Elias straightened his clothes before making his way back to the dining room. The last thing he wanted was to give his father any reason to suspect that something was amiss.
As soon as he stepped inside, his father greeted him with a beaming smile and gestured for him to come closer.
"Sit here, Eli," his father beckoned, indicating the empty seat beside the head of the table.
Elias offered him an awkward smile before taking the seat. Once he had settled down, his father turned his attention to the others gathered around the table.
"So… You've met Lucas—"
'Met him? I've known him since childhood.' Elias nearly scoffed aloud at the absurdity of the statement, but he held his tongue back. From the corner of his eye, he caught Lucas staring at him. He chose to ignore him, keeping his attention fixed on his father instead.
"—and these two are my children with Mandy; George and Ivory. Your half-siblings."
Elias shifted his gaze toward the two people seated across the long dining table.
George, his younger half-brother, lounged diagonally in his chair, looking entirely too comfortable for someone attending a family dinner. He swirled the deep red wine in his glass before raising it in Elias's direction.
"Cheers, big brother." His greeting was casual, accompanied by a lazy grin that suggested he found the entire situation rather amusing.
George possessed an effortless coolness, but there was something intimidating beneath his relaxed demeanor, an air of arrogance that made it difficult to tell whether he was genuinely friendly or simply entertaining himself.
Elias responded with a brief nod.
Beside George sat Ivory, his younger half-sister. Unlike her brother, she seemed genuinely interested in getting to know him. Her long blonde hair cascaded over the shoulders of her navy-blue dress, framing her delicate features and lending her an air of understated elegance.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Elias," she said with a warm smile.
"Likewise." His answer was polite but distant.
Ivory seemed to sense the wall he had placed between them. Nevertheless, she offered him another small smile before turning her attention back to the table.
Elias had no intention of pretending that they were suddenly a family simply because their father had decided to introduce them.
Sixteen years of separation could not be undone by a dinner invitation.
His gaze drifted toward the entrance when Kyle and Lyla walked into the dining room, their hands intertwined. They exchanged a few quiet words before taking their seats beside him, leaving the chair immediately next to Elias conspicuously empty.
He knew who that seat was meant for. Claude.
Elias glanced at the vacant chair, his fingers tapping impatiently against the tablecloth.
He had already endured enough for one evening. The forced pleasantries, the awkward introductions, his father's insufferable attempts to play the role of a devoted family patriarch—it was all becoming unbearable.
As he was rubbing his temples, wondering how long he could keep this up, when Claude finally appeared at the entrance. Though, he was not alone.
Walking beside him was a middle-aged woman dressed in an elegant gown, her hair carefully styled and a delicate necklace resting against her collarbone. She had the polished appearance of someone who took great care to present herself well, every detail of her appearance meticulously arranged.
The moment Elias saw her, his expression darkened.
Mandy, his stepmother.
Sixteen years had passed since he had last seen her, yet the sight of her face was enough to stir a familiar disgust deep within him. She, however, reacted as though she had just encountered a beloved child she had desperately missed.
Her eyes widened. "Oh, my goodness!"
She pressed a hand to her chest, her lips parting in theatrical surprise.
"Eli? Is that really you?" Her voice trembled with what sounded like emotion.
Without waiting for a response, she hurried toward him, her expression brightening into an affectionate smile.
"I can hardly believe it! It's been so many years."
Elias remained seated, his face devoid of warmth. Mandy seemed not to notice—or, more accurately, chose to pretend she did not.
"Oh, look at you. You've grown so much." She let out a soft, almost tearful laugh. "You've become such a handsome young man."
She reached for his hand but Elias pulled away before her fingers could touch him. The movement was immediate and unmistakably deliberate. Mandy's hand hung awkwardly in the air for a moment before she slowly retracted back.
A flicker of displeasure flashed across her eyes before vanishing just as quickly. Anyone not paying close attention would have missed it. Anyone but Elias. Unfortunately for her, he noticed everything in that split second.
Her expression then crumpled into something wounded. "Oh…"
She lowered her gaze, pressing her lips together as though struggling to contain her emotions, "I suppose you still haven't forgiven me."
Elias stared at her, unimpressed by the performance, though he couldn't help but admire the sheer audacity of it.'What an excellent performance. Are you going to trap me again like 16 years ago?'
