Welcome To Hell, Dear Wife-Chapter 69: Dinner and Demands

Mira slipped out of Elias’s house while his both him and his mother were going back and forth with eachother.

She just couldn’t stomach more of the vile things that he eats could not help but latch onto while they spoke. The house wasn’t exactly so big and her voice was very much loud like she wanted her to hear them.

The woman’s words kept playing in her head like a broken record. "Dead woman walking." Over and over. The venom in that voice, the absolute certainty of it all, like they’d take her life even if she didn’t die too.

She had no safe place here. Not even with the nice cousin who made jokes and offered orange juice.

His mother was dangerously and that makes him dangerous too, no offense to him.

The walk back to Lucas’s mansion felt twice as long as before. Colder too, even though the sun that afternoon had been scorching.

Everything she looked at now looked like a pretty wrapping paper on a coffin. Her coffin.

She entered through the door she’d left from, only to come in contact with a maid, almost like they’d been waiting for her. "Dinner is served, Mrs. Atkins."

Of course it is. They never miss foods in this place, even then things are so bad.

Mira followed the staff member to the grand dining room reluctantly, even though she honestly wasn’t hungry for anything at that moment.

Only one long table was set and only for five people too.

Lucas sat at the head like a king on a throne with his posture perfect as usual and his expression... of course unreadable.

Jack and Callis sat on one side, close together and then on the other side sat the stern elderly woman who had searched her when she first arrived. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Miss Davies, or whatever she called herself. Mira still held a grudge about that humiliating inspection.

A single empty chair sat opposite Lucas, positioned like a spotlight was shining on it, obviously for her.

"Sit," Lucas commanded without even looking up from his plate.

"I’m not hungry," Mira stated honestly even though she wanted to be very much rude about it.

"I didn’t ask if you were," he replied as he finally lifted his gaze to meet hers. His eyes were flat and hard with no emotion and no compromise. "Sit. And eat."

Mir not in the mood to argue reluctantly took the seat, while trying to ignore the weight of everyone’s eyes on her.

Jack stared at her with the usual open hostility while Miss Davies looked like she was judging every breath Mira took.

Only Callis offered something that might have been sympathy, "you look pale, Lorena," Callis said softly. "A good meal will always help."

The meal started in suffocating silence. The only sounds heard for the next minutes were forks scraping against plates, knives cutting through meat, the occasional clink of glass.

It felt less like a dinner and more like attending your own funeral.

Mira pushed food around her plate unable to actually eat anything. The confrontation with Sienna, the salt attack, the little boy’s cries, Elias’s secret that he refused to spill, his mother’s threats.

All of it had stolen her appetite completely.

So she watched them instead.

Lucas’s cold control over every movement. Jack’s silent loyalty, sitting there like a guard dog. Miss Davies’s constant judgmental stare. And Callis just being Callis.

I can’t believe that this is my life now. This table and these people.

Callis finally cut through the silence in her usual sweet and probing voice as she delicately cut a piece of meat. "You were gone quite a while this afternoon, Lorena. You need to be careful. The grounds can be... disorienting."

Mira kept her eyes on her plate. "I needed air, Callis. But then, I ended up having salt thrown at me, I’m surprise you don’t notice the traces in my hair."

Jack spoke up for the first time. "Some parts of the estate are off-limits for a reason. Especially to you. I don’t think you know that nobody would care if a certain person was found dead."

The words shocked Mira, she had not expected him to be so threatening right before Lucas.

Mira met his gaze directly, refusing to flinch. "Is that a warning, Jack? Or a threat?"

Lucas didn’t look up from cutting his steak. "It’s a statement of fact. Your understanding of it is your own concern."

Miss Davies spoke up too. "A lady of the house should know her boundaries. Wandering around implies a lack of sense."

"Perhaps I’m still learning where the boundaries of this house truly are then?" Mira countered, her tone dripping with fake sweetness. "They seem to always shift depending on the company I meet."

Callis let out a light, tinkling laugh. "Oh, don’t mind Miss Davies. She’s been enforcing rules in this house since Lucas was in diapers. She just wants what’s best for the family’s image."

"And what exactly is best for the family’s image?" Mira asked, turning to face Callis fully.

Miss Davies glared at her like she was something scraped off the bottom of a shoe. "This fidgeting is unbecoming. Sit still."

"My apologies," Mira said, not sounding sorry at all. "I’m not used to being on display at the zoo."

Callis made a pouting face. "Don’t be like that, Lorena. We’re all just concerned. You look tense."

"You’d be tense too if everyone around you was a critic with a scoring card, don’t you think?," Mira shot back.

Lucas finally looked at her properly, his gaze cold enough to cause frostbite. "If you’re looking for a fan club, you married the wrong man."

"Did I marry a man?" Mira asked, her voice dropping low. "Or a warden?"

Callis let out a fake, hurt gasp like Mira had just said something shocking. "Lorena, that’s a terrible thing to say!"

"It’s a terrible situation," Mira countered, her eyes locked on Lucas. "One you all seem perfectly happy with."

Jack smirked at his plate. "We’re happy when there’s peace and quiet."

"Then I guess I’m just a natural disaster," Mira said as she stared right back at him without blinking.

Callis jumped in, playing the peacemaker role she seemed to love. "Lorena, please. It’s dinner. Let’s not ruin it. The chef worked so hard on this meal."

"Sorry, Chef," Mira said loudly, knowing the kitchen staff could probably hear her. "But I’ve lost my appetite over bigger issues than this conversation."

Jack smirked wider. "Some people just attract trouble wherever they go, I guess."

"And some people just stand around and watch it happen," Mira fired back. "Don’t you ever get bored of just watching from the sidelines?"

A hint of a smile touched Lucas’s mouth, then disappeared so fast she almost thought she imagined it. "If you try to fight everyone here at once, you’ll lose. The people watching can jump in anytime they want."

Miss Davies made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. "This rudeness wouldn’t have been allowed in my day. What she needs is discipline."

"Thanks for the parenting tip, Miss Davies," Mira said coolly. "But I never exactly had good parents growing up. The lecture is a little late to do any good now."

Gathering every ounce of courage she had left, Mira straightened her spine and looked directly at Lucas. "Lucas. We need to speak after dinner. In private."

Lucas didn’t even pause his chewing. "I have no time for your private theatrics. If you have something to say, say it now in front of everyone."

A hot flush of anger rose up her neck, making her face burn. "Fine," she snapped, her careful composure cracking like glass.

"Why did you go back on your word about Sanders Media? You promised it would be protected!"

Lucas set his fork down only to shrug nonchalantly. "I have the right to decide what to do with my own money and assets. If I say yes today and no tomorrow, that is my choice to make."

A low snicker came from Jack’s direction.

Callis looked shocked as her eyes went wide. "Lucas, that’s not fair. That makes you a—"

Lucas turned an icy look in her direction causing the words to immediately die in her throat. He didn’t need to say shut up. His eyes did it for him.

Mira slammed her palm on the table and the impact made all the cutlery jump and rattle. Even Wine sloshed in their glasses.

"Then why am I even married to you?" Her voice came out louder than she intended. "If you won’t do the one thing you’re actually useful for, we should just divorce right now."