Chapter 16

THE DUPONTS HAD two dining rooms. The smaller one had a six-seater, and was reserved for daily meals. The other one was overdone with floor length mirrors, Swarovski chandeliers and a twenty-seater. We were having dinner in the grander room today.

"My parents are really excited to meet you," Elias told me.

We were standing outside the dining hall. I was oddly at ease, something Elias found a bit strange but didn't deign to comment upon. We were late by ten minutes (not on purpose), I really couldn't decide on what to wear. Before we entered the dining hall, Elias's hands snaked around my waist, pulling me against him and squashing my boobs against his side.

Then we burst into the dining hall.

"OH MY GOD," I brought two hands to my mouth. "You're so rich, oh my God..."

I jumped apart from Elias, taking in the room. I didn't need much acting on my part - it really was a splendid room. Glistening white marble was flanked by Grecian-style columns, the ceiling was hung with dangling crystal chandeliers; light and color glowed throughout the dining hall, reflecting in mirrors, dancing on the Persian and Turkish carpets that lined the floor. There was a vase at the centre of the dining table, festooned with fresh flowers. Then my eyes landed on Mr. and Mrs. DuPont.

"Hey," I greeted his parents excitedly. My eyes roamed the room for a final time, eventually landing back on my fake fiancé. I grabbed onto his arms, chewing on my bottom lip, as though to contain excitement.

He visibly flinched. He was the image of discomfiture.

I then bounded over to the dining table. Someone pulled a chair out for me, I gladly took the seat beside Elias, across his parents. I made sure to drag the chair noisily for five minutes against the marble floor, making everyone in the room squirm.

When I was done, I took in the range of cutleries before me. My mother was always a stickler for being prim and proper. If there was one thing I knew like the back of my hand, it was dining table etiquette. But I wasn't here to be myself. Today, I was here to get Elias disowned.

I dressed to kill... the expectations of two adults. I was in an explicitly low-cut top which had the words 'NAUGHTY NAUGHTY' inscribed at the front. I paired the amazing shirt (chosen by Elias) with a leather skirt that was so short it barely covered my ass. I wore fishnet too, with flats because neither of us had the foresight to buy prostitute heels back at the mall. But it didn't matter because the amount of cleavage I had on display was enough to make both Mr. and Mrs. DuPont want to call a pastor.

And I hadn't even started talking.

I took out my phone and started taking pictures of everything, with flash.

"Oh my God, um... can I get a picture with you? Apparently you own some really big company or something," I smiled widely at Mr. DuPont.

He smiled a strained smile, gesturing for one of the servants to fill his wine glass.

"After dinner, perhaps," he replied finally.

After taking pictures of the range of cutleries and pretending to film a vlog for my fake YouTube channel, I finally put my phone away. Both his parents, they were staring at me with strained facial expressions. Every so often, they would turn to Elias with silent expressions that conveyed 'why the fuck did you bring this barbarian home?' And I hadn't even... began talking.

"Andrea, right?" Mrs. DuPont asked.

Staring at both his parents, I came to understand where Elias inherited his looks. His parents were the very image of beauty, refinery and elegance. They were both in their forties, and both dressed formally for tonight's dinner. Everyone was, in fact.

I began shaking my legs wildly.

"Yep. What are your names?"

"You can call me Valérie," Mrs. DuPont smiled a very forced smile.

"Maxime," Mr. DuPont echoed after his wife.

I ignored them. "So... where's the food? I'm starving."

Elias's father, a regal man who was in a suit, nodded at presumably a servant behind me.

Soon, the first course was served, a warm and rich mushroom soup that consisted of a clear broth poured over a mound of mushroom pate. I licked my lips as I took my phone out to take pictures of my food. I saw Elias's mother's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

When I was done, I grabbed the dinner spoon (instead of the soup spoon). I was about to dig in when Elias spoke up for the first time.

"I will say grace," Elias said.

His father nodded approvingly.

I watched as the three of them shut their eyes and intertwined their hands. When Elias started praying, I began drinking the soup. I made sure to slurp as loudly as possible. Maxime DuPont frowned at this, but didn't say anything.

By the time they were done with grace, I had almost emptied my bowl of soup.

"This is so fucking good," I moaned exaggeratedly, like how female porn stars do it. Then I placed the spoon down and lifted the bowl to drink from the sides.

This elicited flinches from some of the servants.

But no one commented.

"So, Andrea," Maxime DuPont finally addressed me. "Where are you from?"

A napkin was folded in this elaborate origami crane. I lifted the crane to wipe my lips, (without undoing the crane). I took another picture of the crane just to annoy the occupants at the table.

Finally, I looked up. "Oh my God, sorry, did you ask something?"

Maxime's jaws were clenched. "Yes, I asked where you came from."