Sixteen years ago, he had already learned just how skilled Mandy was at playing the innocent victim. She had a remarkable talent for twisting any situation to her advantage, turning herself into the wronged party while making the person, who was the actual victim, to be the one to bear the blame. No matter what she did, she always managed to escape unscathed, leaving others to shoulder the guilt. With nothing more than a pitiful expression and wounded eyes, she could make anyone who dared to question or challenge her seem cruel and heartless for not believing her.
Judging by the way his father was already looking at him, it seemed Mandy had not lost her touch. Elias smirked. 'I won't fall for the same trick twice.'
Elias rose slowly from his chair and turned to face her, his expression unreadable.
"Don't touch me." His voice was cold enough to make the people nearby fall silent.
Mandy flinched. It was a small, almost imperceptible movement, but she made sure her husband saw it. From the corner of his eye, Elias noticed his father's expression darkening with each passing second. It would not be long before the old man lost his temper.
"Eli," Mandy whispered, her voice trembling as tears began to gather in her eyes. "I know you still resent me for what happened in the past, but I truly hoped that after all these years, we could put everything behind us and start over."
She paused, swallowing as though the words were difficult to say. "I never expected you to welcome me with open arms. I only wanted to greet you properly."
She looked at him with a fragile, pleading expression. "Am I really so unbearable to you?"
Elias nearly laughed. There it was. The familiar routine.
She would say something carefully chosen to provoke him, then dress herself in wounded innocence when he reacted. If he dared to expose her, she would only need to shed a tear or two before his father rushed to her defense.
It was almost laughable at how predictable she was.
"Are you done?" Elias asked flatly.
Mandy's expression froze for a fraction of a second.
Then her eyes grew even glossier. "Eli, I—"
"Because I have no interest in listening to someone who pretends all the time."
The dining room fell silent.
Mandy stared at him, her lips trembling ever so slightly. She seemed poised to turn toward her husband, perhaps hoping he would step in and defend her. Before she could even make the slightest move, Elias decided to take matters into his own hands.
A smirk tugged at his lips. "Though I must commend you for watching so many dramas. Playing the weak, pitiful stepmother for attention? How cliche—"
"Elias!" His father's roar thundered across the table. His hand shot up and Elias knew exactly what was coming. His very own biological father was about to slap him over a woman.
"You always choose to defend this wench over me!" Elias shot back, his voice rising. "What good am I to you as your son?!"
The hand stopped midair, but it was not Elias who had caught his father's wrist. It was Claude.
Claude had seemingly crossed the room in an instant, positioning himself in front of Elias and firmly gripping their father's raised hand. He stood between his younger brother and stepmother, his actions almost appearing as though he were protecting Elias from their father's wrath.
His fingers tightened around his father's frail wrist, halting the impending slap. "Father, Eli has only just returned after sixteen years. He's not familiar with the family dynamics anymore, so please don't take his words to heart."
Elias shot his brother a glare. "Excuse me—"
He barely got the words out before Claude's hand closed firmly around his wrist, stopping him mid-sentence. His older brother did not even bother turning around to look at him.
Don't. The warning was unmistakable.
Elias clenched his jaw, swallowing the retort that had been poised on the tip of his tongue. He hated it when Claude did this—when his brother stepped in to smooth things over, treating Elias as though he was some reckless child who could not be trusted to handle himself.
Still, as much as he resented Claude's interference, he knew better than to push him any further. With an irritated jerk, he pulled his hand free and sank back into his chair, begrudgingly obeying his older brother.
Before matters could escalate any further, a knock at the door interrupted the tense atmosphere.
"Your esteemed guests have arrived, Master Ryan," the maid announced with a respectful bow.
At once, the master of the house broke into a welcoming smile. "Please, show them in."
The moment the maid turned to leave, however, the smile vanished from Ryan's face. His expression hardened as he fixed Elias with a warning glare.
"They're here. Do not embarrass me, Elias."
Elias scoffed and took a leisurely sip of wine, paying little attention to the guests making their way into the room. He had no intention of entertaining anyone tonight. His attention was instead drawn to the hushed whispers coming from his siblings seated nearby.
"Oh my gosh! Is that Alexandre Marquis?" Ivory, the youngest of the siblings, squealed under her breath. She immediately cast a nervous glance at their father, making sure he did not catch her behaving inappropriately.
