Chapter 8: Dinner With the Bristos

Chapter 8: Dinner With the Bristos

*Hannah’s POV*

The car ride back home was so quiet it felt suffocating.

It was like a family reunion in a Toyota Alphard Executive Lounge, 7 seater with reclining leather seats and tinted windows, like it was designed specifically for the Black family of 6.

On the second seat row sat my father, posture perfect, gaze glued out the window as though New York’s skyline held all the answers he needed. My mother sat beside him, her hands folded neatly in her lap, pearls gleaming at her throat. While Ray was with I and Lily on the third seat row, and he was slouched like he was already bored of life itself. Lily, in the middle smiling faintly at her reflection in her phone screen, checking her lip gloss for the fifth time.

I hated every second of it.

The only saving grace was Piper’s name lighting up my phone. I gripped it like a lifeline, thumbing out a message while keeping my expression carefully blank so Ray wouldn’t lecture me for being “impolite.”

Piper: How is it going?

Me: This is the most awkward car ride of my life.

Her reply was instant.

Piper: lolol what happened??

I chewed the inside of my cheek before typing again.

Me: Stuck in this moving coffin with my whole family. I hate that Lucas already, he is a stalker and a snitch!

Three dots. Then…

Piper: 😂😂😂

The row of laughing emojis popped up on my screen and, for a second, I almost smiled.

Ray noticed, like he spent his whole life looking for a fault I would do so he could attack me with it. He leaned over with a sneer. “What’s so funny? Planning your next little disappearing act?”

I snapped my phone shut. “Oh yeah, Ray. I was just checking my schedule to see when I can disappear and ruin your Saturday again.”

My mother sighed. “Children…” The word was drawn out, exhausted, like she was the saint forced to endure us. “Enough bickering. Hannah, when we get home, prepare and try to look your best. We’re having dinner tonight with the Bristo family.”

My head whipped toward her. “Excuse me?”

She said it as casually as if she had just announced we were ordering Chinese takeout.

“Dinner,” she repeated. “The Bristos are coming. It’s an arrangement, Hannah. You should be prepared to behave accordingly.”

I slumped back against the leather, staring at the ceiling of the car like maybe it would open up and swallow me whole. What business does this family have with the Bristo?

***

It wasn’t just dinner, it was a performance.

Why is it always like this with the rich? Can’t they just have a less dramatic day in their life?

The dining hall had been set like it was ready for another royal banquet. I half-expected a string quartet to emerge from the corner and play John Elton.

The Black family was in full costume. My father was in his sharp suit, my mother glittering in silk, Lily glowing like she’d stepped out of a magazine spread, Ray with that permanent scowl that made him look like a villain in training and my ever calm immediate older brother, Gavin.

Gavin had welcomed me so nicely I thought I was in another realm of the house, he was just too busy in his study every time and I haven’t had a proper conversation with him.

In a few minutes, the Bristos arrived.

Lucas walked in first with his tailored black suit and hair pushed back just so, with his jaw set like he would rather be anywhere else – which made two of us. Behind him came his mother, regal in emerald, followed by his father, stiff as stone. His grandfather strode in, leaning on an elegant cane but with eyes as sharp as broken glass.

And then there was a girl about my age, probably his sister walking in like she was in a runway.

Dramatic. That was the best word I could use to describe her. She swept into the room in a flurry of silk and diamonds, her hair cascading in waves that looked like they’d been sculpted by an artist.

Introductions were exchanged, pleasantries fluttered about, and then everyone settled into their seats.

At first, the conversation was… tolerable.

I couldn’t help but observe everyone, how Lucas’ sister, Eleanor was staring and blushing at Gavin who seemed clearly uninterested and oblivious of her looks. I noticed how Ray kept trying to hold Lily’s hand under the table, it was an eyesore, she kept pulling away while throwing some kind of awkward advances at Lucas who just smiled at her when he noticed.

The fuck? Are they a thing? They should be, they deserve each other.

Father cleared his throat, “So, Gavin will be resuming the semester at Columbia as a professor. Quite the accomplishment at his age.”

“He’s only twenty-six,” Mother added with a proud tilt of her chin. “One of the youngest to hold such a position.”

“Impressive,” murmured Mrs. Bristo, though her eyes slid quickly to Lucas as though reminding him that he had to prove to be better than Gavin.

It sucks to be rich, because whether you like it or not, you’re automatically in a competition.

I couldn’t help the flicker of pride in my chest thinking over my older brother’s achievements. Gavin was the kind of person I wanted to be. Self-made, brilliant, and almost out of this suffocating household.

Ray, of course, ruined it.

“Yeah, well,” he muttered into his wine glass, “not all of us want to rot away in lecture halls.”

The jealousy practically dripped from his words.

My mother’s glare silenced him, but the damage was done.

Before the tension could thicken, Eleanor leaned forward with a grin, her bracelets jingling like bells. “Speaking of Columbia, I’m starting in the fall. Imagine how exciting that’ll be… Black and Bristo both on campus.” She tossed her hair dramatically.

I stabbed at my salad to hide my smirk. She acted just like Lily and I wondered if it was always like that with the daughters of the wealthy. Well, since I happened to be one of the daughters all of a sudden, I must guard my heart with all diligence because I do not want to end up being this unnecessarily dramatic.

“That’s wonderful,” my father said smoothly. “Columbia is fortunate.”

But then the conversation shifted.

The Bristo grandfather cleared his throat, his cane tapping lightly against the floor as he leaned forward. His eyes scanned the length of the table before landing squarely on me.

“Well,” he said, his voice gravelly but strong. “My dear friend is yet to be strong enough for us to do this arrangements together,”

“Hopefully my father will be back home by month's end.” My father said.

I knew I had a grandfather I had never met, and I wonder what it would be like meeting him, would he seem hostile like them all?

The Bristo grandfather continued, “Now that it turns out the Blacks have not one, but two daughters…” His gaze slid to Lily, then back to me. “…it seems it would be…tasking to decide which one would make the better match for my grandson.”

The room stilled. I felt my fork freeze halfway to my mouth.

Match?

He wasn’t talking about business alliances, this was a fucking marriage match!

How did I not think of that? Jesus Christ! How did I not realize that being born into a billionaire family means there's a 95% chance my parents will pick my spouse for me?

A chill slid down my spine.

“Perhaps,” the old man continued, his lips curling faintly, “it would be fairest to let Lucas himself decide. Let him choose the one he likes.”

The air left my lungs in one violent rush.

Every eye, including mine turned to Lucas and annoyingly, the arrogant jerk was already looking at me.

Giving me that damned sinister look, the one that made my skin prickle and my stomach twist all at once. Like he was already calculating how best to pin me against a wall and strip me bare for spilling wine on him.