The Sinclair Chaos 2

Damon's grip on his glass tightened as he stared Caleb down. Of all his siblings, the one person he hates being around might just be Caleb.

“Shut up.” Damon gritted, his voice came out in a strain. He was trying his best not to lunge at Caleb's throat right now.

Not here. Not when Naomi would witness a side of him she didn't know existed.

Caleb leans back on his seat, arms folded. “Why? Am I right?”

“Does it matter?” Seraphna cuts in. “Nother married for money and now she has a bunch of children who just can't stand the mere smell of her perfume!” She chuckled.

“Seraphina!” Elara snapped, her delicate hands clenched around the tablecloth in irritation. “Don't talk about mother that way! Not in front of a stranger!”

Naomi's eyes flickered down to her fingers at Elara's words. She felt like she had just walked in on a family dinner she wasn't invited to.

“She’s Damon's wife!” Jordan snapped, cutting through the air with how high his voice was. Everyone turned to him in surprise. He swallowed.

Despite his shenanigans on the tablets and his multiple relationship scandals, Jordan is surprisingly quiet at the dinner, barely saying a word until now.

Seraphina hits him at the back of his head. “Hey! You're talking to your older siblings here. Show some bloody respect!”

Jordan chuckled. “ Respect? Look at you, acting a fool right in front of a guest. It's embarrassing.” He snapped right back

Seraphina raises her hands again but Jordan glares at her. “I will return that smack with something way worse, I promise you that.”

The silence at the table was deafening, even Seraphina couldn't help but chuckle at his boldness.

“Woah. You are really the Sinclair I see in the tabloids every other week, aren't you? Unbelievable.” She scoffed.

“That's enough!” Rosie finally spoke as she settled in her seat quietly. “We're here for dinner, let's get to it.” She adds.

With a clap of her hands, the maids hurried to the table with several servings of intercontinental dishes, meals that Naomi had only ever seen when her father was alive.

Dinner soon began in silence. All Naomi could hear was the clanking of spoons against ceramic plates and the soft music from the speakers.

She doesn't need to be told that this family had more problems than she would like to admit and Damon. He wasn't eating. He had glass after glass of expensive red wine and nothing else and she herself struggled to swallow her meal despite how delicious the meal was.

If the atmosphere was different, maybe she would have savored this meal and thanked the chef for making something so memorable.

“Elara, Stefano called.” Rosie started, biting into the stake she had on her fork.

Elara stiffened, her gaze barely meeting Rosie's as she cut through her own steak.

“He said you haven't been responding to his calls.” Rosie glanced at Elara, whose eyes remained fixed on her plate.

“I’ll make sure to return his call once dinner is over, mother.”

“Who is Stefano?” Seraphina asked, brows furrowed. She had an inkling of who this might be but she wanted to confirm.

"A fine match from a most respectable family, exactly what a Sinclair daughter deserves," Rosie responded, not giving Seraphina a direct and concise response.

“What happened to Malik?” Victor asked, his eyes moving over to Elara in concern.

Malik was an absolute sweetheart and he had tried to reconcile them all once but failed miserably. They all knew he cared about Elara greatly, and they were the perfect match!

“Yeah. I thought you two were going to get married.” Caleb adds.

“We…” Elara started softly, the grip around her fork seemed to waver slightly.

" Elara has been making rather… unsuitable choices in companionship. I've told her, repeatedly, that a Sinclair woman has certain expectations to uphold. This notion of 'love matches' is simply impractical. One marries for status, for stability, not for fleeting emotion."

Seraphina slams her fork on the plate hard. A mocking laugh escaped her lips as her eyes met Rosie in disbelief. “Its been seven years and you still haven't changed.”

Rosie spares a glance her way and rolls her eyes. “Not everything is about you dear. After your failed marriage, I don't believe you have a say in this matter.”

Seraphina leaned back on her seat, eyes narrowed. “Its not much of a punchline like you intend it to be.”

“Really? You're in your thirties, no husband. What could be more miserable than that?”

“Your life. Mother.” Seraphina spat, and the table went dead silent. Rosie froze, her neutral face turned dark with rage.