"What's he doing here? I thought he was still overseas," George murmured, leaning forward to get a better look.
"I heard he just got back. Something about an engagement," Lucas said casually, his eyes half-lidded with indifference.
"Alexandre Marquis?" Lyla echoed, her curiosity piqued. "As in that Alexandre Marquis? The ruthless billionaire who's infamous for his arrogance and cold-blooded nature? The one who treats everyone as though they're beneath him?"
"Exactly!" Ivory whispered excitedly, her eyes sparkling with admiration. "He's always making headlines! They say he's incredibly charming, but he's also a notorious playboy who never takes relationships seriously. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. Honestly, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone daring to tell him no."
She paused, practically glowing with excitement. "I wonder if he'll ever settle down."
Elias's hand stilled briefly around his wineglass. 'Alexandre Marquis?'
Curiosity stirred within him as he listened to his siblings gush over the man. The name sounded vaguely familiar, though he could not immediately place it. 'Alexandre Marquis... Surely, that's just a coincidence.'
His mind drifted back to the recent interview he had attended at a company, where he had spent nearly the entire meeting dealing with a CEO who had managed to get on his nerves at every turn. The man had been insufferably arrogant, frustratingly condescending, and far too pleased with himself.
Judging by his questionable decisions, Elias was convinced the man had absolutely no idea what he was doing. There was no way that infuriating CEO and the Alexandre Marquis everyone was talking about could possibly be the same person.
"Honestly, I'm surprised he's getting engaged at all," George remarked, swirling the wine in his glass with an amused grin. "With the number of women he's been involved with, I always thought he'd spend the rest of his life playing the field."
"Why wouldn't he?" Lyla replied, arching a brow. "A man like him has money, power, and no shortage of people willing to indulge his every whim. Why would he bother changing?"
"Because even playboys have to grow up eventually?" Kyle finally chimed in with a shrug.
He had been quietly listening until now, had decided to carry along the conversation. "Though I doubt that means he'll suddenly become a devoted husband. Someone like Alexandre Marquis doesn't strike me as the kind of man who'd give up what he wants just because he's wearing a wedding ring."
Ivory let out a quiet gasp, her expression turning dreamy. "Can you imagine being engaged to a man like that, though?"
Elias nearly rolled his eyes. 'Rich, arrogant, ruthless, and utterly convinced the world revolves around him. What a charming combination.'
He took another sip of wine, seemingly unbothered with the commotion surrounding their esteemed guest. Whatever reputation Alexandre Marquis had built for himself, Elias wanted nothing to do with him and he certainly had no interest in meeting another insufferable man who thought the world belonged to him.
Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans. The moment Elias turned around, he regretted it. "Mr. Marquis?"
The man he had just been mentally cursing stared back at him, a flicker of bewilderment crossing his otherwise composed features.
Alexandre raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, Mr. Bennett?"
Elias shot back, "I was about to ask you the same thing."
Elias barely had time to process the absurdity of the situation before his father approached Alexandre, wearing a smile so enthusiastic that it immediately set off alarm bells in his head. "Marquis! Welcome, welcome. We've been expecting you."
Ryan extended the same warm courtesy to the elderly woman accompanying Alexandre before gesturing toward the dining table. "Please, have a seat. You've arrived at just the right time."
Elias's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.He could sense it in the way his father smiled at Alexandre, in the knowing glances exchanged between the other guests, and, most suspiciously, in the way Ryan seemed to be orchestrating the entire evening as though everything were unfolding according to some carefully laid plan.
A dreadful suspicion began to take shape in Elias's mind. Before he could put the pieces together, his father turned toward him. "Elias, I believe it's time I formally introduced him to you."
The words landed like a thunderclap. Elias went rigid. Standing next to him, Alexandre's expression shifted, his earlier bewilderment giving way to something far more guarded. For the first time since entering the room, the infamous billionaire looked just as though he had been caught off guard.
Ryan, seemingly oblivious to the tension, smiled as he delivered the words that shattered whatever remained of Elias's peace.
"Elias, meet your husband, Alexandre Marquis. The wedding will take place in ten days."
A heavy silence fell over the room. The only sound was Elias's chair scraping against the floor as he shot to his feet, spilling wine across the table. "Wait– WHAT?!"