CHAPTER SEVEN – A SURPRISE ARRIVAL – 2
1617 Words
“…I’m Chloe,” she said sweetly. “Damien’s girlfriend.”
The silence was deafening.
Clara’s polite smile faltered, confusion flashing across her face before she quickly schooled her features. Isabella’s brows rose sharply. Eleanor leaned back in quiet amusement, and Reginald’s calculating gaze swept from Chloe to Damien and back again.
The tension in the room thickened, like the air itself was holding its breath.
“Well,” Isabella said smoothly, recovering first, “what an… unexpected surprise.”
“You’re welcome, join us,” Reginald said, motioning toward the table.
Clara, already seated on his right, stiffened slightly, her fingers tightening around her wine glass.
“Thank you, I got something since it’s my first time visiting,” Chloe said as she handed the gift to Isabella.
The older woman accepted it with a perfectly polite smile, her eyes flicking toward Damien in subtle question.
Chloe was given a seat beside Damien, and as dinner began, the soft clinking of cutlery could barely mask the undercurrent of curiosity and disbelief that hung over the table.
Now Damien sat between the two women — the family’s carefully chosen blind date, and the woman who had just crashed dinner claiming to be his girlfriend.
He exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was hell.
“So, Damien,” Eleanor’s voice cut through the tension, deceptively pleasant. “You’ve been keeping secrets. Care to explain why your family only just found out about this Chloe?”
Damien’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t think it was necessary to announce something this private.”
“Damien,” Alexander warned quietly, his sharp gaze daring him to misstep.
Before Damien could worsen things, Chloe leaned forward with an easy smile. “Don’t be too hard on him. We agreed to keep things private for a while. Tonight… well, I wanted to surprise him.”
A few of the servants exchanged quick glances, clearly trying to hide their shock.
Reginald raised a brow, intrigued. Clara, however, let out a soft, polite laugh. “How thoughtful. Though it’s interesting he never mentioned you, considering…” She trailed off deliberately, her eyes flicking toward Isabella.
“Considering what?” Chloe asked smoothly, her smile never faltering.
“Considering he was supposed to be meeting me this week,” Clara replied, her tone laced with subtle challenge.
The table stilled.
Chloe’s smile didn’t falter. “Oh? I wasn’t aware Damien had double-booked his calendar.”
A faint cough broke the silence — someone hiding a laugh.
Clara gave a polite laugh, but there was no warmth in it. “Perhaps he forgot to mention it.”
Eleanor smirked behind her glass of wine. Reginald watched, amused.
“Clara Hamilton,” Isabella interjected quickly, her voice clipped but courteous. “Her family has been close to ours for years. A natural match for Damien.”
Chloe turned to Isabella, her tone respectful but steady. “I see. Well, natural matches don’t always spark. Sometimes the unexpected ones do.” She glanced at Damien with a teasing glint. “Wouldn’t you agree, darling?”
Damien, caught between the two women, muttered, “This is absurd,” but his lips twitched in spite of himself.
Reginald chuckled, finally breaking the tension. “At least dinner won’t be boring tonight.”
As servants refilled the wine glasses, Eleanor leaned forward, eyes on Chloe. “Tell me, dear, how did you and Damien meet?”
The table went quiet. Even Alexander leaned back slightly, waiting for her response.
Damien stiffened, dreading her blunt truthfulness, but Chloe answered smoothly, her voice calm. “At the hotel. Fate tends to throw people together in the most unexpected ways, doesn’t it?”
“A hotel?” Isabella echoed, raising a brow.
Damien gave a curt nod. “Yes. She was staying there on a business trip, and so was I. We crossed paths.”
“Mm,” Eleanor murmured, clearly intrigued.
“And what drew you to him?” Eleanor pressed, her sharp curiosity unrelenting.
Chloe let her gaze linger on Damien for a moment before replying with a small, confident smile. “He’s not as difficult as he wants everyone to believe. Beneath the scowl, he’s… thoughtful. Protective, even.”
Damien’s fork paused halfway to his mouth. He hadn’t expected that.
Isabella’s eyes narrowed. Clara’s lips tightened. Damien fought to hide the flicker of surprise — and reluctant amusement — that crossed his face.
“Well,” Reginald finally said, leaning back in his chair, “it seems Damien has more layers than we thought. Perhaps this evening won’t be wasted after all.”
Clara forced another smile, but her knuckles whitened around her cutlery.
