CHAPTER 10: WINTER’S SECRET
Matthew’s POV
“Thank you so much for driving me home, Jack,” I said as stepped out of the car that Mr. Wesley let me borrow.
Jack bowed his head and smiled. “You’re welcome, sir.”
After that, I finally headed inside our house.
‘Welcome back, Sir Matthew.’ said the maids to me.
“Thank you. By the way, is Winter home already?”
“Miss Winter hasn’t arrived yet, sir. But Mr. and Mrs. Wesley are in the dining room with Summer.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll go there now.”
I went straight to the dining hall, and I immediately saw Winter’s family sitting at the long table.
“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley. To you too, Summer.” I greeted them with a smile on my face.
“Good evening, Matthew!” Summer greeted me back.
I was about to give Mrs. Wesley a kiss on the cheek, but then she turned her face away from me.
“Where is Winter?”
“She hasn’t arrived yet. Maybe she’s still discussing with her management about her new drama project.”
“That kid really never changed. Even if she’s already married, she still goes home late. She never grew up.” Mrs. Wesley said.
I was about to speak when Summer spoke. “Mom, you shouldn’t say things like that in front of Winter’s husband. You know he gets hurt whenever he hears something bad about his wife. And for sure, Winter has a valid reason why she hasn’t arrived yet. Being the most popular celebrity must be so tough.”
“Oh, Summer. You really are so kind. You always defend your sister, even if she never actually did anything good to you.”
“That is just how lucky we are to have her as our daughter. Summer is the perfect daughter any parents can have.”
“Oh, mom and dad. Don’t say things like that in front of Matthew. It’s embarrassing…”
“N-No, it’s alright. By the way, I’ll just change my clothes upstairs and I’ll go back here after. You can—
“No. Change your clothes later. Is that really how people behave? You’re going to leave your parents-in-law at the dining table just like that? Sit down!” said Mrs. Wesley.
Because of that, I had no choice but to sit down with them.
“I see that you have been appointed as the new president. Do you really think a poor man like you can handle the everyday job of a president of a company?” Mr. Wesley was the one who asked this time.
“I understand your concern, Mr. Wesley. I know I already said it for so many times, but I would like to say this again. I maybe born poor, but I can assure you that I will try my best to help your company grow even more.”
I got surprised when they suddenly started laughing, so I looked at them confusingly.
“You surely don’t have any idea about running a company. You know you can’t manage a company just by saying you will do your best. For sure you have never done this kind of job before, so what do you even know about running a company? Did you even graduate college?” Mr. Wesley said with a insulted smile on his face.
I nodded my head and looked at him. “I only graduated highschool. But I can–
“I don’t even know why dad chose you to be Winter’s husband.”
“Dad…” Summer whispered to stop his father.
“Summer, don’t stop your father. He is right, anyway. Even I myself don’t see any possible reason why grandpa chose you to be a part of this family. We already have a daughter who only gives us pain, then she even married another pain in the ass.” Mrs. Wesley added.
They obviously don’t know how to be kind to their own daughter.
“Please, just trust me. I will prove to all of you that Mr. Wesley didn’t do a wrong decision by choosing me to be the president of your company. And I–Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
“Enough of that. I don’t want to hear anything from you anymore. Just get us some bottle of wine.”
“H-Huh?”
“Mom, there are maids that you can ask. Why are you asking Matthew to get the bottle of wine instead?” said Summer.
Mrs. Wesley just looked at me with raised eyebrow as if threatening me, so I just stood up.
“N-No, it’s alright. I’ll get the bottle of wine for you.”
After getting the bottle of wine, I went back to the dining room. They even asked me to pour some wine in their glasses, so I did.
“See? That’s the kind of job that suits people like you. You’re more suitable to be a server than being the president of the company.” Mrs. Wesley commented again.
“Mom…”
“You will never be a part of our family, that’s what you should remember, beggar.” Mr. Wesley then added as he stood up and poured me the glass of wine he was holding.
Winter’s POV
As soon as I stepped inside the house, I saw Matthew wiping his suit with a handkerchief.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“O-Oh, you’re already here. Welcome home, Winter. By the way, your parents and sister are—
“A married woman like you shouldn’t take this long outside.”
