KRYOS MANSION

"Good day, ma'am."

"Congratulations to you, Mrs. Castillo."

"You are looking stunning, my lady."

"Welcome to your new home, Lady Karen."

All the maids and home workers welcomed Karen with a slight bow as she smiled widely at them, really elated by their gesture. They all stood to one side of the glass entrance door in an arranged and uniform manner, still bowing countlessly as she walked into the parlor, with Jameson behind her.

She gasped in admiration as she stared at the parlor; it was very wide and luxurious. The parlor spoke of wealth and class.The floor gleamed so brightly. It was as if it had been imported from Paradise because she had never seen a sitting room as beautiful as this. Every part of the parlor was sparkly clean, and every piece of furniture in the parlor was glassy with no stains on them, including the stairs. The interior was marvelously impressive.

No doubt... her husband is rich!

"Please go freshen up, Mrs. Castillo, so you can have lunch , Quenna will take you to your room," Jameson said behind her as she faced him with a warm smile.

"Thanks, James, and like I said earlier, I prefer Karen," she replied calmly.

"Oh, my bad, Mrs. Castil... I mean Karen. I won't make that mistake again," he bowed politely as she laughed loudly, revealing her one-sided dimples, which made her cute.

She was just happy that she was finally out of her stepmother's cruelty. It's really a relief.

"You don't have to do that, James," she smiled again as James returned it before facing Quenna.

"Take her to her room and make sure she's comfortable and that her lunch is ready before she is done. Also, you should ensure that she eats to her satisfaction," he instructed strictly before facing Karen.

"I will take my leave now, Mrs. If you have any questions to ask or need anything in the house, Quenna will be at your service .She will also take you around when you are done with your meal " he said as she nodded calmly. He made to leave when...

"Wait, please... How about him? I mean..." she suddenly asked, referring to Kryos. The fact that she hadn't seen him in person since they got married, even in the mansion, troubled her.

Is he also avoiding her after ignoring their wedding?

"Oh, you mean the boss? He is on his way to the mansion, ma'am. He will be here before noon; trust me," he said as she muttered an "Oh," she fidget her nails nervously when she heard the update .

"Okay, James," she waved at him. He walked out as Quenna faced her with disdain.

"Follow me now, miss," she said harshly as Karen blinked at her, taken aback by her demeanor, while the other maids gasped when they heard her.

"Miss?"

The head chef, Morana, quickly dragged her backward with wide eyes.

"Are you for real, Quenna? Miss? She is married, Quenna; she is our master's wife. You should show her respect," she whispered as Quenna hissed loudly before freeing herself from the tight grip.

"Wait... married? Oh lawd! Does she look like she is married? She got married to herself bitch! , She is just a pretending failure who is trying to seek our boss's attention, but scornfully, he isn't giving in—not now, not any time! She should know her place, okay? She doesn't belong here," she yelled, eyeing Karen angrily as Karen just kept quiet, taken aback by her outburst. All the maids gasped loudly, expecting Karen to get her fired, but Karen just stood quietly.

"Quenna, you can't say that. You should apologize quickly before the boss comes for you," Morana said again as Quenna walked out rudely.

"He doesn't even love her, okay? So why will he even do that? She is too cheap for his attention, and don't even try lecturing me to apologize, because I'm never doing that. Now let's go," she said, facing Karen, who followed her upstairs without a word as the maids started murmuring.

"Oh my goodness, Lady Karen is so nice; she didn't even get Quenna fired."

"Yes, if it was Lady Selena, I'm sure she would have."

"Of course, Selena is a devil; she doesn't tolerate rubbish."

"That's true, but now she is an old story. That's a relief. I don't want her back in the mansion; I'm not sure I will be able to breathe if she eventually does."

"That's not possible, okay? Remember, the master is now married."

"Just shut it, okay? And go back to your respective duties," Morana said, staring at Karen's retreating figure worriedly.

*** Kryos Private Suite ***

"I still can't believe you, jerk! How could you ignore your wedding, huh? Do you know how embarrassing it was for your bride to be alone at the altar? That's crazy!" His closest friend, Ian, yelled over the phone.

"Mind it! If you are going to keep talking about her, I'm gonna hang up," Kryos's cold voice sounded from the other side, laced with scorn and anger, as Ian grinned happily.

"Gosh, you know I love it when you are angry, right? By the way, what do you plan for her? I mean your wife. We all know you got married because of your dad's threats towards your company," Ian said as Kryos clenched his fist , closing his eyes tightly.

"Seriously guy , I still can't believe that you are finally married. I seriously can't wait to see your bride! Trust me, dude, Matt and I will be coming to visit your lovely wife, okay? We will also..." Ian exclaimed, snapping him away from his thoughts

"Just shut it! Don't tell me you called for this," he hissed in anger, cutting in as Ian laughed loudly. He was used to his character.

"What's else, bro? You know your wedding news is everywhere, and everyone is going crazy about it, dude. Finally, the cold billionaire devil is..."

"Time's up! You make a lot of noise," Kryos muttered coldly, ending the call. He exhaled sharply and cursed under his breath when he remembered Karen. "Damn it!"

