I was a virtuous wife

Chapter 20: A longterm guest

Kierra never thought that there would be a day where she would hate coming back to the Alden mansion as much as today.

Even the carriage ride back was uncomfortable. Sierra wanted to ride along with the both of them and made a fuss. So she had no choice but to let her join their carriage. Even though Jonathan and Sierra only made small talk, they couldn't take their eyes off of each other throughout the whole journey. It was so obvious to Kierra that she couldn't help but laugh at herself.

[" I must be really going crazy. Just what is this situation ? I'm bringing my husband's mistress back with me to my home. The world must be really ending."]

When they reached the Alden house and got off of the carriage, the servants were visually confused and flustered. They were not informed of Sierra's arrival to the estate and no prior preparations were made to receive her.

Since this arrangement conspired just a day before their departure, Kierra knew that the servants won't get informed in time.

"My sister will be staying here for a few months. Please do your best in making her feel comfortable.", she announced.

All the servants fumbled to ready a room as quickly as possible. Kierra wanted to make Sierra stay at the farthest room possible. But as fate would have it, only the guest room near Jonathan's study was available.

"What a wonderful room ! Its so big and bright ! It could some more decorations but I think I would feel right at home here.", squeeled Sierra.

"Don't worry Sierra. We can decorate this room however you want."

Jinathan appeared with a smile on his face.

"I'll call for a designer tomorrow, pick out the new furnitures, decor or whatever you need.", chirped Jonathan.

He must've been excited to have the love of his life near him for the next few months. His smile just wouldn't leave his face.

Kierra was irked by this whole conversation. Decorating a room or any household duties is the job of the lady of the house. Letting another person make changes to the family house was unheard of. But Jonathan shut Kierra off when she tried to talk to him about this.

"She's gonna be here for months. So it's only right that she gets to change her room however she wants. I just want to make her feel as comfortable as possible."

"Don't you know what it means to redecorate the rooms ? Only the lady of the house has authority to make decisions regarding the house. What will the servants think ?"

Kierra was right. What Jonathan allowed Sierra to do was just not redecorating an old room, he allowed her to use the privilege of a duchess. Surely he wasn't dull enough to not understand that.

"Authority ? She's your sister isn't she ? Also why mind what the servants think ? If they complain, just fire them. We can always find more obedient servants."

["What did I even expect ? This man..... the man I once knew is totally gone."]

Kierra was just flabbergasted by the whole conversation. Was Jonathan always this small of a man ? Before, he seemed like the perfect gentleman. But now he just seems like child throwing temper tantrums.

But that was only the beginning of the many hurdles that were lying ahead.

The three of them were having their first dinner together after coming back to the Alden house.

Of course the dishes had to be catered according to Sierra's diet and hence the table looked a little lackluster than usual.

A Caesar salad with a light dressing, vegetable soup with no cream, poached chicken in a slightly sweet sauce, baked potatoes, herb mushrooms and fruit gelatin sweetened with honey. It was certainly a change from the usual hearty and meaty dishes.