Arranged marriage : I hate you

Chapter 25

Jennie woke up to the ringing of her phone. She checked her time on the bedroom clock to see that it was past 7am. She sat up in bed and reached for her phone on the nightstand, looking at it to see that Murrieta was the one calling her. She frowned, but picked up the call anyway.

"Hello,"

"Jennie, hey. How are you? How have you been?"

"Fine. Is there a problem?"

"Uh, no not really,"

"Okay. Bye then."

"Jennie wait, your father has invited you for dinner, you and that woman,"

"Riley," Jennie corrected, her jaws clenching.

"Huh?"

"Her.name.is.Riley," Jennie emphasized as she suddenly felt the need to be protective of the older woman.

"Oh, well, your father is inviting you and Riley over for dinner today,"

"Why?"

"It's been a week Jen, we haven't heard anything from you. We're worried,"

"I'm fine. Besides, it's not like not being fine will change anything now will it?"

"Will you please just come? Patrick will be happy to see you. He's been asking about you," Murrieta pleaded, knowing that the girl had a soft spot for her brother, her youngest son.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask Riley or my father-in-law,"

"Okay. We'll be waiting for your response,"

"Sure,"

"Bye now, please stay safe. I love you Jen."

Jennie cut the call without replying and placed her phone next to her on the bed, closing her eyes and groaning loudly.

She forced herself to get out of bed. Yesterday was amazing. She enjoyed every second she spent with Riley, relishing every thought of spending more time with the woman with a smile and small blush. She was a bit disappointed because the woman didn't sleep on the same bed as her like they did the previous night. However, she also knew that the latter had only slept with her that one night to avoid Peterson's wrath. But still, she hoped to share the bed with her again, it was way too big for her alone.

Somewhere inside of her she hoped that the older woman was somewhere around the house, but the better part of her brain made her think otherwise. Her curiosity was almost visible when Riley didn't come in for her morning shower like she usually did every morning. Nonetheless, she freshened up and settled in a simple floral dress with sandals, tying her hair up in a ponytail as she went down for breakfast. She had zero plans, thanks to her friend Mia who happened to be unavailable to hang.

She ate alone and just decided on engaging in a long call with her friend to pass the time. It was almost 10am when she saw Riley. Although the woman had taken her shower in the house, changing into gray sweatpants and gray sports bra worn underneath an unbuttoned black shirt, Jennie was almost too sure that the latter didn't sleep in the house. As weird as it may have felt in the moment, the thought made her uneasy. She didn't know why though. It's not like the older woman owed her any explanation, or even any loyalty for that matter. They were just two women forced to stay together under this marriage. That's all they were. Although she enjoyed being around the woman, she was convinced that Riley was only being nice to her because she had no choice. She couldn't back away from this so she just tolerated her. All her overthinking led her to walk around the huge mansion aimlessly like a lost puppy.

She was walking into the kitchen to get herself a bottle of cold water with the hope of calming her nerves when she bumped into someone, the contact almost making her fall save for the strong hands that held onto her, keeping her on her feet.