He never wanted any lady in his life again since he saw them as a distraction. He agreed to get married to Karen when his dad threatened to take away his company, Jen Lux Enterprise and Co., from him and hand it over to his step-cousin, Romeo . He couldn't risk it; only the thought of that was unbearable.

"Sir!" Andrew, his personal assistant, walked into the room

''Mrs. Karen has been brought back," he said further as Kryos blinked blankly like he didn't hear him

"Get the car ready, I will be leaving for home," he said, as Andrew bowed a little.

"Yes, sir!"

Karen's room

Karen was led into a room. It was magnificently spacious and luxurious too! With a king-sized bed by the side of the room and a wardrobe filled with women's clothes. It also has a dressing room with a glass table filled with makeup, creams, body care, skin care, and perfumes. She smiled when she saw it; it was even ten times better than her own room.

"Freshen up immediately for lunch; I will be waiting downstairs," Quenna said curtly, slamming the door hard behind her as Karen sighed loudly, brushing off her rude behavior. She isn't the type that finds faults in what people say about her, be it negative or positive, and that's where her problems lies making people pick on her easily.

She immediately undressed and walked into an adjoining bathroom, excited to see a shower and hot tub.

She quickly stepped into the hot bathtub, soaking herself as she closed her eyes, evidently relieved by the sensation it provided.

After a while, she emerged from the bathtub with a cute smile. As she dried herself, she opened the wardrobe to find something nice to wear. All the clothes were screaming hot and expensive. Confused about which one to pick, she sat on the bed, admiring all the clothes and their different stylish designs.

"Are you planning on sleeping in the bathroom, huh?"Quenna's loud voice sounded from the door as she walked in, enviously peeking at Karen's skin. It was so smooth, soft, and light skinned in color.

"I'm confused about which dress to settle down in," Karen sighed as Quenna scoffed.

"And who told you these dresses belong to you, huh?" she yelled as Karen gasped in wonder.

If not her, who else?

"They all belong to my master's real wife, okay? Madam Selena, so get your filthy hands off them!" she yelled, pushing Karen away as she closed the wardrobe.

"What should I wear then?" Karen muttered slowly.

"You should wear back your wedding dress, since you didn't bring any clothes here. I hope you are not planning for the master to spend his billions on you, huh, you stinky bitch," Quenna said as she turned to leave when she got the shock of her life.

She saw him there!

Castillo Kryos

He looked sinfully handsome with a perfectly built muscular frame. Even with his cold demeanor, he still appeared perfect and hot. His eyes were as cold as his presence, which seized all the breath in the room.

Is he even human?

Karen's heart skipped crazily when her eyes met his. She gulped down the emptiness, obviously taken aback by his appearance; she never imagined her husband could be this hot.

She was truly challenged by his cool look. She immediately held the wide towel wrapped around her body to prevent it from falling off as her eyes rested on him. She wasn't sure it was going to move anytime soon. Her heartbeat became so abnormal, skipping ten times more than normal.

"What's happening to me?" she asked herself inwardly.

She has never felt these feelings for any man before, not in a lifetime, so why now?

"Mas..t.e..r?" Quenna shuddered in surprise, hoping he didn't hear her insult Karen.

Kryos took silent but demanding steps toward Quenna, his ocean blue eyes glaring at her as she moved backward in terror. His glare was cutting so deep into her skin. So scary.

"What the fuck did you call my wife?" His icy voice came next as Karen bit her lower lip slowly.

Wife? He called her his wife?

She didn't even know when her lips curled into a large, beautiful smile. His voice was the sexiest male voice she had ever heard.

"I'm so..rry, ma..ster, I di..dn't me..an them, sir!!" Quenna shivered fearfully; his voice was cold enough to freeze her. And the next word she never expected from him came.

"You are FIRED, Banks Quenna! Guards, throw her out!" he demanded,as his expression remained unfazed. Quenna's crazy scream rent the air while she was being dragged out by tow guards of the house.

"Master, please! Ahhh! Master! Please forgive me; don't fire me, sir!" Quenna yelled, leaving the two alone in the room as he faced the door immediately, without even sparing Karen a glance. He swept his long dark hair behind him, revealing his full face, which made him look sexy, as Karen gasped loudly.

How could he do that in front of her? She really saw that as a huge temptation.

"Thank you," she muttered shyly, loud enough for him to hear as he stopped in his tracks.

"What did you just say?" His eyebrows twisted in question.

"I mean... you helped me, so I just wanted to appreciate and..."

"Correction, I didn't help you," he said harshly as Karen blinked, hurt.

"I just wanted to keep my convenience in check. I hate noises, and that's what you both were doing," he said coldly. He kept his hands inside his suit pocket as she gulped hard.

"By the way, you shouldn't try so hard to act differently; you are all the same! Cheap bitches! I advise you to go for more tutorial classes; pretending doesn't suit you." He smirked, picking on his words one after the other, making sure they all sank deeply into her head.

Karen could feel her heart breaking into pieces; unexplainable pain tugged at her heart as she watched his retreating back walk out of the room.

She didn't know why she felt like this, but those words really hurt.

Pretending?

She bit her lips, trying to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. She didn't even know when the tears escaped her eyes; they flowed down her cheeks without any effort.

She was used to insults; she always saw them as a normal thing and didn't get hurt by them.

So why now? What changed?