"Aw, you look adorable in that, darling." Nana complimented, adjusting the wild purple ruffles.

I gave her a small smile, it was grand again. She wasn't distressed anymore, she was fine. I was relieved, I hated not having a normal atmosphere with her.

"I'm pretty sure the word doesn't exactly match my requirements, it has to be elegant and conservative." I told her in the politest way.

She gave me a faint frown, but she was happy deep inside. She murmured, "Look at the mirror."

As she told me, I obeyed her command. I whirled around and stared at the reflection on the mirror, slightly amazed. I loved how the folds hugged my waist, the purplish ruffles being wild, and how the glitter embellished the rich cloth of purple. I said in awe, "A beauty indeed."

She flicked her finger on my forehead, it stung for a second. I asked her, "What did I do?"

She scrunched her eyebrows and scolded, "Where did you learn that arrogant attitude?"

Blame my boyfriend, Nana.

I answered, "Well, aren't I?"

She paused for a moment and gave me a small nod. "Of course you are, sweetie. He wouldn't have fallen in love for you if you hadn't been such a beauty."

***

"Oh, God." I cursed under my breaths, I didn't want to risk being heard by his parents.

"Calm down." Asher whispered into my left ear as he squeezed my hand under the table.

I exchanged a meaningful glance with him, it was a total nightmare. I whispered back, "How am I supposed to sit here while another girl is sucking up to your parents?"

It was a miracle that Asher had convinced his parents to let him sit beside me, otherwise I would've been in somewhere hidden. On the other hand, I didn't appreciate another girl sucking up to his parents and tugging him on the arm, she's being sickly clingy. It was not a surprise that his parents adored her better than me, look at their grins.

"I won't let her get to them, especially me." He whispered back, he reassured me that it was totally fine. I forced a faint smile, I couldn't relax in a moment like this.

"Would you like some wine, dear?" His mother offered the girl politely, completely ignoring my invisible presence.

I bit back a snort of disbelief, I couldn't believe how she was actually acting now. She was much better when she didn't know about my relationship with Asher yet, this was worse than the party planning.

I took the chance of being ignored to examine the girl. She was a blonde-haired girl, her golden strands reached her tailbone. She had a pair of blue eyes, devious much? I noticed her pale complexion, but she seemed decent enough for his parents' judgement. She didn't bother acknowledging my existence at all, she's a wench.

I looked at Asher with pitiful orbs, I managed to form a small frown. Unfortunately, he also had no clue what to do about this situation.

"Dinner is served." A person that seemed to be a butler announced, holding his chin up high to hide away his thinning hair.

The girl squealed in delight, "Oh, wonderful! I heard that your home chefs are great cooks, I'm so flattered to have a taste of it."

"No one beats my cooking, I'm the best of them all." Asher's father complimented himself, I didn't buy his words. I was pretty sure he had help everywhere he went.

The three of them chortled in delight, I bit back a sigh of exasperation. I watched as a queue of butlers placed silver plates in front of us all and took off the lid, revealing a wondrous-looking dish.

Tenderloin beef steak with fries, mushroom sauce, and a side dish of salad.

I wanted to gulf down the food like a wolf, but I knew it was a test from his parents. It was clear that they didn't envy me, nor wanted their son to like me. But, I had to prove myself.

I softly sliced the shreds of beef, dipping it in the mushroom sauce. I placed a small bit of it into my mouth, chewing it properly. I desired the taste, I couldn't live just eating it slowly. But, I had to force myself.

"Is it delicious, darling?" His mother asked the girl, again ignoring me.

She nodded her head like a dog and said, "It's amazing, I love it."

His father broke into chuckles and said, "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

I noticed Asher wincing as his father said that, I knew it wasn't his father's true self. He was probably disappointed, I couldn't even say anything. I squeezed his hand in return, giving him a faint smile. I felt his muscles relaxing as he squeezed my hand as well.

Thousands of butterflies exploded in my stomach, what was the term again? Whatever, was it bad thing to have living butterflies inside my system?

I complimented the food, "It's very scrumptious, thank you for the dinner."

As I had expected, no one responded to my compliment. His parents stared at me up to the point that it might bulge out of their sockets, while the girl just ate peacefully. He eyed his parents like a hawk.

His mother said, "A-Ah yes."

I appreciated her reckless attempt more than the glare that his father had, was I a worthless peasant? I was my father's daughter, the rightful owner of my stepmother's company. But, I had to endure it just a little more.

"What a worthless girl." I heard his father's muffled voice under his breath, he didn't want me to hear it but I did.

Asher squeezed my hand again, attempting to reassure me to calm down. I was boiling hot with anger, I didn't know CEOs can act so childish. It blurted out, "What do you want?!"

I slammed my fists on the table, making the porcelains clink in response. I argued, "You've paid me no respects as your son's girlfriend and worthless girl?!"

I didn't know what to say more, but I was gibbering under my breaths with a lot of profanities. I caught everyone's attention, even the butlers' attention. I continued, "I-I'm not Serena, she's my stepsister. Her mom only inherited my dad's company because she's his wife, now a widow."

They eyed me in shock, disbelief written all over their faces. I hissed, "I'm the rightful owner of that company, I just left it under my stepmother's power."

I was sure that my veins were boiling hot with my blood and my eyes were ready to bulge out. I had my respects for them, but they didn't even have a speck of respect for me. I repeated, "I'm the rightful owner, I'm not just a girl. I'm the girl your son fell in love with, and so did I."

I captured the smirk that was written on Asher's face, he was actually proud of me. But, wouldn't he get in trouble when I was lashing out on his own parents?

