Chapter 3 The Icy Cold Brother In Law

• "What do you think about her?"
• Elyseen had just come out of the bathroom when Lillah suddenly gave him a confused question.
• "Who?"
• "My sister."
• "She seems like a nice woman."
• An annoyed snort escaped Lillah's lips. "Come on El, she is indeed a good woman. Can you be a little friendly to her? I saw that she was very nervous when she faced you.”
• "I've been trying to do that."
• Elyseen looked indifferent. He was busy drying his hair with a towel, then walked back to the bathroom to hang the towel.
• "Why don't you wait at the dining table?"
• "They're still playing. Levi loves playing with his aunt."
• “Yeah, he finally has an aunt who hasn't shown up for years. She didn't even come to our wedding," Elyseen snorted.
• He was still annoyed with his sister-in-law's indifferent attitude towards Lillah, while Lillah always praised Brynlee's achievements in front of him.
• “El, I think we've discussed this before. Brynlee was busy with her studies at the time.”
• “Has college made her forget her family? You even told me that Brynlee didn't stay at home any longer after your parents died."
• “Father and mother suddenly died in a bright and cheerful summer. I guess Brynlee decided to leave because she couldn't stand her own grief. Please don't judge her like that."
• "I still don't agree with her attitude. Don't force me to like your sister so soon. I need to see how she behaves in order to give the next assessment.”
• "Tsk, you always judge others like you're judging your employees in the office," Lillah snorted.
• But she approached her husband and wrapped her arms around Elyseen's sturdy neck.
• "I love you, Elyseen," Lillah whispered softly in her husband's ear while leaning her head on Elyseen's shoulder.
• “The thing I've always been grateful for so far is knowing you and having you in my life. Thank you for making me the luckiest woman in the world.”
• Elyseen was silent when Lillah deliberately teased him by playing with the buttons on his polo shirt. Lately, Lillah had been too sensitive about her feelings. His wife often expressed her love in front of him while playing with his shirt’s buttons or teasing him by touching sensitive parts of his body.
• "When are we going to eat?" asked Elyseen as she let go of Lillah's arms.
• Ignoring the disappointed expression on Lillah's face, Elyseen walked out of her room without saying anything to Lillah.
• The door closed with a bang. Lillah was still standing where Elyseen had left her. He looked sad and disappointed. It wasn't the first. There were dozens of rejections this month that Lillah couldn't understand. Maybe she had made a mistake that caused Elyseen to be like that.
• Lillah was sad to see Elyseen's coldness towards her. She had indeed made mistakes in the past, but she felt she deserved an apology from Elyseen because she did it on purpose. But since that incident, Elyseen's attitude towards her slowly turned colder. Elyseen had already said that he was okay with it, but her little heart kept denying that Elyseen hadn't really forgiven her.
• -00-
• Brynlee couldn't stop laughing at Levi's adorable actions. The little man demonstrated a chick eating. He pouted his mouth and he moved like a chick pecking at food on the ground.
• "When did you see James' chicken?"
• "One week ago. James got a pair of chickens from his grandfather who owned the farm.”
• “Wow, that's great. Too bad, I don't have a farm."
• Brynlee stroked the top of Levi's head gently, then sat the little man on her lap.
• "But, I have a restaurant with lots of plants. Maybe you'll like it if you go there."
• "Restaurant? Does there have pastry?” Levi asked innocently.
• Levi was very adorable. Brynlee really wanted to kiss his chubby cheeks.
• "Um-hum. There are a lot of cakes. I can make some delicious cakes for you.”
• "Is that true? Wow... I love chocolate cake. Mom sometimes bakes chocolate cake when she's not tired. I want to go to your restaurant.”
• "Sure. I'll teach you how to make cakes later."
• “Levi...”
• The deep voice startled Brynlee. She had not anticipated the presence of Elyseen, who for some time had been standing in the doorway staring at her with a piercing gaze.
• "It's time for dinner. Come on, Levi, don't starve your aunt."
• "Dad..." Levi sulked with a frown. "I still want to play with Aunt Bryn."
• "Didn't you see your aunt's pale face? She's starving."
• Levi reflexively turned towards Brynlee, trying to see whether Brynlee's face was as pale as his father said or not.
• "Are you hungry?"
• Brynlee just grimaced. To be honest, she still wanted to play with Levi, and she wasn't that hungry. She had eaten a muffin she made with Tiffany before going to Lillah's house. But, Elyseen seemed to want her to end her time with Levi and go to the dinner table.
• "Do you remember what daddy said?"
• “Hmm… I have to be a good boy and not trouble other people.”
• "Now be a good boy for your aunt."
• Elyseen crouched in front of Levi then looked into Brynlee's eyes for a few seconds. She had brown eyes like delicious liquid chocolate with a hint of nervousness framing the firmness of her gaze. Her lips were not too thick but soft, natural pink that looked as delicious as berries. Brynlee had a very different facial structure from Lillah. He stood up after sending Brynlee an intimidating glare. Elyseen then took Levi's hand down to the dining room.
• "Sorry if Levi troubled you a bit."
• "Absolutely not. Levi is a sweet boy."
• Brynlee followed Elyseen in silence. Her mouth had been locked tightly since earlier, but her heart was busy cursing Elyseen for his very annoying coldness. If Elyseen wasn't her brother-in-law, she would definitely scold him for his behavior.
• "Dinner is ready. Please, have a seat."
• Lillah greeted them with a cheerfulness that was in stark contrast to the stiffness on both Elyseen's and Brynlee's faces. Elyseen took the chair at the end of the table as head of the family. Meanwhile, Brynlee chose to sit next to Levi, who was sitting just to the left of his father's chair. Then Lillah took her own place on the empty chair, on the right side of Elyseen.