I suddenly saw mom and dad, together with their favorite child.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“We just wanted to know how you are doing.” mom said.
I rolled my eyes. “Too bad I’m still alive.”
“Winter, you shouldn’t talk like that to mom.” Summer said to me.
“Whatever. Can you leave now? I’m already tired. I’m heading to my room now.”
I was about to continue walking when I suddenly felt something hard hit my back. As I turned around, I saw the Chanel bag of my mom lying on the floor.
“How can you talk to me like that?! You never really changed, Winter! You are still an ill-mannered spoiled brat who doesn’t know how to respect her parents!”
“I know that already. Yes, I am the spoiled brat you raised. The spoiled brat you can never be proud of. Now, can I finally go to my room? Thanks.” I said, then I ran upstairs until I finally reached my room and locked the door.
I immediately wiped the tears from my eyes as I sat on my bed.
Why do they even have to go here when all they do is insult me and make me realize how bad of a daughter I am? Do they really have to remind me that every single time?! Why don’t they just stay at their house and praise their favorite daughter every single day?!
I just took a shower and changed my clothes into pajamas, then I finally lay down on my bed.
It didn’t take me long to be able to fall asleep…
Then I was in the same place once again. I was in an abandoned school when I saw a group of girls laughing while looking in the same direction. I gazed in that direction and there I saw a brunette girl crying with her body covered with blood.
I was just looking at her confusingly when all of a sudden, she raised her head and met my eyes.
“Winter? Aren’t we best friends? Why did you leave me alone? Are you mad at me?”
She kept on getting closer and closer to me and my heart was beating really fast.
“Winter? Winter? Wake up, Winter!”
I woke up and opened my eyes, only for me to see Matthew sitting on my bed while looking at me.
“What is happening? Were you having bad dreams?”
I sat up and looked at him. “What are you doing here? Why are you inside my room?”
“I was just about to ask you if you want to have dinner when I heard you yelling. I got worried and asked the maids for the duplicate key.”
“Get out of here. I don’t need you.”
“But Winter—
“Just get out of here!”
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I’m on a diet. Can you just leave now? And don’t you ever dare to step inside my room again or you’re really dead.”
He kept on glancing at me. I thought he would stay there just to annoy me, but then he went out and closed the door.
I stood up and walked to my little kitchen to get some water from the fridge. Then I sat on the couch to calm myself down. I suddenly noticed something peeking under my bed, so I headed there and grabbed the thing, and realized it was actually my old chest box.
I have been keeping that since I was ten years old. That is where I usually keep the things people give me back when I was a kid. I opened the chest and I saw some old things almost covered with dust like my old diaries, crumpled papers, and a teddy bear that grandpa gave me on my 7th birthday. Then I saw a crumpled photo.
For no apparent reason, my hands were shaking while straightening that up.
There I saw a photo of five kids wearing uniforms while smiling big at the camera.
The first one was a girl with bob hair doing a peace sign beside another girl who was smiling shyly. In the middle was a handsome young boy sticking his tongue out while pinching the cheek of the blond girl beside him. Then lastly, was another girl who looked as if she was forced to take a photo with them.
Its’ been almost ten years now.
All of a sudden, tears started streaming down my face.
What happened back then still haunts me ’til now. I thought I would finally get over it, but I still keep on dreaming about what happened every now and then.
Then my phone started ringing, so Immediately wiped the tears from my eyes and answered the call.
“What?”
“Hello? Winter? Tomorrow will be the script reading and conference for your new movie so you need to go here early, okay? Anyway, I will just fetch you from your house.”
“No, I’ll just go there. Just wait for me and don’t go here.”
“Oh, okay. We’ll just wait for you here.”
I quickly hang up the phone after our conversation. I just don’t want them to go here in the mansion. It’s not like I don’t want her to see Matthew because they already saw him and they know I am married to him already.
Just thinking about meeting Ian ruins my day already.
If only I can just ask the management to find another leading man.
But I can’t do that, because he threatened me.
My fans shouldn’t know about my secret.
Because if ever they find out about it, that would be my end.
And for sure, they’ll just end up hating me. Just like how everyone around me does. I won’t have anyone anymore.