"What's the point if his parents aren't even going to give you blessings?" This question deafened my ears, it came from the girl with a venomous tongue.

I was tongue-tied, staring at her in a dumbstruck state. I hated how she pierced her blue eyes, it was sickening. I retorted back, "What's the point, ha! W-What's the p-point..."

As I worsened my tongued–tied–state, I saw Asher stand up from his cushioned chair and said, "There's a point, you wretched b—you must've not experienced falling in love. It's the most beautiful thing when you're with the one, it's the worst thing when you're with a fake one."

I merely stated at him with my jaw dropped to the ground. He continued, "Father, mother, no matter how many girls you bring to suck up to me, I won't ever fall in love with them. I'm only in love with this one girl, Taylor, my princess."

Okay, I literally had fireworks and butterflies exploding all at once in my stomach.

The girl stood up from her seat and retorted back to his statement, "I'm not sucking up to you, I'm sucking up to your parents."

Asher gave a weird glance to his parents, but they weren't fazed at all. That's when I understood, his parents were well aware of what the girl was trying to do. How could they be so shameless, only because they didn't adore me?

"Y'know what, you all can't see this." Asher stated, slinging his arm around my shoulders. "She's an amazing girl and you all don't believe in her, she's the best thing that has ever happened in my life."

He concluded, "If you can't see that nor understand that, I feel embarrassed to be your son."

Asher intertwined his fingers around mine and dragged me out of the dining hall. I was lost for a second in the moment, moreover lost in the mansion of his. It was silent for a moment, I took in the peace of the silence.

"Wanna get out of here?" Asher offered with pure guilt in his jade orbs.

I was hesitant for a moment, the dinner was a complete failure. I couldn't win his parents' heart, I couldn't win him. I bit back my tears, but I guess chewing my lower lip showed my distress.

He assured me, "You don't need to worry, they're just my wicked parents."

"I can't even suck up to your parents, what can I do?" I said, slightly venting my distress. "I'm a useless girl."

He held my shoulders, forcing me to face him. He stated, "You aren't a useless girl, you aren't an average girl. You're a special girl who caught Asher Drakewood's heart."

Egotistic much?

I found myself immediately breaking into a cheeky grin, causing him to chuckle in response. He ruffled my hair and said, "You're cute."

Butterflies much?

I let a startled gasp escape my lips as I heard a loud slam coming from the dining hall. It was the door, who was it–

"Congrats." I heard the familiar venomous tone in her voice, the girl. She shoved us, breaking our embrace.

She flipped her blonde hair, walking sarcastically away. I glanced at Asher and asked, "What the heck?"

He didn't bother responding to my question, instead he stared at the direction where the girl had came from. I glanced towards his direction, a faint glow shimmered.

"Asher, dear?" I knew instantly it was his mother's voice.

What does she want?

I heard her footsteps nearing us, it's majorly her heels' noise. She seemed hassled, glancing all over the place. As she landed her eyes on us, she smiled in relief. A smile of relief.

She said, "I know both me and your father don't deserve your forgiveness, but can we start over?"

I exchanged glances with Asher, he seemed as clueless as I was. It didn't go unnoticed, so she said, "Just a simple family dinner, it won't be a problem."

That's when I was struck with Asher's worried glance, he was looking for my reaction. I needed to act like an adult, since the real adults were childish. I pressed my lips into a thin line and nodded in agreement.

It was still awkward, but it was better than completely hidden away in a corner. I appreciated his mother's attempt to lighten the mood, but I couldn't believe how despicable his father was acting. He was downright glaring at his own food, not even muttering profanities.

I stared back at my untouched dessert, a small plate of chocolate pudding with a drizzle of vanilla syrup—it's not an ordinary pudding. I wanted to eat it so bad, but I couldn't eat in front of a rude man that could probably explode anytime. On the other hand, Asher was having a lovely, civil conversation with his own mother.

"Taylor, darling. Is the dessert unappetising?" His mother's voice cut my thoughts, causing me to jerk my face up.

I let out a small nervous chuckle, I was startled. I said, "Ah, no. It's lovely."

"It's too rich for her taste, just give her ice cream or something." His father muttered to his mother, he was trying to be discrete about it but I heard it all. They both exchanged glances as his mother nudged his shoulder hard, retreating back in silence.

I felt Asher squeezing my hand harder, I could see him gritting his teeth silently. I squeezed back his hand and gave him a faint smile, I felt his tensing muscles relaxing. I was glad I had that effect on him.

Secretly, I wanted the ice cream too. I just couldn't believe he would disregard freaking ice cream, it's a heavenly taste.

I took a small spoonful of the pudding into my mouth, savoring the chocolate flavor mixed with vanilla. I needed something sweet now, his father lacked of sense of respect. I was a peasant in his eyes.

"So, what are you planning to do after college ends?" His mother asked me with a small smile.

I returned her smile and answered her, "I'm going to be an intern for an insurance company, y'know to get experience."

Her eyes glowed and she said, "Really, which company? I'll be happy to help out, if the company is one of our allies."

"Oh thank you, it's actually GK Insurance." I told her with a small smile, it was a forced one. I couldn't quite match up to the new atmosphere.

I bit back a gasp as Asher's silver spoon dropped, clinking with the plate. I eyed the shock expression that was on his face, his mother too, but a glare was imprinted to his father's.

What did I do?

I want to say that I'm very sorry with the late updates, I've been very busy and I'm not going to be free anytime soon. I'm even studying now, so please understand.

Thanks for reading, for disregarding my grammatical errors and nonsense. See you in the next chapter!