Chloe, on the other hand, lifted her wine glass, unruffled, meeting Eleanor’s probing stare without flinching.
When Damien leaned close and muttered under his breath, “You’re going to pay for this,” Chloe only smirked, her whisper soft enough for him alone:
“Oh, darling… I already am. And I’m enjoying every second.”
Damien closed his eyes briefly, wishing he could disappear.
Dinner continued, but the air was thick with unspoken words. Cutlery clinked softly against porcelain, wine glasses chimed, and beneath it all, a current of tension simmered like a storm waiting to break.
Damien sat rigid between Clara and Chloe, every muscle in his body coiled tight. To his right, Clara wore her best polite smile, laughing softly whenever Isabella or Eleanor prompted her, but her eyes kept darting toward Chloe with thinly veiled irritation. To his left, Chloe was infuriatingly calm, sipping her wine as if she were at a leisurely Sunday brunch.
Damien’s family, of course, was eating this spectacle up.
“So, Chloe,” Isabella’s voice cut through the room, smooth as silk but edged with steel. “Tell us—what exactly do you do?”
“I work in business strategy,” Chloe replied without hesitation, her tone even. “Companies that are struggling call me in to fix what others can’t. I help them grow again.”
Eleanor tilted her head. “Ah, a problem-solver. How… useful.”
Clara leaned forward with a practiced smile. “That must be quite demanding. I imagine it doesn’t leave much room for relationships, does it?”
Chloe’s lips curved. “When something’s worth it, you make room.” Her gaze flicked deliberately to Damien, just long enough to spark whispers across the table.
Damien nearly groaned. She was playing with fire, and he was the one being burned.
Reginald chuckled lowly, clearly entertained. “Well, it seems you can handle yourself, Chloe. Not many women sit at this table and speak so boldly.”
“Thank you,” Chloe replied smoothly. “But I’m not here to impress. I’m here because Damien matters to me.”
That, at least, shut everyone up.
The rest of dinner was a tense dance of subtle remarks, probing questions, and Chloe’s calm parries. Clara grew quieter as she realized she was losing the unspoken contest. By dessert, even Eleanor looked faintly amused, while Isabella’s expression could have cut glass.
Damien’s patience, however, had run out.
As the conversation shifted slightly, Chloe knew they had passed the first hurdle - but she could still sense Eleanor’s quiet scrutiny. This dinner wasn’t over yet.
The tension at the dinner table was palpable but had eased slightly after Chloe’s composed response and Damien’s minimal but firm interjections. Isabella and Eleanor exchanged subtle glances, silently communicating their skepticism, but the probing questions simmered down for the time being.
“So, Chloe,” Isabella said after a pause, her voice more conversational now, though the subtle edge remained. “Do you stay in London?”
Chloe smiled, setting her glass of water down with a graceful touch. “No, I stay in Italy. I have some work commitments here, but I’m always open to staying longer if something – or someone – makes it worthwhile.”
Damien’s brow lifted slightly at her response, but he said nothing. His grandmother’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
As the last plates were cleared, Eleanor dabbed her lips with her napkin and turned her sharp gaze to Chloe.
“Since you’ll be around for a while, dear, Isabella and I were thinking of doing a shopping trip this week. Friday, perhaps. You’ll join us, won’t you?”
Clara’s smile sharpened ever so slightly. “That sounds lovely. I’d be happy to come along as well.”
Chloe’s smile didn’t falter, though she caught the underlying tone — a test, perhaps. “That sounds lovely. I’d enjoy that very much.”
Damien shifted slightly in his seat, his jaw tightening. “Actually, Chloe might be busy. Work has been keeping her on her toes lately.” His tone was casual, but his eyes flicked to Chloe, silently urging her to refuse.
“I can always make time for family,” Chloe interrupted smoothly, ignoring the warning flicker in his eyes. “Besides, it would be nice to get to know your family better.”
Eleanor’s lips curved. “Wonderful. It’s settled, then.”
Reginald chuckled. “A fine idea. I imagine it will be… enlightening.”
Damien muttered something under his breath, but his words were lost under the clink of wine glasses.
“Perfect,” Chloe replied, ignoring Damien’s growing scowl. Then she leaned in to him. “I’m sure it’ll be fun, right, darling?” she teased softly, just enough for him to hear.
He gave her a dry look, but she could see the faint twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth.
She was playing a dangerous game, and he knew it… but somehow, he couldn’t look away.
- Writer
