The Billionaire's Countryside Bride

Chapter 1 Coming to London

　　Hayley POV
　　The air in London smelt of pine and the freshness of the earth after rainfall.
　　One week ago, I was a rich heiress and one of the leading fashion designers in the whole world but today I have to pretend to be some poor girl without any fame or riches to back her up.
　　“Miss, are you sure you’ve got the right address? You could be thrown in jail for trespassing around here,” The driver asked me again with worry.
　　The address had taken us to the famous and beautiful Anderson Mansion.
　　“Yeah, this is where I should be, thank you,” I gave him a polite smile and watched as he drove away.
　　This was the first time I would be going far from home and it was scary and thrilling at the same time. My grandfather, Samuel Rodriguez, had arranged for me to be engaged to Billionaire Dorian Anderson and after several weeks of arguments about how I didn’t want an arranged marriage, we struck a deal.
　　I would come down to London, meet my supposed-husband-to-be as a poor girl and see if we could fall in love with each other.
　　“Welcome home, Future Mrs Anderson,” I chuckled to myself, dragged my luggage to a smaller gate and spoke into the buzzer.
　　“Hello, is anyone there?”
　　Almost immediately, a voice responded “Good afternoon, ma’am. Do you have an appointment here today?”
　　“No,” I shook my head. “My name is Hayley … Hayley Rodriguez and I think Dorian is expecting me,”.
　　“Do you have an appointment with him?” the voice asked.
　　“Of course not. I’m his fiancée and the whole family should be expecting me,”.
　　“Just a moment, ma’am. I’ll check and get back to you.
　　A few minutes later, the smaller gate opened and a grey-haired woman with kind eyes stood on the other end waiting for me.
　　“I’m so sorry for the delay, Miss Rodriguez, we didn’t think you’d come unaccompanied so…” she trailed off.
　　“It’s fine,” I gave her a warm smile “I didn’t wait for that long,”.
　　Someone took my bag and the woman ushered me into some kind of open vehicle. The whole compound reeked of riches and elegance. Bushes and flower beds trimmed to perfection, and beautifully sculpted aesthetics in various parts… It was obvious that the Andersons were rich and they were not afraid to show it.
　　In a short while, the open vehicle stopped us in front of another magnificent architectural edifice. I spotted two women waiting in front of the house.
　　“We’re here,” the elderly woman said warmly and assisted me out of the vehicle.
　　One of the women waiting on the front porch suddenly spoke “Anna, did something happen, where is Miss Rodriguez?”
　　I saw her craning her neck above my head, so I stepped forward wearing a cool smile.
　　“Good afternoon ma’am, my name is Hayley Rodriguez,” I held out my hand “You must be Charlotte, Dorian’s mom,”.
　　Disbelief entered her eyes as she scanned me from head to toe.
　　“You’re Hayley Rodriguez?” she asked.
　　I nodded “Yes, you seem surprised,”
　　“That hideous dress you’re wearing is enough to give anyone a cardiac arrest,” The second woman chirped in. “Don’t they sell clothes where you come from?”
　　I was wearing a flower-patterned gown and some boots. I thought it was a great fit since I was travelling and the weather seemed hot. I paled in comparison to both women who were clad in designer’s attire and perfect makeup. They also smelt heavenly.
　　“I like to keep it simple,” I said calmly, as I turned to the girl “I didn’t catch your name at the introduction. Who are you?”
　　It has always been my response to rude clients, it makes them feel small.
　　“As if,” she scoffed, “My name is Jessica, I’m Dorian’s cousin,”.
　　“Oh,” I gave her a run down with my eyes “And not his sister. You seem to have a lot of opinions, Jessica for someone who’s just meeting me for the first time,”.
　　“Well, you can’t blame her,” Charlotte huffed. “You’re not quite what we expected. When Benjamin – Dorian’s grandfather told us, you come from a small beautiful village in the south… we were expecting more,”.
　　“Honestly, Aunt Charlotte, I thought she was the new maid,” Jessica rolled her eyes “Look how sallow her skin is and the gracious god, the way she smells,” Jessica wrinkled her nose. “I wonder if Dorian would be able to put up with this,”.
　　“That’s for Dorian to decide,” I fired back.
　　“And what do your parents do?” Dorian’s mother continued. Her face was still contorted in disgust.
　　“We own a farm where we grow some crops and train cattle, horses and pigs,”.
　　“And you work on this farm too?” Jessica asked.
　　“I assist my parents,”.
　　“That figures,” she murmured and opened the purse hanging on her shoulders.
　　I watched as she fished out a small plastic container and aimed the nuzzle towards me.
　　“Who knows the kind of disease you came with from the farm. I need to sanitize you before you spread it here,”.
　　As she moved closer to me and tried to use it on my skin, I knocked the sanitiser out of her hand.
　　Her eyes sparked with anger as she turned to me “How dare you?”
　　The corner of my lips lifted into a sneer, as I gazed at her “What do you think you’re doing, Jessica? What gives you the guts to think you can treat people like that?”
　　“Who do you think you are? You’re just a gold digger and a nobody. Girls like you want to marry Dorian because of his money,” she fumed.
　　“And is there any wrong with that?” I continued calmly enjoying the way her eyes widened in surprise “Because you have money, you think you can mistreat anyone and go Scott free. Not to talk of your cousin’s wife. What would Dorian think when he hears this,”.
　　“Dorian would treat you no less,” she was getting agitated “For a poor, wretched person, you have a lot of pride going on,”.
　　“Because poor people are humans, Jessica,” I said sweetly “And just a note of warning to you, don’t you try to pull this stunt with me, next time. I am going to be Dorian’s wife, regardless of my status. The earlier you treat me right, the better for all of us,”.
　　“How dare…”.
　　“That’s enough, Jessica” Charlotte – Dorian’s mom who had been quiet throughout our exchange stopped Jessica, mid-sentence “You make quite a good impression, Miss Rodriguez,” she said coldly.
　　“I try,” I replied with a shrug.
　　“I apologize for Jessica’s behaviour. Anna will show you to your room,”.
　　“No,” Jessica shouted. When she noticed that she did, she lowered her voice and smiled brightly at me. “I apologize for my rudeness earlier. Let me make it up to you by taking you to your room,”.
　　“Let Anna do it,” Charlotte said resolutely.
　　“C’mon, Aunt, let me make it up to Hayley,” she whined.
　　“Fine,” Charlotte sighed “But hurry up, we don’t want to be late for our appointment,”.
　　“Sure thing,” Jessica clapped her hand in glee and beckoned on me to follow her.
　　We entered the house and navigated to the first floor. When we got to the room at the farthest, we stopped.
　　“This is your room,” Jessica said warmly as she opened the door.
　　I searched her face, trying to see if she was setting me up for disaster but her eyes looked sincere. Without saying a word, I brushed past her and entered.
　　“Thank you,” I murmured behind my shoulders as I gazed around the room.
　　“It’s my pleasure. If you have any problems or you need help with anything, don’t hesitate to ask, Anna,” Jessica continued sweetly rousing my suspicions “See you around later,” she added before leaving the room.
　　As soon as I was alone, I collapsed on the bed with a sigh. Every part of my body was screaming tiredness.
　　“I’ll just rest a little and shower later on,” I promised myself as I drifted into sleep.
　　I don’t know how long I slept for but long enough for me to feel a large hand cup my breast.