Cecilia was stunned at the way Daryn removed his hand from hers. She stood there awkwardly and watched Daryn go to Dawn. He held the small of her back and kissed her on the forehead. "Missed you," he said out loud.

Dawn chuckled. "Missed me? I was out for no more than twenty minutes."

​​

Cecilia rolled her eyes at their public display of affection. Then she thought, 'Humph, she is just a fly. Soon I will marry Daryn Silver. Men like him marry girls like me, who are sophisticated and refined and not like her, who are so gamine.' With a polite smile, she said aloud, "Please come for dinner. I think everyone must be waiting for us."

The couple followed Cecilia to the dining room. Lily's eyes narrowed when she saw that Daryn was holding Dawn's back. Anger rose against Cecilia for not taking advantage of the situation. She suppressed it and with a tight smile, waved a hand to the chair to her right and said, "Dawn, please sit here."

Dawn went and sat on the chair right next to her. After the way she spoke with her in the garden, Dawn was sure that she wasn't welcomed a wee bit. And so now she was just being courteous. Daryn sat right next to Dawn.

"Where's Cole?" asked Dawn, looking around.

Lily chuckled. "He must be busy in his room. After all he is seeing it after a long time. Don't worry, I have already sent food to his room."

Dawn nodded. She could understand her brother's emotions so well.

Anne and David sat on the opposite side followed by Neal and Helena. To Dawn's relief, Jason and Niall weren't there. However, much to Daryn's irritation, Cecilia sat next to him.

The servants served them and then they left. Everybody had dinner in peace. In order to break the ice, Cecilia said, "Mr. Daryn, I would love to see your office. I have heard so much about The Silver House." Her round face broke into a smile.

"Okay, I can arrange a tour for you," he replied, sipping his wine over a piece of steak. Suddenly he felt a foot under the table massaging him. He coughed.

"Are you all right?" Dawn enquired.

"I am," he replied with a tight smile and shifted in his seat towards Dawn.

"Where's Cole?" Neal became uncomfortable.

"He is in his room," Lily replied.

"My daughter is very skillful, Mr. Daryn," Anne said. "You know last summer she joined the cooking classes in New York under the best Master Chef for three months. She is an excellent host." She pointed to braised boneless fish steak and said, "You should try that. She prepared it herself. Didn't even allow any servants to help her."

Cecilia giggled.

"Oh! That's very nice," said Daryn. "I have a question for you Cecilia," he added.

Cecilia couldn't believe that Daryn was taking such active interest when her mother mentioned about her cookery skills. Surely this man loved food, and the way to man's heart was through his stomach. She looked at him attentively and fluttered her eyes.

'I want to gouge her face,' a thought pushed in Daryn's mind. That was Dawn. She was getting angry.

'Is my girl jealous?' he asked mentally.

'Huh? Jealous and me? Never!'

'Are you sure?'

'I will spank you hard, if you talk to her!'

'Ouch! I want you to spank me, wife.'

Neal choked on his meat and coughed. 'In case you guys forgot, when you open your mental shields, all werewolves in the vicinity can listen to you.'

Dawn's face became red.

David patted Neal's back. "I am fine," he said and downed the wine.

"So what's the question?" Cecilia said.

"What were your SAT scores?" Daryn asked as he cut a piece of lamb chop.

Cecilia shrank. Her face became pale. She looked at her mother for support.

Anne chewed her garlic bread, gulped and said, "Actually, Cecilia wasn't well during her SAT exams. She had prepared so well and right on the day when she had to give her exam, she had an upset stomach. So the SAT scores weren't that good." Anne chuckled nervously.

"Hmm, why did you join Liberal Arts?" Daryn asked inquisitively.

"Because I wanted to," she replied in a low, uneasy voice.

"From what I've heard, you get that as an option only if you have scored very less in your SATs. What was your percentile in Math?"

Cecilia's face blanched. She knew that her academics were shaky and so in front of Daryn she had to project herself higher by focusing on other aspects like cooking and finishing school.

"It— it was—"

Seeing her stutter, Daryn said, "It's okay. You don't have to answer."

Lily jumped to salvage. "But you see Mr. Silver, Cecilia is such a fine girl that eventually she will make a lovely wife and an extraordinairé socialite. Her profile fits for your kind of society."

Daryn smiled, he kept his knife and fork down and smiled. "I am sure she will."

Cecilia thought that if she kept calm and looked controlled, Daryn would appreciate how she could sail through a difficult situation. So she became quiet and smiled too.

"By the way do you know that Dawn has completed her Management Degree in Finance from University of Yorkshire?" Daryn boasted. "And that too with really good grades. She was on a scholarship, which is extremely difficult to get in England?" He shook his head. "I wonder why she went for a scholarship when she came from such a rich family as yours." The insult was apparent.

Lily stopped eating and became stiff.

Dawn pursed her lips.

Daryn dug his coat's pocket and took out a beautiful red envelope—an invitation card on which it was written in golden calligraphy:

"Daryn Weds Dawn"

Around the words were fine golden vines.

Daryn slipped the card on the table towards Lily Wyatt.

Everyone on the table looked at it with curiosity except Neal who continued to eat.

Lily picked up the card and her face became stone cold. "What is it?" she asked sternly.

"I am getting married to Dawn in three weeks from now. Since you all are her only family, I wanted you all to be a part of this big event. I got this invite especially printed to give it to you, Mrs. Wyatt, in presence of all the family members." It cost him five hundred dollars to print a single card, but that was peanuts compared to the looks on the faces he so wanted to see now.

Dawn's eyes were wide with surprise. She never anticipated that Daryn would be so cool? Her face became deep scarlet as numerous emotions twirled inside her. She placed her hand in his lap and squeezed his thighs.

Cecilia blanched. An invitation? Her eyes fixed on the red envelope. Anne and David seemed to choke on their food. Whatever hopes they had for their daughter evaporated.

As for Lily, she looked as if she had drunk a glass of vinegar. She controlled herself immediately and said, "Congratulations." Others followed her in a low, subdued tone.

"Cheers!" Neal said and picked up his wine glass.

'You are a badass!' he conveyed Daryn mentally.

Everyone had to clink their glasses. Cecilia wanted to burst into crying.

A few minutes later Daryn wiped his mouth and said, "We need to go back soon darling. I have an overseas video meeting with Caleb and his associates."