Daughter-in-law Strikes Harder

A low groan escaped Aria’s lips as she turned her face to the other side of the bed, while still snuggled so tightly under a blanket like her life depended on it.

She almost let out a loud yelp as a throbbing headache suddenly hit her, accompanied with the cold that was circulating from the huge AC in the room around the atmosphere.

To worsen the terrible feeling that had taken over her body, her bones felt so sore and weak to the point that she could not move them.

The bottle of alcoholic wines that she had picked from the cellar, and the manner in which she had drank them the previous day were no joke. That, it was surprising to know that she would have managed to hold a conversation with Dalton, before falling so deep to the extreme shutting down of her entire system.

It was now like a necessity every night without sneaking around, because that was the only way she could sleep without being in the full consciousness of her body.

To escape her incessant insomnia and nightmares. She had drank earlier than the time she normally did, with no idea that she would have to still go to Dalton’s room and stress the life out her voice and body nerves.

Aria’s body rolled into the softness of the white bed blanket that was barely covering her anymore, which contorted irregularly in and out of her body parts that would fit around it.

She had struggled to roll on her back with her limbs spread out exhaustingly, to the four corners of the bed getting no wherewithal whatsoever to stand up.

Definitely, she was deeply hungover.

She began to ponder on the idea of remaining in the house for a few months, at the thought of the supposed company that Dalton had mentioned to the press. Thinking about it in the totality of its negative, she could never trust the Millers family to do something of such.

Not even a blind man would believe.

There was no reason why they would mistreat her so much for years, and just decide to make her the CEO of one of their companies out of the blue.

‘Do not be deceived by the evil nature of the Millers. They are evil!’ her mind warned.

Just thinking of the link that would still connect her to them just by inheriting one of their companies, was even another nightmare to make her run from such promises that would put her in sorrow.

It was just five months that was left for both of them, till the decision concerning their three years marriage contract would be officially made. She couldn’t even wait any further, to sever their ties with Dalton.

The thought of remaining in the house for much longer, made her cringe as it was barely considerable. The need for an agreement and dialogue wasn’t even necessary, because the end result was so glaring. They would have to go their separate ways.

Thinking she still had some food particles in her mouth from the previous day, Aria’s mouth chewed softly on the silky texture that was held between her lips. It felt so, so weird.

‘Wait! Was she chewing on her own hair?!’

~~~|•|~~~

“I cannot believe this is you,” Came Aria’s cheerful voice that was much calmer than usual . She had talked rudely to everyone in the house for the past few days, “Where have you been? I mean, it’s been ages.”

“I know, right. Was disappointed when I came back last year, and I heard you left about three years ago. It was so difficult to reach you,” the masculine voice sounded on the phone from the other side.

“I was just tired of everything and moved. So, you are back now. Finally?” She asked him, followed up by a sudden gag reflex that pulled her throat. Her palm quickly covered her mouth from making any further sound, which was as a result of the aftereffects of her hangover.

“Yes, Ri. I am back to settle down here and work some things out, since everything has been hella hectic since my absence. Juggling from a remote distance has made it less productive, that it has got me settling back here finally. It is really nice to hear from you again.”

“I would have never expected us to talk this soon, or to talk this nicely without any awkwardness. Probably I didn’t expect this call, even after I had been an arsehole. It has actually been a very long time,” She replied and smiled again, her voice pitch intentionally increasing by the minute to prevent her from hiccuping.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“It has really been a pretty long time. I really missed you, Ri,” his voice spoke out euphoniously. Expressing how much he had missed her phone could never cut it, because three years had been a really long time for him.

She could never have imagined, they would speak together anytime soon or even ever.

Their departure story wasn’t that smooth, for a great reunion or even good talking terms. And to make matters worse, she had lost her phone almost a few days after, aiding the false stiffness between them.

Aria smiled modestly as she walked slowly into her dressing room, with a robe and towel tied around her body and wrapped around her head. Her long slender fingers found its way to the racks of luxurious clothes in the dresser, as it ran back and forth through every gown in there while checking for the one to suit her.

The first one that seemed to interest her was a peach coloured gown, that hung horizontally along with rows and columns of other clothes, in the large deluxe dressing room.

It seemed too modest for the normal clothes they normally arranged for her in the past, but just worked out perfectly to fit the new evolution she was making that day.

“Are you still there? Ri,” He asked again with an exercised anxiousness, probably nervous that the call had disconnected at the point of her silence. It had really been difficult to know she moved too, and getting her personal phone number after a long time.

Hearing someone call her Ri after years of not even being accustomed to her name anymore, sounded so different in her ears that Aria felt it was probably because she had not heard it in a long time. It was also probably because she just heard it from him again, but she liked the sound of it, regardless.

“This is going to be some big reunion. And I am definitely anticipating that,” Aria finally spoke out, after a long and paused silence of short words.

If she would not have lied to him, she definitely missed the memories of them that began to flood into her brain. The days they had spent together in the past were memorable and nice, but she just couldn’t say it at that moment.

“I’ve got you, Ri. I really cannot wait,” Collin assured, with a great wave of happiness that swept in him at her response. He could not wait to see how she had changed in the past years, and was curious to know if she ended up achieving the big dreams she always told him.

At the study desk in the opulent room of grandeur sophistication, was Dalton sitting in his usual position behind the desk, with his assistant reporting the schedules for the day to him.

They had less than an hour to leave the mansion to the company, and yet Dalton seemed to be unready even while fully dressed for work. His mind seemed to ponder on random things.

“Sir, the document concerning the new ownership rights for Skyrise empire has been sent by fax this morning. This is …” Alex paused to look at Dalton’s demeanor, before he would present the files to him without reasoning properly.

Dalton’s eyes, whose eyes were fixated intently on nothing in particular at a space, clenched his hand so hard around the stem of the wine glass he was holding that visible veins popped out of his right hand.

He looked so abnormally furious all of a sudden, that made Alex retreat by a few steps. He tried to figure out what could have made him mad, because If anything, he might take it out on him.

“House reports?” Dalton’s cold and unfriendly voice resounded around the room, demanding to hear something different from what Alex was reporting.

“It is…” Alex fumbled with his words, as his shaky hands struggled to slide functionally on the tablet’s screen. He had thought business would be the first to be reported, in the same order that it had always been done. Most of the time, Dalton just wanted to listen to Alex list the schedules for the day that he already knew.

“Mrs. Miller has been on the phone since she woke up, for over thirty minutes now with someone,” he told Dalton, knowing fully well that his boss only wanted to know what Aria was up to.

It was really hard to keep a tab on her, since it was something he had never really had to do in the past.

“Someone?!” Dalton’s eyes glinted dangerously, at the lousy report Alex was giving to him. He had heard her laughter so loudly because of the sound detectors in his room, that he used to keep track of anything that might be a source of noise to his ears.

“The conversation seemed casually friendly without any cliché, so cannot be said if it was a man or a woman that was…..”

“Who has asked you?!” Dalton cut in rudely, even surprised himself as to why he had suddenly gotten pissed off.

It was just a harmless phone call.

Yet he was provoked that she had the nerves to laugh so noisily, after the trouble she has caused by just sending the divorce papers.

He totally hated her new guts but was somewhat clueless of what to do, since he had never had to ever deal with her in the past. His mother and sisters were the real thorns and he just let them be.

‘He should have asked them to place a CCTV camera in her new room!’

Alex was more confused than ever by what to say next, as he was unable to speculate what exactly Dalton wanted to hear. He just kept mute like he always did in such situations, as trying to get Dalton tell him reasons for his anger could make him fly into further vicious rages.