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."

DREXON

I looked at the head of the table where my mom was sitting. I knew that her asking for a honeymoon from us was not only to keep up with public appearances. This was somehow the cost of her agreeing to seat his wife at the head of the table when everyone around had said no to it.

I turn my face slightly so it can capture Luneth sitting by my side, and I can see that she thinks it's a horrible idea; she does not like it. I don't think I like it as well, but it is not a bad idea. I can use this opportunity to find out what she really wants from marrying me before letting her near my children. I need to know if her fuel for revenge is something I can put to great use.

"We will go," I announced, and Luneth let out a whimpered sound. She does not like it at all.

"Good," Mom said, clapping her hands as if she had won. "We have had two marriages in one day; we need to make sure that no rumours spread around about the circumstances of this," she adds, and then the table falls silent. Everyone does not like the current situation, but they know that if Kellan had not been playing around, none of this would have happened. Luneth would have married Kellan and probably suffered all her life.

The rest of the breakfast is silent, as no one finds it comfortable enough to bring up any topic for discussion. As we walk out, I find Luneth staring at the women at the back of the table clearing up. If I had not stood up for her, she would have had to stay back and clear up the table as well.

"Why?" she asks as soon as we are alone in the elevator leading back to our suite. We have a few belongings to pick up there before heading out for the honeymoon.

"Why?" I repeated trying to take the expression on her face in the reflection of the elevator door. "Why, what?" I ask when she does not answer.

"Why did you agree to the honeymoon? I know you have all the power to say no to whatever demands they presented so why?" she asked. It seems like she wants to know a lot of things but is just limiting herself with that single statement.

"You have to be diplomatic about these things. How can you expect them to always bend for you?"

"If they can, then they should." Her words were sharp, as if they meant to hurt someone, but that was all she said, and I was not in the mood to chit-chat.

We stepped into the room and got everything we needed. We were heading straight to the airport for the trip. It seemed that Mom had someone take care of everything that was needed. The ride was silent, as she seemed to be calculating a lot of things. I wanted to ask a few questions, but I was not sure if this was the right time to do that.

I did not expect her to be ambitious; I just thought that she wanted to get revenge on Kellan by getting married to me but it seemed that she wanted far more than that. She wanted to be higher than them in every way and she must think that I would be the right person to help her achieve the goal.

I had never thought about marriage before now, but I always knew that I was not going to allow my wife to suffer the same fate that the women in the family had always suffered. I know for sure that with how ambitious she is, I plan to use this honeymoon to make sure she is on the same plane with me. I can not have her acting later in the future, as I know it would be detrimental to me.

I lean into the chair with my eyes closed, and I only know I have drifted to sleep when a warm pair of hands touches my skin gently. My eyes open gently as I turn my head to the side.

"We are here," she said, looking ahead at the airport in front of us. I see fear flash briefly through her eyes, but she manages to mask it before I can fully note it. It is obvious that every decision she had made since yesterday had been backed up with false courage; she was afraid, but she seemed to be doing the best for herself in some kind of way.

"You don't have to worry; we don't do anything you do not want," I say, looking out of the window instead of at her.

"What does that mean?"

"I mean that you do not have to worry about anything; if you do not want it, then we won't do it but you have to talk to me at first."

"You have emotions," she blurted and I could see her beating herself up for the words. "I meant to say that you are quite different from what I remember you as."

"Remember me as? Have we met before now?" I ask, and she shakes her head.

"No but we can tell what kind of person you are through the news."

I look away and do not respond to whatever it is she was claiming. Just before she stepped out, she whispered, "It's funny, isn't it? Coming full circle." Then she looked at me with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. That was when I knew-she was hiding something.

Something I did not want to face.