The Billionaire's Second Wife

Chapter 7

Ella stretched on her bed lazily. It was six thirty in the morning. She got up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower.

She wore a knee length summer dress and upswept her long hair into a high bun, before going to the kitchen. She spent the next ten minutes looking around for things that she would need to prepare breakfast.

Getting up early in the morning and preparing breakfast wasn't new to Ella. She had been doing it her whole life.

Justin hadn't come out his room yet and Ella had no idea what he usually preferred for breakfast. She grabbed few eggs, Sourdough bread and a large russet potato. She decided to make, loaded potatoes, scrambled eggs with bacon and toasts.

Justin woke up to the smell of fried bacons wafting from the kitchen into his room. The smell was so heavenly that he heard his stomach grumble as soon as the aroma hit his nostrils.

Before going out he thought of calling his mother, "H-Hello.." he heard her sleepy voice on the other side.

"Mom, how's Bobby?"

"Good morning to you too.. Bobby is fine and he is still sleeping. I will bring him there for lunch. Is that okay for you?"

"Alright.. See you soon mom. Bye." He hung up the call before she could ask anything regarding their previous night and made his way into the bathroom.

Ella was flipping the bacons onto the frying when she heard Justin's door being opened. As she turned around she met with a still sleepy looking Justin. He was wearing his sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. His hair was deliciously messy and she wondered how he could look so handsome even when he came straight out of his bed.

"Good morning.." She greeted him with a warm smile and all she got in return was a low 'Morning..' from him. He took a seat on the breakfast counter with the newspaper in his hands.

"I made breakfast.. Would you like to have some?" She asked in an attempt to initiate a conversation with him. Though he was hungry for the food that she had prepared, he was slightly irritated by her question. It seemed like she was unnecessarily being too sweet to him.

"Sure.." he answered without bothering to look at her.

Ella sighed and returned her attention to the bacons before she placed them on a plate along with the stir fried potatoes, toasts and eggs. She pulled out a carton of soy milk and poured it into a glass.

She placed it on the table and earned a feeble 'thanks' from him. She thought he wouldn't feel comfortable if she took a seat near him so left him to eat alone while she began to clean the kitchen counter.

The food that Ella had cooked looked simple yet tasted wonderful. Andrea rarely cooked and after her death, Justin limited his breakfast to just a cup of coffee before going to work.

If Ella could cook so well, he wouldn't mind having breakfast at home every morning, he thought.

He wanted to compliment her but decided against it. He thought it would seem like he was being too friendly with her and he didn't want that. He silently finished his food before grabbing the plate from the table to wash it.

"You can leave it. I will wash them." She suggested but something triggered within him and he snapped at her, "Look Ella, you don't have to try impressing me. I don't need your help with each and everything. I don't like others doing my job." He dropped the washed plate on the kitchen counter, making her flinch due to the loud clank that it produced. Justin dashed into his room and slammed the door which caused a bang sound.

Ella stood there thinking what she did to make him so angry, just in a matter of seconds. She didn't feel like eating after that. She went back to her room and decided to spend the morning by unpacking her clothes. The wardrobe was too big for the few clothes that she possessed. By the time she was done unpacking and arranging her things, she was hungry. She grabbed some food and brought it back to her room. She sat on the windowsill, from where she could see the whole city and it was amazing.

A few hours went by when she heard the bell ring. She remembered Sandra telling them that she would bring Bobby the next morning. By the time she opened her door, Justin had already let them in.

"Hey kiddo." He lifted Bobby effortlessly and kissed his cheek. "Did you sleep well last night?" He asked him to which Bobby nodded his head.

Ella was so mesmerised by the scene in front of her that she totally forgot to greet Sandra.

"Hey sweety.." Sandra greeted her first. "I have packed lunch for you guys."

"Thanks Sandra.." Ella helped her unpack the food and placed them on the table.

Sandra walked around the house since she wanted to confirm something. She went straight to the guest room from where she saw Ella coming out, when she first entered the house.

