The Faceless Billionaire Celebrity Wife

Shikera stood aimlessly in the kitchen, as she stared at all the ingredients and utensils and wondered what she would use them for. She was currently suffering the consequences of her overconfidence yesterday. Overconfidence was even a glorified name she preferred to call her bragging yesterday night. She had promised to make Esther’s snacks herself and now, she just remembered that she could not even cook anything.

She checked the time on her phone and noticed it was five minutes past 6, 55 minutes before Esther was expected to wake up. She had been standing here for an entire hour, after she had woken up with a start from a nightmare where Hazel was taunting her for making Esther go hungry. She had rushed down to the kitchen and since then, she had been examining the ingredients and utensils alone.

’You can do it, Kera! You just have to pay rapt attention to the video and follow the instructions,’ she encouraged herself inwardly, searching for a video tutorial of how to make mince pies and cookies.

Following the recipe used by the tutor in the video, she took out the flour, sugar, butter, eggs and everything else she would need. 20 minutes, the countertop was already a mess and if not for the apron Shikera was wearing, her whole body would be coloured completely white by the flour. Shikera was completely oblivious to how she or the kitchen looked, as she was completely engrossed in what she was doing and trying to make sure the cookie came out perfect in a way that Esther would not notice the difference between this one and the one she usually ate.

Since the whole villa was silent, she heard immediately the door opened and the light footsteps of the person that entered.

"Fuck!" She let out a string of curses when she looked around and noticed what she had turned the kitchen to.

Wanting to stop whoever was coming from seeing the mess in the kitchen, she rushed out to intercept...it was Hazel.

"Good morning, Miss Anderson. Did you sleep well?"

Shikera was surprised by how her voice sounded unusually bright, and she wondered what the lady was planning again in her mind.

"Good morning, Hazel. Do you need something?" she asked, in her own perfectly cheerful voice.

Hazel frowned at the question. It was normal routine for her to come and get Esther ready for school everyday, so why was Shikera asking her this?

"I wanted to come get Esther ready for school."

"Oh that? I thought I told you yesterday not to bother about her. I will get her ready so don’t worry, I will make sure to call you when I need you," Shikera said through gritted teeth, realizing that she was stupidly adding more work to the one she had already. At least for now, she could not let Hazel see that kitchen.

Immediately Hazel left, she rushed back to the kitchen and continued with her work. As she could not taste any of it while cooking, she could not determine if it was edible or not so she simply finished it up and packed it in Esther’s snacks pack.

She cleaned the kitchen sloppily, just enough for someone passing by not to notice that it had been a mess this morning, before running up the stairs to Esther’s room.

The girl was awake already, as she always woke up at exactly 7, and was already wondering why Miss Hazel had not come yet. When she saw Shikera, she didn’t bother to hide her excitement and complied with all what she asked her to do.

While Esther wore her stockings and shoes, Shikera packed her school bag and checked in it for any message the teacher might have left for Esther’s parents. In no time, they were done and Esther went to stand before Shikera for her to examine her overall look. She didn’t want any sort of mistake to be overlooked, and cause Hazel to taunt her.

"No, no. My daughter can’t go to school with her hair like that. Esther, would you like me to braid it?" She asked.

Esther nodded vigorously, as that had been at the top of her wanted list for some time now.

Downstairs, Raymond was the first to saunter into the living room, slumping on the couch as soon as he got there. Ruthlyn walked in soon after, and Enoch was the last to come in, going to sit beside Ruthlyn who completely ignored him. Ethan came down after some minutes with his facemask already on his face.

"What’s wrong, Big brother?" Enoch asked, only to receive a cold glare from Ethan.

"You are asking me when you and Ray are the unclever beings? I stayed up all night thinking about what you had no answer for, and till now, I still have no answer!"

He was met with silence from the group, therefore he added,"I will make breakfast for Shikera and join you. Where is Esther though?"

Esther was usually down by now so she would have breakfast and then leave for school with Enoch.

"She didn’t—Here she is," Ruthlyn pointed out, at the same time Esther walked down the stairs with Shikera carrying her bag behind her.

"Good morning, daddy!" she exclaimed, but was met with silence as all the four adults in the room were now looking at Shikera.

"Did she wake up on the wrong side of her bed?" Enoch whispered to Ruthlyn who didn’t answer him.

"Esther is done now so you can leave. Ah...I packed your snacks already too," Shikera informed, running to the kitchen to retrieve the pack to put it in Esther’s lunch box.

She kissed her on her forehead and turned, walking back to her room. Immediately she got there, she slumped on the bed and her eyes closed. She was tired, not only physically but emotionally.

Was this how all mothers and fathers who prepared their daughters for school always felt? Like it was only after the children left for school would they have peace of mind.

If so, then she would like to feel it everyday!

★★★

’She looks like...a mom, a sexy mom.’

When Ethan was done setting breakfast up that morning, he had gone up to Shikera’s room to inform her but met her sleeping. Her disheveled hair, crumpled top and shorts, messy bedside table, and finally, the disordered way with which she was sleeping on the bed, seemed to whisper a sentence to him.

’She looks like...a mom, a sexy mom.’

And the sentence refused to leave his head ever since, even until now that it was already mid afternoon and they were already in Anderson Corporation.

"Raymond," he called out loud, but received no reply from his assistant who was standing directly opposite him.

"Raymond!" He punctuated his word with a slam on the table, snapping Raymond out of his thoughts.

"Yes Sir?!"

"There has to be a change of plan concerning getting the contract the old men signed, but it seems they hid it really well. Contact grandfather, and tell him everything about the contract I signed with Shikera. I’m sure curiosity would make him want to find out the truth of the matter, and then we can follow his trail."

"Alright Sir. I will meet with him first and then put our men on his trail," Raymond replied.

Ethan waved him off, wanting to continue what he had been doing but Raymond didn’t leave.

"What?"

"Just a random question, Ethan. What would you do if your woman suddenly returns your card after you have given it to her? Not only once, but twice. In short, she doesn’t seem to like spending your money."

Ethan raised his brow at the sudden question, relating it to himself and Shikera.

"Did Miss Leigh do that to you? It seems to run in their circle of friends, or...does Ruthlyn do that too? If yes, then it’s probably normal for the women."

Raymond nodded, an idea occuring to him that he could use his sister to experiment.

"I will ask Enoch to help us with it then." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Raymond walked out of the office to Enoch’s table, which was located amidst the secretaries cubicles.

"Hey!"

Enoch raised his head from the table, where he had been idling around with his phone.

"Did he call for me?" he asked Raymond, referring to Ethan.

"No. I uh... actually need your help with something. Your card, can you give it to Ruth and tell her to take it shopping? I will refund it if she uses it."

"Why will you refund it? She’s closer to me than to you now, and she’s becoming part of my responsibility. I will go see her now," he chuckled, standing up from his seat to go to Ruthlyn’s seat.

There was only a desk, separating his and Ruthlyn’s desk so he was quick to get there.

"Ruth," he whispered, leaning over her desk.

"What’s wrong?"