's the girl?"
"I will see you on Sunday then, Elliot." I hung up before they could start their drama on me. I nodded at Lucas to round the car and enter the driver's seat. He was many things in one, although sometimes he was really slow. He probably needed to get laid.
"Should we go to Cozy Coffee or just straight to the company?"
"Straight to the company. I had breakfast with my wife." I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, remembering our time during breakfast. Her reaction to the new nickname I gave her, and a single thought crossed my mind.
This six months was going to be fun.