• “You prepared all these dishes perfectly.”
• Lillah clapped proudly at her cooking. She was very touched to hear Brynlee's sincere compliment, even though she knew that her cooking skills were not at all comparable to Brynlee's.
• “I wanted to make steak at first, but I know you're very good at it, and I'd only embarrass myself if I dared serve it at the dinner table. So, I made a king salmon fillet, lobster gnocchi because that's Levi's favorite, and a shrimp salad. Everything is seafood,” Lillah chuckled, looking at the dishes she prepared on the table. She had no idea that all her dishes would be seafood themed.
• "It looks good. I want to try the lobster gnocchi.”
• It was Brynlee's first experience tasting Lillah's cooking. She knew that Lillah was not good at cooking. Lillah rarely went into the kitchen to help their mother. Lillah preferred fashion things. Lillah used to major in designing, but for some reason she didn't continue her passion.
• “You have worked hard so far. You cooked the salmon properly. The lobster gnocchi is also delicious.”
• “Really? Oh, thank goodness. I did work really hard after marrying Elyseen. He's not an easy guy when it comes to food. I had to take courses for six months to be able to cook properly.”
• “The salmon tastes a little bland. You need to add a little more salt.”
• Brynlee and Lillah stared at each other as they heard Elyseen's sharp criticism.
• "I was afraid that the salmon would be too salty if I sprinkled too much salt on it. Forgive me."
• "If you're afraid it's going to be too salty, you can get creative with the sauce."
• “Ah, let me try the king salmon fillet. From the outside, it looks beautiful. The doneness of the fish is perfect.”
• Brynlee pretended not to see Elyseen's piercing gaze that was directed straight at her. He was annoyed to see her defending Lillah and tried to save her confidence.
• “Try it, Bryn. I'm sure you can judge more accurately since you're very good at this."
• Brynlee stabbed the salmon meat on her plate and put it in her mouth with a bright, cheerful face. She had to save her sister's self-confidence, which had just been destroyed by her own husband. And after he ate the salmon fillet, he thought what Elyseen said was right. The taste of the salmon was a little bland, while the sauce wasn't enough to remove the bland taste of the salmon. But, it didn't taste as bad as Elyseen said. The grilled salmon was still delicious even though it was a little bland.
• "Nice. It's a little less salt, but I don't think that's a big deal. Some people may find this salmon taste just right because they don't like salty food or for those who are on a salt diet.”
• "You're right, I don't like salty food. I prefer sweet dishes with strong spices.”
• "Next time I will teach you how to make delicious grilled rib eye steak with spices and sweet and sour sauce."
• “I can't wait for it. When will your restaurant open?” she asked as he put a spoonful of lobster in her mouth.
• "According to the plan, it must be next week. I still have to buy some tableware. Do you want to come buy them with me?”
• Lillah's eyes sparkled with joy.
• "Of course. It would be so fun choosing plates and bowls with you. I used to buy everything myself without El. He was too busy,” Lillah snorted at her husband.
• But, Elyseen didn't seem to care about his wife's snort. Brynlee silently cursed Elyseen's indifference.
• “What does Elyseen do?”
• The question surprised Elyseen. He didn't expect to get a sudden question from Brynlee, who didn't seem to have any interest in him.
• "Design interior. Most of these houses are his handiwork. I just gave trivial ideas,” Lillah answered enthusiastically on behalf of Elyseen.
• “Wow, then I can ask for your help with my restaurant design.”
• “I mostly do designs for homes and offices. Restaurants are not my area of ​​expertise.”
• “Ah… he's just being modest. You can do anything, honey. Not only office and home,” Lillah elbowed Elyseen's arm enthusiastically,
• The stiffness that Elyseen showed did not escape Brynlee's eyes at all. She was surprised by the imbalance in her sister's household. Something was happening to them and Lillah was trying to cover it up.
• “I think Brynlee already has her own architect. There's no way her restaurant will open next week if she doesn't have someone working on the interior design.”
• Elyseen threw her a sharp gaze. Brynlee didn't expect that Elyseen would take her joke seriously.
• “That… I did design my restaurant a few months ago.”
• “What concept did you use for your restaurant?” Sipping her red wine, Elyseen asked Brynlee who had just folded her arms on the table.
• “I designed it with a garden theme. Almost every corner of my restaurant contains plants that are fresh and green. I invite you to come to the opening of my restaurant. I will show you some amazing things in my restaurant. I built a glass roof lounge. That's a first in Atlanta."
• "We would love to come to your restaurant opening," Lillah exclaimed happily.
• "Great."
• Brynlee kissed Charlie's chubby cheek and ruffled his hair.
• “By the way, thanks for the wonderful dinner, Lillah. I love being here and getting to know your family.”
• "You're welcome. Honestly, I was very touched when I found out you moved here to be closer to me and my family. It's like... well... a blessing to me. How I always wanted to live near my family. But you know that our family—”
• Lillah couldn't continue her words because of the tears welling up in her eyes. She became very emotional when talking about her family. She had no one but Brynlee.
• "Sorry for not being by your side when you needed me," Brynlee held Lillah's hand. Her expression showed deep sadness and apology.
• "There have been many bad things that happened to our family over the past few years. But we don't need to remember those bad things anymore. What we need to do now is look to the future and be happy.”
• "I totally agree with you," Lillah answered hoarsely. She wiped her tears roughly, embarrassed for crying in front of her son and husband.
• Meanwhile, Brynlee tried to hold back her own emotions, which felt very tight in her chest. She also wanted to cry with Lillah, but she felt uncomfortable with the presence of Elyseen among them, who had been watching her interactions with Lillah with a cold gaze. Brynee saw a hint of worry on his face, but Elyseen didn't try to take the initiative to calm Lillah's cries or comfort her.