As suspected Justin and Ella hadn't slept in the same room.

"Did you spend the night here?" She directed the question at Ella. She wasn't a controlling mother-in-law as such, but she knew there was no point talking to her stubborn son. By pretending to be rude with Ella, she might put some sense into his brain, she thought.

"Ugh?" Ella panicked immediately. "Uhhmm.. I-I uhh.." She stammered with loss of words.

"Did you hear me or not? Did you sleep here?" Sandra asked again a little louder this time, seizing Justin's attention.

"Y-Yes.." Ella's eyes travelled to Justin as if she was asking for his help to deal with his mom and understanding her silent plea, he came forward.

"Yes mom, she slept in the guestroom." He said boldly unlike Ella who was trembling like a leaf.

"And why is that so?" She raised her brow at her son.

"Because I asked her to.." He shrugged.

"Justin.."

"Mom, I told you. I'm not ready for this yet." He whisper yelled at her.

Sandra turned back to her daughter-in-law, "Ella, I didn't expect this from you." She faked anger at her. It tugged at her heart when Ella silently lowered her head as if it was all her fault. Sandra knew she was very innocent and she couldn't bring herself to scold her but she had to do it, no matter what. "You have disrespected me by.."

"Mom, it's not her fault. I was the one who asked her to sleep in the guestroom." He let Bobby down and came to Ella's rescue. Justin glanced with an apologizing look at Ella who looked like a terrified cat.

He was aware of how rude his mother could be at times. He had seen her reprimanding Andrea before and most of the times he would stop himself from taking his wife's side since he believed it would only trigger his mom's anger more at Andrea. He thought his mom was like that towards Andrea because he had married her against his mom's will.

He expected his mother would be a little more friendly and lenient with Ella since it was she who chose Ella for him but he was wrong, he thought. He wondered if his mom liked to be a dominating mother-in-law.

He couldn't just stand there and watch her scold Ella, when she wasn't to be blamed at the first place. Moreover, he didn't want to make Ella feel so bad on her first day in this house.

"Mom, you don't have to be so rude to her. If you want to let out your anger on someone, I'm here. I didn't want to share my room with her and hence asked her to take the guestroom."

Sandra smirked mentally. Her trick was clearly working on her son and she was glad that he was supporting his new wife.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you are already taking her side!!" She feigned hurt before turning to Ella. "I want you to take back all your things to Justin's room. Remember this is the last warning that I would give you. The next time I see your things anywhere other than Justin's room, which will be yours too from this moment onwards, I will be making calls to your aunt. She will be the one responsible for your disobedience." She said with a hard stare at Ella who nodded nervously.

Ella didn't want her aunt to be pulled into this mess and she definitely didn't wish to trouble her.

"Come Bobby, let's eat.." Sandra carried her grandson, who looked like he was about to cry with all the raised voices around him.

Justin felt very sorry for Ella. She didn't deserve this.

"I'm sorry for that. She isn't like that usually." He said scratching the back of his head.

"It's alright.." She replied with her eyes fixed on the tiled floor.

"I will help you with bringing your things back to the room.." The way she nodded at him, it seemed like she wasn't still recovered from her panicked state.

From the dining table Sandra watched them both carry Ella's things back to Justin's room. It took them a few minutes before they joined her for lunch.

"I will be here till we find a suitable nanny for Bobby. Ella has to go back to college from tomorrow and we can't leave Bobby with the maids." Sandra said chewing her food.

'Oh-huh.. This was going to be difficult now', Justin thought. 'with mom here, there was no other way but to share the room with Ella.'

"Okay.." He mumbled and went back to eating.

As evening approached, he took Bobby to the park like he did every day.

"I'm sorry for being so rude, sweety." Sandra apologised to her daughter-in-law.

Ella smiled at her lightly. She was used to much harsher words. This was nothing when compared to that but she wasn't sure what to say in return. Her step-mom never apologized to her like Sandra, after scolding or hitting her.

