The butler before me paled.

Why was he looking at me like he had just seen a ghost?

I opened my mouth to speak but Dominic beat me to it.

“Good to see you too, Steve.” Dominic’s tone was neutral, “Where’s everyone?”

“At the d–dining.” The butler stuttered, wiping off the newly beads of sweat that formed on his forehead “They all await your arrival.”

“Let’s go pretty bird” I heard him say and without warning, started to pull me along—not without me catching one last glimpse of the butler whose face had turned ashen now.

“What was that?” I asked, noticing how the other workers stared at me. Everyone was busy with arrangements. It looked like they were preparing for some sort of event.

“Don’t bother.” He suddenly stopped and turned to face me “Remember what I said, you owe no one no explanation.”

“Well, yes but—“

“Good.” He nodded, the door behind him opening at the same time.

“Dom!” A cheerful voice came from behind him.

“Kim” Dominic laughed as female arms wrapped around him. It was the first time I heard him laugh, a soft chuckle which sounded pleasing to the ears.

“Goodness, where’ve you been all this time?!” I could only see an arm flailing in the air as his huge frame blocked me from seeing who it was.

“Never mind,” The bubbly voice added “You’re back now, that’s all that matters.” I could picture a smile on her face as she spoke.

“Who’s behind you? Ah, must be my gorgeous sister-in-law.” The voice giggled, at the same time, a curious head popped out.

Judging by the emerald green orbs, dark brown curls and striking resemblance, one could easily guess she was Dominic’s sister. She froze, the smile on her face dropped and her eyes turned as wide as saucers.

I didn’t realize she was holding a wine glass till it crashed to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces as its contents spilled all over the floor.

“Kimberly? What happened?” Another woman appeared behind Kimberly, this one was older and sported black hair.

“Aunt Patricia.” I heard him call.

“Dom,” Her face beamed. “You’re bac—“ She stopped talking the moment our eyes locked.

“K– K– Kayla?” She stuttered, all the colors draining from her face.

“How dare you come back here?”

I blinked. What?

“I brought her back.” Dominic held my hand, and walked past his aunt into the dinning room.

The moment we walked in, everywhere turned silent. It was so quiet I could hear a pin drop.

To say the faces before me looked shocked was an understatement, they were utterly horrified.

Dominic didn’t say a word as he led me to the table and pulled out a chair.

“Sit.”

I did as he said. And everywhere exploded.

“What on earth is she doing here, Dominic?” A woman glared at me down, hatred and disapproval evident in her eyes.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mother.” Dominic took his seat beside me.

“How dare you bring this woman back here?!” Her voice raised slightly, the fork she held was slammed on the table.

The women seemed to be having a late lunch before we arrived.

“I can’t believe you really came back.” The lady called Patricia still had surprise etched all over her face.

Kimberly, Dominic’s sister hadn’t said a word since we sat but the way she looked at me made me feel uncomfortable.

I cleared my throat, not liking the way I was the topic of discussion and made to stop when his hand held me.

“Sit.” He held me down, his gaze never leaving his mom’s. “I brought Kayla back, whatever it is you have to say, say it to me.”

Despite the glares coming from his family, he served me food. I was about to refuse when he brought a fork to my mouth, leaving no room for excuses.

“Eat.” He ordered.

My cheeks turned red. The stares I received made it even worse as I chewed the meat as quietly as I could.

Someone scoffed.

“I can’t believe it!” Dominic’s mother got to her feet, everyone followed suit. “You said you were returning home with a wife. A wife Dominic, not this… this… thing!”

“Excuse me?” I frowned, feeling slightly offended. How dare she address me like that?

Dominic shot me a glare before he answered his mother “Mother, it’s Kayla—“

“Exactly!” She snapped “It’s Kayla! How could you forget everything she’s done to us? To you?”

For a moment there, her eyes soften.

My eyes narrowed. Everything she’s done?

Okay, now I was more confused.

What on earth was going on? Who was this Kayla and what had she done?

My eyes moved from one family member to another. All had their jaws clenched and the tension in the air only got thicker.

“You know how much grandma adores her.”

“That’s not a reason. She might adore her but that’s only because she doesn’t know this same woman was responsible for—“

“That is enough of a reason.” Dominic interrupted her. “Grandma’s finally coming home after a long time and the first face she wants to see is Kayla’s.”

He glanced at me briefly. I could have sworn I saw his jaw clenched.

