On the morning of the next day, Olivia got out of bed earlier than usual. She prepared herself for the day and went out of the room to get breakfast.
On getting to the living room, she saw that her mother-in-law and Vivian hadn't woken up yet. Since she had nothing to do that morning except follow her mother-in-law to the IQ expert, she decided to assist the chef in making breakfast.
"Good morning, second young miss," the lady in charge of the kitchen greeted her.
"Good morning," Olivia returned the greeting with a smile, marveling at the size of the kitchen. The kitchen was bigger than her room back in her stepfather's house, with a lot of high-class equipment usually owned by top chefs around the world.
"Do you need anything, ma'am?" the lady asked, wondering why the young miss of the Bradford family would enter the kitchen herself.
"No, I came to assist with breakfast," Olivia said, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt as she moved toward the cooker.
"What are we having for breakfast this morning?" Olivia asked.
"Pancakes, omelet, and freshly squeezed orange juice," the chef answered, still surprised that a rich young lady would enter the kitchen to cook.
"Let me help with the pancakes, then." Without waiting for the chef to comment further, Olivia began working on the pancakes. Assisting in the kitchen made her recall beautiful moments she'd had cooking with her mother.
By the time they were done making all the dishes, they heard Skyler's voice telling them to serve breakfast.
Olivia took the dishes and went to set them in the dining hall. On getting there, she saw that Skyler and Vivian were already seated.
"Good morning, madam," she greeted Skyler, not bothering to nod at Vivian, since she knew the lady wouldn't respond or acknowledge her either way.
"And what were you doing in the kitchen?" Skyler asked Olivia in a cold voice, without responding to her greeting.
"I was assisting the chef in making breakfast," she replied calmly.
"The Bradford ladies have no business in the kitchen. Either you use your head for the family business, or you assist with managing the household," Skyler said harshly.
"I will take the correction, madam," Olivia responded sadly, realizing she couldn't even do basic things like make breakfast as a wife to the second Bradford.
"Mother, it's okay. Don't get too agitated — your health is of primary importance," Vivian said, stroking Skyler's back.
After that short ordeal, everyone began to eat, and breakfast went smoothly. Afterward, Olivia and her mother-in-law left for the IQ expert's office, while Vivian went to a friend's place.
The ride from the Bradford mansion to the IQ expert took an hour. On arriving at the office, Olivia followed her mother-in-law in.
"Good morning, Mrs. Bradford," a beautiful middle-aged lady said playfully, hugging Skyler with a wide smile.
"Good morning, Maria," Skyler replied, smiling just as widely. For Olivia, this was only the second time she'd seen her mother-in-law smile sincerely, apart from when she spoke with Matthew and Vivian.
"Such a rare visit… what brings you here?" the woman named Maria asked Skyler, offering her and Olivia a seat and a bottle of water each.
"You shouldn't be surprised. I was bound to come visit eventually, since I've returned," Skyler said, opening her water and taking a sip. "Well, I brought my second son's wife in for an IQ test."
"Se— second Bradford's wife?! Second Bradford got married? How was I not informed?" Maria exclaimed.
"The marriage was impromptu and arranged. He wasn't informed he'd gotten married until recently either," Skyler said.
Very funny, right? My own husband wasn't informed he was marrying me. No wonder only the housekeeper showed up at the registry that day, Olivia thought after hearing Skyler's words to Maria.
"By the Great Elder?" Maria asked.
"Yes."
"Well, that makes sense. He makes all the decisions related to the second Bradford," Maria responded.
"Your second daughter-in-law is a pretty young lady." After saying this, Maria turned to Olivia and smiled at her, and Olivia smiled back in return.
"Well, can you start the IQ test now?" Skyler inquired.
"Why do you need an IQ test for your daughter-in-law?" Maria asked, confused.
"You know the second Bradford," Skyler said to Maria, her tone mysterious.
"Hm… okay, let's start then," Maria said, taking Olivia to a room for the test.
After the test was completed, which took two hours, Maria and Olivia came out of the room and found Skyler on the phone with someone.
"You mean the second Bradford's arrival has been moved forward?" she asked the person on the line.
After a while, she ended the call with an "okay" and noticed that Maria and Olivia had returned.
"Who were you speaking with earlier?" Maria asked curiously.
"The second Bradford's assistant."
"What's this about the arrival being moved forward?" Maria inquired.
"The second Bradford will be returning in two weeks instead of a month's time," Skyler responded, looking troubled.
"Why?" Maria asked.
"I don't know," Skyler replied.
After a short silence, Skyler's voice sounded again.
"Are you done with the test?"
"Yes," Maria replied.
"How is it?"
"Good — very sound, in fact."
"That's a relief," Skyler said.
With that, Skyler said goodbye to Maria and left with Olivia.
Throughout the journey back to the mansion, Olivia kept thinking about the conversation between Skyler and Maria regarding the second Bradford's arrival being moved forward. Although she had known he was coming in a month, she wasn't prepared to face her mysterious husband in the next two weeks.
Feeling overwhelmed, Olivia decided to shut her eyes for a while. By the time she opened them again, the car had already stopped in front of the mansion. Since it was already evening by the time they got home, Olivia went upstairs to change her clothes and later had dinner with her mother in law and Vivian who had already gotten back from visiting her friend.