He Chose Another Heir, Now He Wants Me Back novel · Chapter 5 of 24
Chapter 5: The Chair at the Head of the Table
The Bellandi house sat at the top of the hill with every window lit.
I walked up the front steps beside Alessio with my hands at my sides and eighteen inches of air between us.
Two lines of men and women in black stood in the hall to watch me come in.
Nobody said Signora this time.
They looked at my bare left hand instead, and then at his gold band, and then at each other.
The dining room held one table that ran the whole length of the room.
Sixty people from both Families sat along it already, and every face turned.
Alessio led me to the head of the table.
At his right hand stood a carved chair with a white ribbon tied around its back.
I had seen that ribbon at every Bellandi wedding of my childhood.
It was the bride's chair.
"Sit," Alessio said quietly.
"There is a chair at the other end with a name card."
"That one is for Livia."
He did not say it unkindly.
He said it as plain fact, and he did not explain.
I sat in the chair with the white ribbon.
A murmur ran down the table and stopped.
Livia took the place at the foot with Nico on the cushion beside her.
She was smiling a small, brave smile, and she had put on a plain black dress.
She did not touch her wine.
"Welcome," Ruggero said from his place halfway down. He raised his glass. "To the return of the Albani daughter. To the Bellandi seat. To old promises."
Sixty glasses lifted.
I raised mine because the Families were watching, and I drank.
Keep reading free with an account. Start He Chose Another Heir, Now He Wants Me Back from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 4 · All chapters · Chapter 6 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend