Cleodora P.O.V
As I was about to stand up from my chair to change my clothes my phone started to ring *ring* *ring* I looked at the caller ID and it was an unknown number so refused the call as the number looked distrustful and it kinda makes me feel wary and suspicious but I just shrugged it off and didn't think much of it so I got changed and put some gloss on my lips to make it a more reddish then it already is and after that, I went downstairs to the dining room to see my Father on the head chair, Camilla on his left side, beside Camilla was Celina, and Cayson at the end of the left side while Cayden sat beside the empty seat on the right side beside Father's chair and I instantly knew that is Where I was supposed to sit but before I could even pull the chair Father stopped me " Cleo you will sit there." He said while pointing to the other end of the table "But who's gonna sit here?" I asked him while crossing my arms "Your sister Cassandra will sit here you will sit at the opposite side of me as you are The Woman of this household as your Mother is not in the picture anymore you will take her place." He said not even looking me in the eye and of course, I'm not that type of child that will not listen to their parents so I went there without question but couldn't stop thinking of what my Father said a few seconds ago about me being " The Woman of the house", well a lot of people have Men of the house because they are the most capable of protecting and bringing honor to their family but in ours, men are a lot lower then women. As the women in our family is stronger than the men and are most likely to be the heir of the Mafia in our family the rule is the first girl that is born will automatically be the heiress and inherit all the inheritance of the family and if they can't produce an heiress the second-born ( Sister of current heiress) will be the heir which has never happened before. As I was thinking more about my Father's words my thoughts were interrupted by Cassie speaking and a few minutes later dinner was severed. " I'm here sorry to keep you waiting." she said while sitting down " Let's dig in." Father said then started eating it dinner was silent until " Okay as much as I love silence it's too painful to bear knowing you guys can't shut your mouths when you're together, So please someone break the silence." Camilla said making us all look at her but we all remained silent.
" Why is it so silent in here?" The person entering the dining room said so we all looked at who it was and it was Mateo, Edward Cassie's husband, Daniel Camilla's husband, Marie Cayden's wife, Soffie Cayson's wife, and last but not the least Justine Celine's hubby, We all looked at them and continued eating as they sat they all went to their partners and sat if not beside but the opposite place they are Mateo sat beside me at the left side of me and the help gave them food but something caught my eye a maid put a dish beside me on the right side which had me and my siblings confused I frown in confusion and looked up to Father " Father is someone else joining us?" I asked then he look up as he was about to answer but a deep and familiar voice interrupted him and instantly knew who it was I stood up and turned towards the door and I see a handsome man in a black suit he had light brown hair that was side-parted, he had tan skin, he had upturned green colored eyes, plump lips, and a pointed nose he had a square jaw and a very defined jawline. As I froze as he walked closer he smiled sweetly I snapped out of my trance when he stopped in front of me I looked him in the eyes and smiled back and gave him a tight hug " I'm so glad your back I missed you." I said while giving him a hug " I missed you too My Little Everly." he said while hugging me backing we're talking and laughing while heading to our seats but a specific someone is furiously jealous " Who the h*ll is he!?" Mateo whispered yell to Cayson " Let's just say he's Cleo's Old Lover." he whispered to Mateo and Mateo grew angrier when he said that.
Author P. O. V.
If you all are confused with the seating arrangement. Their dining table has 12 seats in total one at each end and five at each side. So Jace sits in the front end and Cleo sits at the bottom end while Camilla was sitting beside Daniel, and beside him is Celina and her husband Justine. So they sit at the left side, while on the right side beside Jace is Cassandra and beside Cassie is her husband and next is Caeden, then Marie, then Cayson and Soffie beside him. So as mentioned in the story earlier women are mostly the heiress of the Mafia and all the riches of the family so even though is Caeden is older than Cassie and Celina both of the girls are still superior than both of the boys. I hope no one gets offended with how I made the inherentage of the riches and everything in the Lombardi's names, cause most of the time it's always men that inherents everything I thought how about I make the female characters in my story strong, but that doesn't mean that I'm making the male characters look weak or anything I just wanted this story to have women empowerment so bare with me.
To Be Continued...