CHAPTER 49: ARE YOU TWO DECEIVING US?


    LILY’S POV


    “Girlfriend?!”.


    “Your girlfriend?!!”.


    Niki’s mom, Mrs Ksenia dimir, and Galina eximed.


    “Yes”, Niki said with a fond look on his face and I smiled shyly. Was he really pretending, because he’s ying the role of faking perfectly.


    “A yanki?”, I heard Anastasia murmured and scoffed, the stare Niki gave to her made her bow her head. I didn’t understand what she said but from her expression, she was being dismissive.


    “Stop that Ana…”, Niki’s aunty, Maria, warned her daughter.


    “Don’t mind her dear… How are you, child?”, Mrs dimir asked me and I looked towards Niki for permission, he nodded lightly.


    “I’m doing fine Mrs dimir, thank you”, I replied her and she smiled back at me.


    “And how do you find Moscow? is it your first time here?”, She asked as the maids brought in the food and set it on the table.


    “Yes, it is my first time… and your mansion is really beautiful Mrs dimir”, I kept my reply short, I tried avoiding anything that might cause an issue. From the look of things, The dimir family isn’t an easy family, they are wise and can’t be deceived easily.


    “Oh please stop it with addressing me formally… call me mom”, Mrs dimir said and Niki and choked on the water he was drinking.


    “N-no, I can’t–“, I said.


    “Why not? You’re part of the family after all”, Galina butt in and I looked at her, the wide smile on her face shows how genuinely happy she was.


    ‘I’m sorry Galina, if only you know’, I apologized to her in my heart.


    “Galina is right, you’re our Niki’s girlfriend so it is only natural that you be part of our family”, Niki’s aunty contributed too.


    I looked at Niki for help and he was just looking forward, like nothing bothered him. I sighed and just nodded.


    “I had the maids prepare a lot for dinner today, because one, my second son came to visit us after so long. Two, because my husband, the master of this house has regained consciousness and three, because we are aplete family after a long time… I have all three of my children together, sitting together like before, I am the happiest woman on earth… Now, let’s eat”, Mrs dimir said and I saw her bright beautiful smile of hers, it melted my heart.


    Everyone took their preference from therge table of numerous kinds of food, it was all so confusing because I haven’t seen anything like it.


    “Oh Lily dear, I know the food might seem strange to you but they are very tasty… What we have here today are Solyanka, which is a thick soup made with cured meats, fish, vegetables, and pickles… that dish over there is Blini with Foie Gras, it is a thin pancakes topped with rich foie gras, caviar, and truffles, there are Niki’s favorite… we also have Pelmeni which is Russian dumplings filled with meat and served with butter, sour cream, or tomato sauce…”, Mrs dimir patiently listed the food set on the table and what it was made from, I was grateful she was nice, “We also have Baked Borodinsky Bread, Caviar-Topped Deviled, Olivier Sd and Pickled Mushrooms”, She concluded.


    “They all look really nice Mrs di– Mother”, I corrected myself immediately, it was hard saying that word knowing I never grew up to call anyone ‘mom’. Mrs dimir has been the nicest and purest soul and I didn’t want to upset her.


    She blushed a little when she heard me say ‘mother’, Her eyes reminds me of Niki’s.


    “Shall we eat now mother?”, Roman said for the first time since we sat down, I shivered a bit at his voice. I wasn’t aware of how much I didn’t like him until the fight he had with Niki.


    “Yes. Dig in everyone”, Mrs dimir announced and everyone started putting dishes in their te. I was so confused on which one to take, I havepletely forgotten the names of the dishes and I was too embarrassed to do anything.


    It was as if Niki read my mind, he unexpectedly took the serving spoon and gently ced a portion of food onto my te. His eyes met mine, and I saw a softness there that I hadn’t seen before. My heart swelled with gratitude and a hint of surprise. The rest of the family at the table seemed equally shocked, their eyes darting between Niki and me with a mix of confusion and delight.


    “Eat up. You look too skinny”, Hemented.


    I couldn’t help but feel a flutter in my chest as Niki’s small act of kindness showed a side of him I hadn’t expected. It was as if he had cracked open a door to a gentler, more caring soul beneath his tough exterior.


