𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. | ᶠⁱⁿⁿⁱᶜᵏ ᵒᵈᵃⁱʳ

chapter i.

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ᴀᴛʟᴀs͙.

⋆˚₊✦ੈ*———♆———ೄྀ࿐

"Do you think she's stupid?"

The second the words left Atlas' lips, the redhead they watched from afar added another ingredient to the cake batter. Although most of the tiny white crystals found their way into the bowl, a few of them still spilled onto the kitchen floor — but that was far from the main problem. The mess will be cleaned up, but as for the cake...someone should seriously tell this self-proclaimed baker that it is sugar and not salt that is usually added to cake batter in such a large quantity.

"You are asking the wrong question, dear," retorted the old woman at Atlas' side, her gray brow furrowed in distress while her foot was rocking the baby's cradle, "it would be more appropriate... how stupid is she?"

Together with the little sleeping boy, they were sitting in the living room — both of them skeptically watching the interestingly developing situation in the nearby kitchen. If the baker herself had not expressly forbidden everyone to make any comments about her baking, Atlas would have helped her. Truly. Only Atlas's grandmother would have definitely not — she expressly disliked her daughter-in-law. She thought the intelligence of her son's new wife was as big as a blueberry.

Eh, well...

Olliana Nox, a pretty but extremely impractical twenty-something woman, had already thrown a few teaspoons of red pepper in the batter a long time ago — supposedly so that the cake would have a beautiful color like her hair.

Atlas shook her head.

She knew her stepmother wasn't at her best when it came to handling normal affairs, but this was beyond all limits.

Four years ago, once she had moved into her father's villa and gotten to know his true nature, she could no longer understand how her late mother or Olliana were ever able to love that man. He was manipulative, condescending, arrogant, selfish and had not even an ounce of empathy. His nose was held up so high that he couldn't see anyone but himself. As the mayor, god knows why, he thought that everyone was much less than him.

But what bothered her the most was that he was not even interested in his own family. The man had never complimented or hugged any of them in his life. He never even smiled at sweet little Marcellus, his 2 year old son. He just gave each of his relatives a budget they could spend, and here and there he listened to his mother with one ear — that's where his positive qualities ended.

Therefore, Atlas originally imagined the woman who voluntarily married Clydon Knox and had to put up with his disastrous character and moods on a daily basis as a gold digger. Olliana basically surprised her because she was far from one.

Gold diggers tend to be cunning.

Olliana was simply rich and naïve.

She came from a good, influential family, she was pretty and let's say presentable and for these reasons alone Clydon Nox chose her as his wife.

Atlas only firmly hoped that their son would not inherit her IQ. Because Marcellus Nox, Atlas' half brother, was a real sweetheart. Just a few months ago, he turned two years old, and whether it was his behavior or his sky-blue eyes and golden hair, he resembled a real angel.

The living room fell into silence, broken only by the occasional creaking of the cradle. Marcellus was still sleeping contentedly and both Atlas and her grandmother were lost in their thoughts.