Laura greeted everyone in the dining room. "Good morning," she said, smiling sweetly. All eyes were on her. Her gaze landed on the chubby guy sitting alone on the other side of the table. Their eyes locked for a few seconds.

The chubby guy was starstruck. He kept staring at Laura, he can't take his eyes off her. His expression was like that of a guy seeing a goddess descended from the sky for the first time. ​​

Laura smiled at him.

Nicholas looked at his son and back to his daughter-in-law. "Laura, take your seat beside your husband, Cooper!" he ordered.

Laura smiled and lowered herself on the chair beside Cooper. "Good morning Cooper..." she greeted him sweetly, aware of the effect she has on him.

Cooper cleared his throat and smiled at her. "Good morning, wife!" he said, smiling happily at her.

Nicholas and Simon looked at the couple, wearing a smile on their face.

"They looked perfect together, right, amigo?" Nicholas told his friend, feeling satisfied with their matchmaking.

Simon agreed and smiled brightly. "Yes, they are!"

"Everyone...let's resumed eating...so that the couple can have a heart to heart talk and get to know each other better after breakfast," Nicholas said.

They resumed eating their meals. Laura was still in the process of putting food on her plate.

"This tastes delicious, my favorite!" Cooper said. He scooped a delicious dish consisted of pork and vegetables using the serving spoon and put it on Laura's plate. He considered his move romantic wanting to impress his soon to be wife. "Eat a lot, my wife. You're a bit skinny!" he said affectionately. "I'll feed you a lot of delicious food every day and make you chubby just like me!" he joked, grinning, winking at his wife.

Everyone at the table laughed with Cooper's remarked, including Laura.

The ice was broken between them.

Cooper might be chubby and lacking in the look department, but he seemed to be funny. 'Cooper is not entirely bad,' Laura told herself.

Thirty minutes later, they've finished eating.

The old folks proceed to the veranda to enjoy the morning sunshine.

While the couple proceeds to the living room, trying to get acquainted with each other.

They sat on the sofa facing each other.

"You are gorgeous!" Cooper said, looking deeply into her eyes.

Laura smiled. "And you are cute," she said.

Cooper's face turned sad, feeling upset. "Just cute-? Not handsome?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "I'm just telling the truth!" she said.

Sighing, Cooper rose to his feet. "You're no fun!" he said, about to leave.

"Wait...where are you going?" Laura asked him.

Cooper gave her a cold shoulder. "Go home! I won't marry a woman who can't call me handsome!" he declared petulantly like a child.

Laura's mouth was agape. "What the hell!?" then she burst out laughing.

Cooper stared at her. "Why are you laughing? Not only you are beautiful, but you are cruel to my ego!" he snorted.

Laura doubles over, she can't stop herself from laughing.

Cooper grinned and lowered himself on the couch. "I'm glad I can make you smile," he finally said. Then he looked at her with sadness in his eyes.

Laura saw the sadness in his eyes. She stopped laughing. "What's wrong?"

"Father arranged this marriage for us. I don't know if your heart agrees to it," he said.

Laura coughed a little, he hit a nerve. Honestly, their union was a marriage of convenience. They are supposed to get something out of another. "Since it's an arranged marriage, our hearts don't have the right to oppose. We just obey our parent's command," she answered.

Cooper shrugged. "I don't know about you. But honestly, I can fall easily in love with you because you are a beautiful woman, you are an eye candy for me. And I already adore you the moment I saw you in the dining room. How about you - what do you feel about me?" he asked, wearing a serious expression on his face.

Laura sighed and took a deep breath. "Honestly, I found you funny as hell and handsome too!" she said, trying to humor him.

Cooper smiled and gave her a thumb up, pleased with her answer. "That's my girl!"

Laura smiled at Cooper, finding him not hard to live with. "Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Yeah, shoot!" Copper said.

"Do you still frequent in brothels? And indulged in vices?" she asked him point-blank.

Cooper's eyes widened. "Huh? Who told you that?" he asked in a vexed voice.

