Chapter 7

LUNETH

We walk down the stairs and enter a banquet hall. The Moreaux had turned the hall into a dining hall with a long table across and chairs scattered opposite each other. I glance at the seating arrangement, and I feel my stomach tighten; I remember this all too well, the end of that table and everything wrong with it.

We walk to the head where the matarich is seated. "Drexon, you came," the woman said with a smug smile on her face. She beckons to us, and we stand before her. She inspects us like some goods she was about to purchase, and I see the question lingering on her lips even though she seems careful not to say anything. She nods her head without a word and motions that we go to sit. "We can begin breakfast now."

It was then that I realised they had all been waiting for Drexon to show up. Drexon strolls casually to where he was supposed to sit. The seat was clear, and there was no arguing about it. Kellan was seated right next to him, with Kellan's father on the other side of him. I look to the back of the long table where the women sat with the kids, and I no longer want to sit there. I see Melissa already helping Tema and the other women put food on plates.

I knew that if I was supposed to sit according to the structure, I would be sitting beside Tema and Melissa at the end of the table. I stopped behind him because I had no idea what to do. He had not responded to my favour from earlier and had just started walking away. I did not want to act like a clingy child, so I let it go and walked behind him. I know very well that if I do not assert dominance today, I may never be able to do it, and he knows this as well.

"What are you doing there?" Tema asked as she stalked towards me and tried to pull me away. I pray desperately that Drexon will do something and not let her drag me away. He was the only one who could save me.

"Wait, Tema," Drexon's cool voice came through. He turned to Kellan and made a head motion, asking him to get up. My heart beat against my rib cage as I thought about what was going to happen. They were not going to like it, but no one could really question his decisions. It was no secret that the Moreaux family would be bankrupt if not for Drexon, so everyone tried not to get on the wrong side of him.

"Uncle Drexon?" Kellan's voice came out cold and scared. "What is it?" he asked, and Drexon pressed his lips together. He did not look too pleased that he had to explain what was going on to him.

"Get up," he said, and Kellan looked as if he had been asked to commit the gravest sin.

"Why? This is my seat; I have always sat at this part of the table all my life," he said, trying to explain. He knew that Drexon's mind was made up, and his explanations were falling on deaf ears.

It's no longer your seat," Drexon said and let out a sigh. Everyone's eyes were on him, wondering what he was about to do.

"Drexon, what do you mean? Kellan's rightful place is right here beside you," Tema interjects quickly. There was no way she would go down without a fight, especially against injustice done to her son.

"He can no longer sit there," Drexon replied calmly to Tema before facing Kellan again. "You can no longer sit there because my wife has to sit there now."

"What?" The gasp from the table made me feel super special.

"That is nonsense," Andrew Kellan's father said. Drexon's siblings had been quiet through the fiasco from yesterday. They had all kept to themselves, but it seemed like this was the thing that broke the camel's back for them. "Women have never sat at the head of the table since..."

"But Mom sits there." Drexon cut the man off, pointing to the old woman who sat at the head of the table, relaxed, watching the scene unfold before her eyes.

"And that is because she is the head of the family. What does your wife have that would qualify her to sit here?" Andrew shot back at him.

"She has me, and I want her to sit by my side so she shall," Drexon talks back. It seems that this is the most I have ever heard him talk to his family. They all seem worried about how this would unfold. I take in their faces, and I feel a bit bad about what is about to go down, but then I do not care. If I go down, they would all trample on me at the very first chance they get; I would rather stay here and be the bad guy in their eyes.

"Drexon", the old woman called calmly from the table. "She can't sit there," she said as if her words were the law.

"And even more, you can't ask her to take Kellan's place." Drexon pushes the chair he had drawn for himself back into the table and steps back. His hands find mine and hold onto them tightly. His actions catch me slightly off guard, but I ignore the feeling in my stomach and hold my head high.

"Then we shall not be having breakfast here," he announced. "We will go home and have breakfast there; after all, newlywed couples should be allowed privacy for the first few days after they get married," he adds, and I know I am not supposed to, but I can't help the way my mind spins out scenarios to think about.

The table fell silent as Drexon cast an intense look on his mother. There were unspoken words flying around the room and I wished that I could tell what they were. The woman takes a deep breath and pushes herself into an upright position.

"Kellan, get up," she said at once, causing everyone to turn to her with shock written on their faces.

"Mother, you can't allow this; this is wrong," Tema cried, moving to the head of the table.

"I will allow what I want, and this is final," she said without looking at Tema, who was ready to burst. "Kellan, move a seat to the right and everyone move accordingly," she ordered.

Kellan stood up, and without even thinking twice about it, he moved, and I sat down. I was overjoyed, but then I did not allow it to show because this was just the beginning of all I intended to do here. The entire breakfast was quiet until the old woman spoke.

"Kellan and Melissa, Drexon and Luneth, you must go on a honeymoon."