I shrugged. "I'm from 'Rich man' Park. Sorry I meant Richmond. There's just, sooo many rich people there, you know?"

Maxime's gaze was steely and intense. "How did you afford to study there? Are you on scholarship?"

Here is where I can redeem myself by sounding smart. But I threw the opportunity out of the window.

I snorted like a pig. "Scholarship? Those are for like, nerds or something. I got my sugar daddy to pay my fees. He's so rich, oh em gee."

Valérie took this in with a slow nod. "A sugar daddy... I hope it isn't what I think it is."

Maxime interrupted his doubtful wife. "So, Andrea, I take it you are not a Christian?"

I leaned back as the servants silently took our soup bowls away, replacing the space before us with what appeared to be caviar and oyster sabayon.

"What the hell is this," I poked at the dish with a salad fork.

"My father asked if you were a Christian," Elias finally informed me after a very extended period of silence.

I perked up. "Oh, God doesn't exist."

"You're secular then?" Maxime asked, his expression unreadable. "I notice you have been taking the Lord's name in vain, since the start of dinner."

"Yeah. You know why? Because mankind obviously invented religion to give meaning to their life. They're scared to think that their lives have no meaning, it's such a scary, scary thought, you know? They want to know that all the good deeds they're doing will get rewarded - "

Maxime interrupted me. "Okay. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?"

But I wasn't done. Elias's hands gave a reassuring pat on my fishnet clad thighs, to urge me on, and to communicate that I was doing an exemplary job.

" - you know why rich people like you seek religion? It's because you know you've done bad things to reach where you are. You want forgiveness, so you probably set aside a small sum of fortune for charity. It's both a publicity stunt and something you trade to bargain with your conscience."

Maxime twisted his head to look at his wife. They were having a silent conversation I could not understand.

"If you notice, there is no religion that prepares us for death. It's either an afterlife or reincarnation. You know why humans need religion though? It's to ensure order and to instil moral values. Society was chaotic without religion, refer to the Jahiliyyah and the middle ages following the decline of the Roman Empire."

"Okay, that's enough," Valérie finally stopped me with a smile. "Tell us, what do you do in your free time?"

I turned to wink at Elias.

"I like to... experiment."

Maxime raised an eyebrow. "Experiment? Like, science experiments?"

I winked again at Elias. "No. I like to experiment with substances and... in bed. If you know what I mean."

Both of his parents flinched. Ha, they thought they were asking a safe question.

Very soon, our plates were replaced again, with white truffles generously grated over slippery tagliatelle noodles this time. I grabbed the fruit fork (the two pronged thing) and dug in.

"How did you meet our son?"

"Chemistry class," I shrugged, before instinctively leaning over to press a kiss on his cheek. "We had so much Chemistry from the start. I'm really excited to be your daughter-in-law, by the way."

Valérie once again, turned to face her husband. They were having another silent conversation.

I grabbed the champagne flute and shouted, "Oi, could I get some of your expensive wine?"

A servant hurried to my side, whispering to me that I was holding a champagne flute. He filled the correct wine glass for me, before leaving my side.

"Don't tell me what to do," I laughed harshly in the servant's wake.

The entire table flinched.

"Any plans for your future?" Valérie was the one who asked this.

I slurped the wine noisily.

"Yeah, after I marry Elias... I'm going to be like, so rich. I guess I'll be travelling, shopping and just having fun. This is why I've kind of been neglecting my studies lately. We discussed this. Right, daddy?" I turned to flutter my eyelashes at Elias.

He smiled down, affectionately at me. "That's right, baby girl."

I giggled insanely. "I love it when you call me baby girl."

Valérie cleared her throat. "I see."

Maxime seemed to be getting impatient. "What do your parents do?"

"To be honest, I ran away from home when I was fourteen. I have no idea what they're doing these days. My dad's probably in jail or something, he was always jacking shit. My mom was his baby mama, right now she’s probably sleeping with men or something. I’m half black you know?"

"Oh, my," Valérie said sympathetically. "You must have had a very rough childhood."

I shrugged. "You can say that."

"Pas étonnant," Maxime said to his wife.

The couple, for the umpteenth time seemed to be having a silent conversation.

At which point, I started adjusting my boobs. It wasn't something that went unnoticed by the members in the dining hall. The male ones, notably. My fake fiancé, notably. If there was one good thing I inherited from my Dominican mother, it was my above average chest.

For the rest of dinner, focus was placed on Elias, conversation comprised his studies (it was going well) and how well his friends were doing. Finally, dessert was served. It was champagne and raspberry possets. I dug in with my soup spoon.

When dinner was over, Maxime requested for Elias to stay behind to 'talk', and me to be brought to the third guest room, under the guidance of one of the servants.

Before I left, I caught Elias's eyes. His expression was unreadable - I couldn't help but wonder if I had, perhaps, overdone it.