'I didn't think he'd come', Veronica thought.
Trying her best not to scan Jayce's appearance, she noticed his scent. How strong it smelled.
"You were smoking again, weren't you?" she says in a low tone.
Jayce didn't even look her way, his eyes fixed rigidly on the road ahead. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating. After a few seconds, he slid the private cover down, cutting off Ethan's view and muffling any sound, sealing them in a bubble of unspoken tension.
"And how does that concern you?" he finally turns to look at her as he scans her up and down.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice? Putting on that fancy perfume doesn't help" Veronica leans back, keeping a strong and dominating face.
"I'm tryna keep my head up in the cloud. Especially since today is gonna be hell, spending with you", he leans back, slightly turning to Veronica as she chuckled.
"It's gonna be over before you know it," Veronica speaks. "This way, I wouldn't have to be seeing your fucking face"
"Back at ya. You're the worst thing that's ever happened to me, Veronica," Jayce said. There was something in his tone—sharp, raw—that felt unmistakably genuine. Veronica wasn't expecting any sugarcoating; she could tell he actually meant it, and that truth cut deeper than any insult ever could.
"You're not the only one who feels so", Veronica replies, her eyes still out the window, admiring the trees and cars passing by.
Minutes later, they finally stopped in front of a huge mansion as the security guards guarding the gate post approached the jeep.
Taking a look inside, he steps back and yells at the rest of the post, "Open the gate!"
As the security men opened the huge gate, they drove into a mansion as Cars were parked in every corner of the lobby. A lot of elderly people stood outside the entrance talking and toasting. Real classy.
One of them was Martha. Veronica's mother-in-law. A spiteful woman who has always been a terrible person since the moment she married her son. She wasn't sure which one was worse. Her, or Jayce. All she knew was that they both had the same fucked up personality.
As Ethan made a turn. He parked the car before turning off the engine and coming out of the jeep. He opened the door for Veronica as he helped her out the car where as Jayce took the other side.
'This was it'
The worst day of her life was about to come true at this moment.
Jayce turned to look at her, trying his best not give her this disgusted look on his face. He adjusts the strand of her dress.
"I can do it myself", Veronica smiles. Her voice was sharp.
"Just shut up, will you?"
With that, he held her hand tightly.
"Don't embarrass me today." Jayce exhaled, forcing a smile on his face as well.
"Let's go" he pulled her in as they both walked side by side, approaching the mansion in front of them.
As they neared the mansion entrance, every turn greeted them with wide eyes, whispered gasps, and smiles of admiration.
"Is that Jayce and his wife?" someone murmured.
"She's stunning," another voice added, admiration lacing every word.
The crowd's awe felt suffocating to Veronica; each compliment a sharp reminder of the performance she had to maintain.