The Faceless Billionaire Celebrity Wife-Chapter 194: Separate Contract.

Music Rec: Faded By Alan Walker.

Shikera had her hair tied up in a ponytail as she, together with Hazel, assisted Raine in setting the table. The maids had been dismissed earlier since Ethan would soon be back, so the three were the only one at home.

"Get the door, Hazel," Raine said, when a knock resounded from the front door. Shikera expected it to be Ethan at the door, so she immediately followed after Hazel. While Hazel went to the door, Shikera stayed behind at the center of the living room not to look too excited at seeing him.

But when the door opened and she saw the people who stepped in, her face fell and she turned immediately.

"You are not jealous, Kera. You are just surprised," she muttered under her breath.

Having regained her composure, she turned back to see her father and...his daughter staring back at her with shock evident in their eyes. It was obvious that they did not expect her to be here either, just as she did not expect them. Bowing formally to greet Liam, her eyes strayed down to their linked arms and she smiled.

’At least he won’t miss me much. She’s just as sweet and clingy as I am,’ she thought.

"Welcome! I didn’t know you guys were invited too," Shikera waved at Elizabeth, before turning immediately to return to the kitchen.

"Kera," Liam called, and Shikera stopped to face him.

"Yes?"

"You were so cold just now so I wondered if I annoyed you or something. It’s alright though, you can go."

Shikera beamed at him, not replying to his words before she left again. Her steps quickened to the kitchen where Raine was waiting.

"Hi! Why do you look so flustered?"

Shikera shook her head. "It’s nothing; I was just surprised. Uhm... daddy is here with Elizabeth," she informed as casually as she could.

"Oh. They are probably here to see Chris. I guess our dinner today won’t be just family then," Raine smiled wryly.

Just family...

Shikera laughed Raine’s words off.

"Were you planning to deprive me of dinner and let only the DeLoach’s enjoy?" she joked. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Raine shrugged,"Aren’t you part of us already?"

Shikera’s hands paused under the tap where she was washing them, and she turned to look at Raine. She had forgotten that the woman was clueless about her and Ethan’s marriage being a contract marriage.

"With that said, do you know how happy I am that you and Ethan’s marriage was based on love and not just business? You can imagine how complicated things would have been by now," Raine continued.

"Yeah...," Shikera could only agree, not wanting to lie or deceive the older woman further.

"Even though you guys were behaving strangely at first. I can proudly beat my chest now, that you two are proudly in love with each other," Raine added. She walked towards Shikera who was still standing still at the sink and letting water run over her hands, and patted her back. "You might not be Liam’s real daughter, Shikera. But you are my real daughter-in-law, not a fake one."

Raine put off the tap and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Shikera behind.

Few minutes later, Elizabeth was sitting beside Raine and conversing with her and Liam, while Shikera was pacing the living room with her face scrunched up in worry.

She glanced at her watch every now and then, eager for Ethan’s arrival so all this could end. No matter how mature she thought she was, she could not bear staying in the same room with Elizabeth and watching her replacing her in all aspects.

The sound of car tires screeching against the asphalt driveway sent her running to the window and when she recognized the familiar cars, it was all she could do not to run outside to join them.

She left the window to take her seat on the couch nearest to the door, even though her back would be facing the door, and waited patiently until the door opened.

"Grandma!"

Esther’s voice and familiar footsteps were the first thing she heard and within a second, the girl rushed past her to run into Raine’s arms. The two hugged for a minute and separated, with Esther turning to Elizabeth immediately.

"Mummy, I have some interesting news for you! But I won’t tell you now so everyone won’t hear..."

Shikera tuned Esther’s soft voice out of her head as she felt her heart fall. Tears welled up in her eyes and when she thought they would drop the very next minute, her head was pulled up and let lips met with Ethan’s.

It was a simple kiss, with their lips just touching each other’s briefly, but it comforted Shikera beyond measure. The living room fell quiet and Esther finally realized she must have made a mistake.

"Why are there two mummies?" she asked, looking up at her father for clarification.

"What two mummies? You should be disciplined for not recognizing your mum, Esther, but that’s for her to do. We should have dinner now," Raine pronounced. She stood up to her feet and walked to the dining table, while the others followed after her.

"I should wait for Chris in his study and leave you alone," Liam excused himself and walked away.

And that was when everyone felt something was strange. Elizabeth was still sitting, rooted to one place as she stared in Ethan’s direction.

His mask was off.

"Ethan! Your face is..." Raine trailed off when he shot her a cold glare.

"What do you expect? To eat with my mask on? You should have thought of that when you allowed guests into the house when you knew I would be here."

Raine zipped her mouth shut immediately. Years might have passed, but she would never forget the intimidating aura Ethan was exuding when he arrived in this house ten years ago. It was with that same annoyed and determined gaze that he was staring at her now.

Shikera could see that Raine was speechless, and even though she was equally intimidated by Ethan’s aura, she braved herself and tugged at his arm.

"It’s my birthday dinner, Ethan. Let’s enjoy ourselves for tonight," she whispered, pulling him along with her to the table.

Shikera found herself sitting in between Raine and Ethan, while Elizabeth sat on Ethan’s other side with the excuse that she love eating the dishes placed on his own side of the table.

They started eating without much ado, and it didn’t take long before Shikera found out she could not digest her food. She was angry, discontented, feeling cheated, and too hungry to be eating at a table with so much awkwardness.

"Excuse me, I’ll visit the restroom real quick," she excused herself, about to head to the visitor’s toilet.

"You do know the way to your room, right?" Ethan’s steely voice stopped her, causing her to retrace her steps back to the room she used when they came for Enoch’s birthday.

She walked slowly through the silent hallway, stopping in front of a family portrait on the wall.

Chris and Raine were smiling brightly, Enoch and Mignon smiling cheekily, while Ethan had his facemask on. She could not tell if he was smiling or frowning beneath the facemask, but the determined gaze in his eyes made her laugh. Why was he so serious over a single photo?

"... friends, Chris. But business is still business!"

Liam’s voice drifted into her ears, causing Shikera to turn in the direction which she had heard it from. She looked straight at the end of the hallway and saw Chris’ study, where he had talked to her two months ago about her not being compatible with Ethan. It turned out he was right after all.

She turned to continue on her way to the restroom, but stopped when she heard her name.

"Shikera is more mature than you actually think, and such a trivial thing as this won’t hurt her! She knows she should not be entitled to things that are not hers..." It was Chris who was talking.

As quietly as she could, Shikera traced her steps back to stand in front of the study door. She didn’t need to press her ears against the door to hear them as the men inside seemed to be caught up in a heated argument. Their voices were raised already.

"Chris, I don’t understand why this is happening. I promised to hand over fifty percent of my shares to Ethan if he agrees to this marriage and takes care of Shikera, under the condition that he does not touch her..."

Chris interrupted Liam, continuing from where he stopped,"I know that, Liam. We signed a separate contract for that, and there is a condition that the whole of my shares in DL Corporation will be handed over to you if Ethan touches her. I am also aware that you gave that condition because you were scared that she would get pregnant and then her life span would be shortened!"

Outside the door, Shikera’s eyes grew wide from what she was hearing.