“No one here will tell Grandma anything.” His eyes shifted from one person to another. “Everyone here knows what she means to me, I almost lost her because of all this. Her weak heart won’t be able to handle the truth.”

“No, Dom.” His mother still wasn’t done. She glared daggers at me, her nose scrunching up in disgust.

“I don’t care what happens but I will not let this... this excuse of a woman stay here a second more. She cannot stay here, she must leave this house this instant!”

“Estelle, you should try to calm down—” Patricia tried saying.

“Calm down?” Estelle stared at her as though she’s grown two heads. “You’re telling me to calm down, sister? Can’t you see what he’s done?”

“You should try to relax, we can… we can try to talk it out and—“

“No one will talk anything out!” Estelle maintained stubbornly “I believe you heard me the first time Dominic? I want that horrible creature out of my house this instant!”

My fists clenched. It took all I had in me to keep my mouth shut this time as I watched the mother and son duo go back and forth.

“Kayla’s going nowhere, mother”

“Dom—“

“We are already married,” He continued, holding my hand for the hundredth time that day. His little announcement made everyone gasp.

“What?”

“Kayla and I are legally married. She’s my wife and as my wife, this house as well as every single

thing in it belong to her!”

Looks of horror flashed across their faces and I watched his mother collapse back into her seat.

“Mother!” Kimberly rushed to her but Estelle waved her off. Her gaze returned to Dominic, disappointment swirled in her eyes.

“What on earth have you done, son?”

“What I should’ve done a long time ago” Dominic’s grip on my hand tightened.

“You have made a mistake. You’ve made a very grave mistake.” Estelle shook her head and shot me a look “You brought this woman… this same woman who was the reaso—“

“That’s enough, mother.”

I almost cursed out when Dominic interrupted his ranting mother for the second time.

I could have sworn she was about to say something important.

Couldn’t he have just waited for her to finish?

“Kayla, can you excuse us for a few minutes?”

It took me a minute to realize he was actually talking to me. I looked at Dominic who hadn’t spared me a glance since this whole scenario started.

“But—“

“Out. Now” His jaw twitched and I knew better than to argue.

The tension in the room increased with each passing second, making it hard to even breathe. The sooner I got out of here, the better it would be anyway.

“Sure.” I smiled awkwardly and stepped out, closing the door behind me.

I had no idea who this Kayla was and what it was she did, but one thing was sure. Whatever it was she did was something grave.

And If I had to live as this person, I might as well try to find out everything about her.

The sound of doors opening startled me. Dominic stepped out almost immediately and before I could say a word, grabbed and pulled me along.

I stumbled a few times, finding it hard to keep up with his long strides and smiling awkwardly at the stares we received.

Dominic’s grip around me tightened with each passing second and just when I was about to speak up, he stopped before a door.

“I—“

“This will be your room from now on.”

“What just happened back there?” I asked the moment he let go of my hand.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” I scoffed. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Kayla,” His expression darkened the moment I mentioned her name. “Who is she and why is everyone making such a big deal about her?”

“Why does everyone here keep staring at me like that? What has she done to make your mother despise her like that?”

“It’s none of your business.” He began to walk away.

“None of my business? It’s only fair if I know everything about the woman I’m pretending to be.” I hurried after him.

“Wait, You can’t go! I have so many questions.” His body stiffened the moment I laid hands on him.

“Get your hands off me.”

“I just—“

“I said get your hands off me!” His growl made me retract my hands immediately.

“Who do you think you are huh?”

“Excuse me?” My brows furrowed, not understanding where this was going.

“How dare you touch me?”

“Touch you?” I almost scoffed. “I barely even held you. You’ve been the one playing the husband role, holding me up and about since morning”

“It seems I didn’t make this clear.” His tone lowered and he took a step forward, forcing me to move back. He kept coming till I felt my back hit against a wall.

I yelped when his hand punched the wall beside me and looked up to see eyes blazing with fury.

“We can play the married couple when we’re outside for the whole world to see but behind these walls, don’t ever think you have the right to touch me.”

Disgust flashed in his eyes.

“You have no idea what I go through just looking at that face of yours. I die a thousand deaths holding your hand out there and pretending to smile. So don’t you dare dig into my family. The consequences will be dire, I promise you.”

He gave me one last look before walking away and slammed the door behind him.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding as my knees gave way and I sank to the floor.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?