“What did you say?”

“Do you want Elara to end up like you? In a loveless marriage with a bloody self-absorbed bastard with no warmth, no joy?"

The words hung in the air, nobody could take a bite of their meals now.

"Seraphina! How dare you speak such insolence at my table!”

“Insolence? You know it's true. You could have saved us all the trauma if you weren't so greedy about money and….”

“Enough!” Victor snapped and everywhere fell dead silent. “It's enough. Let's just have dinner and call it a night. Nobody has to say for the rest of the night. Please.”

Rosie expedition, her hands still trembling from Seraphina's humbling words and she needed to take it out on something…or someone.

She returned her attention to her plate of food. “You're right. We should focus on the dinner and nothing else. I invited you all so we could welcome…her..”

Seraphina scoffed, chugging down a glass of wine as though it would stop her from spewing even more hurtful words.

“So..who is your father?” Rosie asked, her eyes fixed on Naomi with malicious intent.

She knew what she was doing, putting Naomi on the spot for her own entertainment.

“What does that have to do with dinner?” Damon asked, his gaze finally meeting Rosie's in annoyance.

He's been quiet all this while, watching his siblings go back and forth when all he wanted was for an hour to go by and he'd drag Naomi and himself out of this charade.

“I said I wanted to get to know her and that's what I'm doing.”

“And asking about her father is how you intend to go about it?” He shot back.

Naomi's hands went over his under the table gently in a soothing manner. He didn't hesitate to give her hand a squeeze, he's been holding back his irritation all evening..

“My father is Adam Pearl.”

Rosie chuckled. “The one who died years back with no heir?”

“Rosie!”

Naomi's grip on Damon's hand tightened, almost pleading with him to relax. He exhaled, leaning back in his seat as her hands caressed him gently.

Hell, he should be the one trying to pacify her and not the other way around…

“Yes.”

“Is that why you married my son?”

Naomi blinked, confused. “I'm sorry?”

"Who do you think you are to simply appear out of nowhere?”

The words hit Naomi like a blow in the gut, what on earth is Rosie on about?

“You think because your dead father is Adam Pearl, with a former billion-dollar company, makes you eligible for my son?”

“No…I…”

“And why would you agree to marry my son behind my back? Six years! For good six years and you didn’t think it was important to know his family!”

“I decided not to invite you to the wedding.” Damon spat, his face furrowed in annoyance. “And the only family of mine she needs to meet is Jordan.”

“Ouch,” Seraphina muttered, swallowing another glass of wine..

Naomi stiffened, blinking back the tears that threatened to roll down her chin. She's never had to face someone as ruthless as Rosie. Not even Aunt Clara could match up to this woman..

“Everyone but Jordan is undeserving to be called your brother,” Caleb said, arms folded.

Damon glared at him. “Don't.”

Caleb went silent, he knew this was not the time or place for that discussion.

“I refuse to believe that lie! I refuse to believe that you married this woman in secret and kept her hidden from me just because you wanted to! She told you to, didn't she?”

Naomi's jaw clenched, her head remained bowed in humiliation. She felt a burning retort form on her tongue, but before she could deliver it, Damon's voice rang out.

“No. I chose to make our wedding a secret." Damon stated, his voice flat. "It was my decision. Not Naomi's."

Rosie blinked, momentarily stunned by his words. He chose to keep her hidden from her? Has she really lost her grip on Damon?

Rosie's eyes narrowed on Naomi once more, unwilling to let go of her target

"You chose this? Or this thing told you to keep her away from me cause she knows I can smell her lies from a mile away! She married you because her dead father’s empire is in shambles! She's a filthy golddigger, a money-hungry bitch!”

Damon had had enough. His face contorted in anger that made even his own siblings flinch in fear. Of all the Sinclairs, the only one with their father’s blind anger was Damon, and they hated to see it coming.

Without another word, he pushed his chair back abruptly. He reached down, grasped Naomi's hand firmly, and pulled her to her feet as he led them out of the garden.

His eyes fixed on his car in the front lawn, he's done.