Meeting Christiano

When Adeline realized what the pastor had said, she could already hear snickers among the guests. Some even started to gossip. As the voices grew louder, Adeline took a deep breath and plastered on a sweet smile. She then took the ring from the bridesmaid and wore it on her ring finger. ...... Adeline sat in a luxurious car and stared at the view outside. Slowly, the car drove to a villa and stopped. The villa had a vermilion gate with two bronze rounded copper lion heads as decorations. The bright lights above the gate shone on the lion statues, and it glistered in faint gold light. The decorations and details on merely the gate displayed its owner's notable reputation. Adeline thought her home was luxurious enough, but it was incomparable to the Lockwood family's villa. The gate of the villa slowly opened, and the car came to a halt. George stepped forward to open and hold the door for Adeline. He greeted, "Madam Adeline, welcome home. Please come with me." Adeline gave George a polite smile, then followed him into the house. "Madam Adeline, this is your room," George told Adeline as he opened a door. "George, where are Grandma and Mom and Dad's room?" Adeline turned to ask him. "Madam Vallerie enjoys quiet, so she lives in the cabin behind the villa. Mr. Nicholas and Madam Martha live on the east wing of the villa. As for Mr. Sandrino, he lives on the west wing of the villa," George listed them out one by one. "Madam Adeline, you should have a bath and take some rest. Madam Martha would like to bring you over to meet Mr. Christiano later." Adeline nodded slightly and answered with a smile, "Okay, George." Then, she turned and walked into the room. George watched Adeline as she entered her room. His face heavy with thoughts as he muttered, "I really hope Mr. Christiano would recover soon..." Meanwhile, Adeline had entered her room. Looking at the furnishings in the room, she sighed and then went into the bathroom. "George, could you go check if Madam Adeline has freshened up?" Sitting on the sofa, Martha asked George. Just as Adeline was about to go downstairs, she heard Martha's voice. She picked up her pace but still walked with soft steps. "Mom, are you looking for me?" Adeline asked and walked towards Martha with a faint smile. "Take a seat." "Thank you, Mom." Martha looked in Adeline's direction and sized her up. At last, she unhurriedly said, "Adeline, now that you're part of the family, you should know about some of the rules here. George will let you know about them later." "Yes, Mom," Adeline dutifully answered. Adeline saw how Martha was looking at her without any expression from her seat. She had an inkling that Martha didn't like her. After a moment, Martha stood up and said, " Come on, let's go. I'll take you to meet Christiano." Adeline got up and followed Martha to a corridor at a corner. Martha stopped when she reached a doorway. Taking a key, she opened the door. At that moment, Adeline was playing different scenarios of how it would be like to meet Christiano for the first time. Adeline was still thinking about it when she heard Martha speak coldly, "Adeline, what's wrong with you?" It was only then that Adeline realized that she was still standing at the doorway while Martha had already walked towards a door to another room. "Sorry, nothing," Adeline replied and quickly caught up with Martha. Martha glanced sideways at Adeline disapprovingly. She was even sure that Adeline had married Christiano just for their money, and she disfavored Adeline even more. "Come in. Put on this sterile suit, and take off all your jewelry. Don't leave anything on your body," Martha ordered, and her face was unreadable.