"I have something for you.." Sandra took out a velvet box from her bag and opened it to reveal a delicate necklace with a matching set of earrings. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful but I can't have it Sandra.." She shook her head, still staring at the piece of jewelry which had a huge diamond, probably the size of a blueberry. She feared that she might damage it.

"This was my mother-in-law's. She gave it to me when I married Justin's father and now I want you to have this.." She got up from her seat and walked behind Ella to put it around her neck.

Ella didn't feel comfortable with accepting this gift but at the same time, she couldn't hurt Sandra by refusing it.

"It looks so good on you.." Sandra smiled at Ella as she came in front of her to have a look at it.

"Thanks.." She muttered with a half smile.

Ella wondered why she hadn't given to to Andrea when she was Justin's first wife or did she give it to her, as well? If she did, then did she get it back after her death?

'Oh God, if that was the case then Justin would be mad to see it around my neck.' she thought worriedly, but the fact was, Sandra didn't feel like giving it to Andrea for a very long time. She had a gut feeling that Andrea married her son only for his money but after Bobby's birth she finally decided to give it to her. Unfortuntely that never happened.

Justin and Bobby were back home in an hour before Justin gave him a warm bath. Sandra started preparing Bobby's favourite chocolate milkshake.

"Can I make it?" Ella volunteered as she entered into the kitchen.

"Sure.." Sandra helped Ella to make it the way Bobby liked it.

"It has to be warm but not very hot and don't add too much sugar."

"Okay.." She made a mental note of the tips that Sandra gave her. Even though she was a medical student, she wasn't very experienced with taking care of kids but now that, she was Bobby's mom, she had to start learning these things pretty soon.

"Now, give this to Bobby.." Sandra handed the strawed glass jar to Ella.

She nodded and grabbed it before she walked to the couch where Bobby was seated next to his dad, watching an animated series.

"Bobby, look what I have for you.." she crouched down in front of him. He flashed a toothy grin at her as he took the jar from her.

"Do you like it?" She asked as he took his first sip and responded with a nod.

Justin got up to give her some space with Bobby and decided to go into his study. He had some pending work that had to be done before the night.

When he came back to check on Bobby, he saw him comfortably sitting on Ella's lap and they both were so involved in watching Peppa pig. He was glad that Bobby was loosening up to her but it was too soon to come to conclusions.

'May be this was all a show to grab my attention.' He spoke to himself. 'It is impossible to love and take care of someone else's child like their own.'

When Bobby noticed his dad, he jumped down from her lap and ran near him. He began to pull him towards the couch, "Dada, sit." He ordered him before he climbed back on to Ella's lap once again.

Justin took a place on the other end of the huge couch and stayed there, blankly staring at the television until Ella got up to prepare dinner.

Sandra hadn't missed to see the perfect picture of a happy family and she was glad she met Ella.

Sandra let Ella feed Bobby this time and found out, she wasn't that bad when it came to taking care of kids, like she had mentioned earlier. Ella was naturally good at being a mother.

After dinner Justin tucked Bobby in his bed and read him a book. Within few minutes his son fell into a deep slumber.

Justin remained there, not wanting to actually go to his room to sleep. He thought sharing Bobby's small bed would be much more better than sharing the bed with Ella, but the annoying knock on the door was an indicator that he couldn't spend the night here anymore.

It has to be his mother, he thought with a grimace. As guessed it was Sandra at the door, "I will take care of him. You can go to your room, now." She pushed his large body aside to enter into her grandson's room.

Justin huffed before he left the room. As he entered his room, which is now their room, he saw Ella making the bed.

His distress was clearly visible to Ella, "Don't worry, I will take the couch." She said throwing a pillow on the couch which would perfectly fit Ella's small frame but would be too small for Justin.

"You can take the bed, if you want." He suggested.

"The couch is too small for you. I will be comfortable on it." She laid down and covered the sheet over her body.

Justin turned off the lights before climbing onto his bed and shutting his eyes.