The Beauty of Love

It has been one week, seven days, and 168 hours since her name was officially changed from Fiona McGuire to Fiona Carter.

A week had passed by, and still, there was no hint of her so-called husband. Like normal couples, after exchanging their vows, they went on their honeymoon to a romantic destination, but unlike any of them, Fiona was still sitting on the couch in her new home, thinking about her perfect marriage life, which was far from perfect.

Except for his name, Justin Carter, Fiona knew nothing about him. Before marrying Justin, she knew that their relationship would not be like other couples', but she thought that they could at least be friends and give their marriage a chance. Maybe they could start over. But she was expecting too much from him. She was being delusional thinking that Justin would want this arrangement to turn into a proper marriage.

To others, Fiona and Justin were a happily married couple, but only her dearest father in law and Grace knew the truth about the deal behind their marriage, and probably her mother in law. Grace is a housemaid for Justin's apartment. For the past few days, Grace has been an ideal friend and a mother to Fiona. She is in her late 40's, and like her name, she is very graceful in everything she does. She has been with Justin since he was born, and she took care of him, along with his mother. So you can basically call her his second mom.

Fiona's thoughts were soon distracted when she heard the doorbell.

The first thought that came to her mind was that her dearest hubby finally decided to show his face after the night of their marriage.

When Grace opened the door, Fiona saw a six-foot-tall, gorgeous man entering the house in his gray business suit. He had ocean blue eyes, which looked annoyed at the moment. His dark chocolate-brown hair was disheveled, probably due to working the whole day... oops; she should say a whole week.

And the worst thing was, he went straight to his room, without even glancing at her. But not before saying, "Be ready by 11 tomorrow. We are going to have lunch with my family."

Fiona sighed and sat down on the couch, trying to stop the tears that wanted to come from her eyes. He didn't even glance at her. She was confused about whether she should burn with rage or cry her heart out.

But, at least he knows she exists. That's something, right?

When Fiona walked toward her room, which was the guest room of Justin's apartment, she heard faint noises from Justin's room. She was about to enter her room when she heard her name, so she figured that Justin was talking to Grace about her.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she went across her room to his and started to listen to their conversion.

Fiona knew for a fact that eavesdropping was wrong, but hey, they were talking about her, so she had every right to know what they were saying.

So, she stood in front of the door with her lips pressed in a thin line and her hand softly placed on them for support when she heard Justin say, "She is nothing but a gold digger. I can't believe she even had the guts to show me her face." Justin angrily said to Grace.

"But Justin..." Grace was interrupted by Justin's harsh words, "I don't want to hear it, Grace. She is just like every other woman, she just wants me for my money and nothing else. She hasn't even been to dad's office in the past week. Instead of being the independent woman she should be, she just wants to spend my money and shower herself with power, fame, and gifts."

Double ouch!! That hurts.

Tears were threatening to come from her eyes, while at the same time, she wanted to burst through the door and tell him the truth. But instead, she stormed into her room. She was hurt, angry, and wanted to bawl her eyes out. She could not take it anymore. He knew nothing about her.

Instead of working in the office, she was working from home, not because she wanted to, but if Fiona showed up in the office, their little marriage setup could be ruined. If she showed up at his dad's office, people might know something was up and they might start doubting their marriage, which was not good for the company. She didn't want anyone to give them the benefit of the doubt. Justin knew nothing about her, and in fact, that was why she married him.

Only, if he knew that she was not a gold digger, then she might not have cried herself to sleep.

Like every other morning, Grace woke Fiona up. Since she was not a morning person, it is difficult for her to wake up early and start her day fresh. But like Fiona's mother or her alarm clock, even Grace has been waking her up early from the past one week.

After getting up, she did her usual morning chores and went to the kitchen to help Grace. She didn't like Fiona helping her, but as always she insisted and being a nice person that Grace is, she let Fiona help her.

They both were talking and joking around along with doing their work. Although being in the late 40's Grace is enthusiastic and has a beautiful voice. While cooking, she always sings and Fiona just loves to listen to her voice. She sometimes wonders how Grace became a maid. She should be on the X factor and would have easily won that competition. But anyways, Fiona is lucky to have her. If it was not for her then she doesn't know, how she would have survived this long in this house.

Bless her!

Grace is a beautiful old woman who has a strong personality. With golden hair and brown shades, hazelnut eyes and smooth skin makes her look younger than her age. Grace is passionate about the things she does. It's very rare or would rather say; once in a blue moon, it happens that she is behind her schedule.

So unlike other days, today Grace ran late, so she asked Fiona to set the plate for Justin.

Justin's name always makes Fiona's heart clench. So she took a deep breath and put the breakfast on the plate and took it to his room. As she was nothing but a stranger to him, she knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She knocked a few more times, but still, there was no reply. So she slowly but hesitantly entered into his room.

This would not be the first time when Fiona has stepped into this room. When she first came to this house, Grace gave her the tour so she very well knows the look of his room. That doesn't mean she goes into his room whenever she felt like it. Fiona's always respected a person's privacy. This is only the second time when she is gracing her presence in his room.

Justin's room is a typical bachelor guy pad. A big bed in the middle with, small study table, few of his clothes lying down on the bed, and of course a punching bag hanging in the left corner of his room. But compared to other guys, it's a bit cleaner. For a businessman, he surely is not as organized as Fiona had thought but for a guy, he definitely likes to keep his room clean. Well, maybe because Grace has been doing it on his behalf. who knows!!

When she stepped in, the room was empty and she heard the faint sound of the shower so Fiona figured that Justin might be taking a bath. So Fiona kept the food tray on the table beside his bed.

When Fiona was about to leave, she heard the door creak. So she turned around and saw Justin just standing in his towel and her eyes went wide. Her mouth was wide open so she quickly turned around and closed her eyes with her hand.

"I am so sorry!!" she squeaked.

"I can't believe you. After everything you still have nerves of showing up here", Justin growled and took few steps towards her and when Fiona turned around frustration and anger were clearly written on his face.

"Who the hell do you think you are, barging in my room without my permission?" Justin was furious. After all this, she still had the nerve of showing herself in his room, he thought.

Surprised and frightened by his reaction, Fiona's response came out as a whisper, "I just got you breakfast..."

But soon she was cut short by his sarcastic laugh "food, bullshit!! I would never eat what you got me" and he threw the plate. He didn't mean to do that, but he had no control over his actions. His frustration took the better of him.

The food was all across the floor and the plate was broken into millions of pieces. Fiona immediately left that room without saying a word and went into the guest room. This was becoming a daily routine. This time she didn't cry because that arrogant, angry man was rude to her, but because it was getting too much for her to handle. It was getting out of control.

Is this going to be her life forever?

And the worst part is that she cannot step back from this marriage.

This only led her to think that, what did she ever do to deserve all this?