"Your father told my father about your bad habits. That is how I come to know," she explained.

Cooper's shoulder's slumped in shame. "I'm not gonna lie. All the bad things you heard about me are true. That's me, take it or leave it. I'm just wondering why...despite knowing of my bad habits, you still come here to our town to marry me. Are you for real? With your beauty, you can marry anyone you like. You can find a much wealthier and handsome husband than me," he asked her in disbelief.

Laura stared at him for a long time. The father and son have no idea about her predicament. She was wondering if she should tell Cooper about the truth or not? She should talk with her father about this issue first.

She sighed a little bit. "My father and your father arranged this marriage. I only obey my father's wishes, that's all," she replied.

Cooper ran his fingers through his hair. "Don't get me wrong, wife. Between the two of us, I feel like I won a jackpot. I wonder if you will regret marrying me down the road," he said, with a foreboding expression shimmering on his face.

Laura sighed. "We shall make our marriage work somehow," she finally said in resignation.

Cooper looked at her in the eyes. "Wife, there is something I have to warn you about," he said.

Laura's brows furrowed. "Hmm, what is it?"

"You're going to meet my brother soon, I warn you. Don't ever fall with his charm," he said.

"Why-?" Laura asked in confusion.

"My brother is devilishly handsome. Any woman will fall for him within seconds of looking into his eyes," he said.

Laura smiled and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I won't fall for your devilish brother," she assured him.

Cooper smiled a bit feeling relieved with her answer.

A few minutes of silence passed between them.

Laura remembered her clothes that were scattered messily on her bed. "Cooper, will you excuse me for a few minutes? I want to rest in my room. I'll talk to you later," she said.

"Sure...go ahead, wife," Cooper responded softly.

Laura rose to her feet and left the living room. She climbs the stairs, while Cooper was watching her back until she reached the top of the stairs and vanished from his vision.

Cooper feels elated, he was incredibly lucky to have a wife like Laura.

~

Meanwhile, upstairs.

In Laura's bedroom. She began cleaning the clutter in her bed by putting her clothes, each of them on the hanger and hang them in the closet. She took the other luggage and emptied its contents in the bed and placed her stuff in the right place where they should be.

Done.

She went to the bathroom to take a bath.

A few minutes later, she exited the bathroom in high spirits. She discovered that Cooper is not difficult to live with. The fact that he can make her smile and laugh, proves that their union might not entirely be hopeless.

She wants to feel and think a little bit optimistic when it comes to Cooper. If it will help them both that way - then much better.

A soft knock pulled Laura out from her reverie.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Miss Laura, it's just me, Neeza," the voice said.

Laura walked to the door and opened it. "What is it, Neeza?"

"Hmm, I'm here to help you with everything. I can comb your hair, clean your room, everything you wanted me to do... I'll do it," Neeza said.

Laura smiled. "Come inside then..."

Neeza entered the room. She looked at Laura. "Would you like me to comb your hair, Miss?" she asked, looking at the dresser and noticed the covered mirror. A weird expression marred her face.

"Yes, why not?" Laura smiled and sat on the chair facing the covered mirror. "You can comb my hair now," she said and handed the comb to the maid.

"Hmm, what happened to the mirror, Miss? Did you break it - that's why you covered it? I will ask Sir Nicholas to replace the broken mirror," Neeza offered.

Laura shook her head. "Nah, don't bother to tell him. I don't like big mirrors, they look scary to me," she said. "Besides, no matter how many times I see my face in the mirror, it's still the same me, nothing change, so... no need for a mirror," she concluded.

"Okay, as you say so, Miss," Neeza smiled. She finds Laura's reasoning and opinion about mirrors - weird and a little bit amusing. She began combing her lustrous hair. "You are gifted with beautiful hair, Miss," she commented.

"Thank you," replied Laura. "So...tell me about Cooper's brother? How does he look like? I can't see no picture of him in the hallway or anywhere..." she said. "What's his name?"

"Graven... that's Sir Cooper's elder brother's name," answered Neeza.