    ‘Was this all y pretend?’, I asked myself, I needed to be sure because I can actually see myself falling from him.


    The room felt like it had grown quieter, as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen next. I smiled up at Niki, my eyes conveying my thanks, and he gave me a slight nod, his expression softening ever so slightly. In that moment, I felt like I was seeing a different side of him or a total different person.


    “So, Lily. Who is your family and what does your parents do?”, Anastasia asked out of nowhere making me pause. I looked up at her and I could see a glint of malice.


    “Her dad is a… real estate manager and her mom was a professor”, Niki said and my eyes grew wide in shock. He just lied!


    “Was?”, Ivan’s mother asked.


    “Yes, her mom iste”, Niki replied again, I was too stunned to talk. Ivan was just quiet in all of these.


    “What type of real estate manager is he?”, Anastasia asked again, putting a piece of meat in her mouth while looking straight at me.


    “An asset manager”, Niki answered again. At this point, I am so lost.


    “Why do you keep answering for her Niki? Doesn’t your girlfriend have a mouth?–“, Anastasia asked with a grin.


    “Drop it Anastasia!”, Niki demanded with his loud and powerful voice, making everyone quiet down, especially Anastasia.


    I don’t even know what she has against me. If she wasn’t Niki’s cousin, I would have said she was interested in him and jealous of me.


    “That’s enough talking on the table, you are forgetting the presence of our guest! No more questioning my daughter-inw, that is for me to do”, Mrs dimir said thest sentence while looking directly at Anastasia. My eyes grew wider as Mrs dimir referred to me as her daughter inw.


    “Oh be careful Kolya! That has pickles in them”, Galina warned Niki as he was taking a spoonful of food from a bowl.


    “I know. There are not for me”, Niki told his sister and put the food in my te, “Eat some more”, Niki said softly to me as he put more food in my te and I thanked him shyly.


    “Why? He doesn’t like pickles?”, I asked but immediately regretted it, I should have waited and asked Niki when we were alone, I was too curious.


    “More like allergic… Niki is supeerrrr allergic to pickles”, Galina told me.


    “Shouldn’t you be aware of this? You are his girlfriend after all… or are you two deceiving us?”, Roman asked and the fear ran down my spine.


    ‘You and your big mouth Lily’, I silently scolded myself. Who knew Roman was so sly.


    “Oh you should know Niki, he doesn’t like sharing about himself even to me his girlfriend, sometimes I feel he doesn’t trust me hahaha”, I said andughed awkwardly, praying they buy into my lie.


    “He’s the same with us his family honey, so don’t feel like you’re not a good girlfriend”, Niki’s aunt said and Galina nodded in agreement.


    “He has been like that since he was little”, Mrs dimir said and I saw a sh of sorrow in her eyes.


    “Let’s go back to our dinner… and Roman, next time don’t speak to my girlfriend”, Niki warned Roman. He just carried both his hands up like he was surrendering.


    The dinner continued in peace and everyone ate till their fill, I was overfed because Niki kept putting more portion of food for me once I was done with the one in my te.


    “Thank you Mrs – mom… the food was really splendid”, I quickly corrected myself, it will take a while before I get use to it.


    “I am d you enjoyed it my dear. Sorry we ate thiste okay?”, She said, touching my cheeks and I smiled.


    “It’s no big deal”, I responded.


    “Goodnight mom, we’ll be in our room”, Niki announced and we were the first to stand up from the dining table.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org.


    “You are already going in for the night?! I haven’t talked enough with Lily”, Mrs dimir told her son.


    “There is time for that mother, she isn’t going anywhere… and besides, don’t you want grandkids? tonight will be a long one for her”, Niki said and I coughed and tried to hide my blush, I sometimes wonder how he can speak so brazenly.


    “Oh my, look how she’s blushing”,


    “She is all red, so cute”,


    Galina and Niki aunt said almost at the same time.


    “Goodnight everyone”, I managed to say as Niki dragged me upstairs to his room and my heart was skipping fast.


    .