Taken By The Mafia Lord

"What happened?" Natalie looked up hopefully, almost standing from her seat when she saw Rose return empty-handed, thinking that Arianna accepted the food.

The young girl bit on her lower lips before explaining to her, "Well, it's kind of a long story, and it went like this. I successfully gained entry into her room however it was as dark as a dungeon and I stumbled upon something making the plate slip from my hand and the food was wasted. However, the action drew the attention of my sister and I shared some words of wisdom with her… "

Everyone at the table looked at her curiously, expecting her to finish the tale.

Rose lowered her head, revealing,

"She kicked me out."

"Aww, so sorry," Natalie beckoned her into her open arms and as soon as Rose hugged her, she kissed her on the forehead.

The young girl looked so defeated that she had no other choice but to console her, "At least you got to speak to her and that's brave of you. So cheer up, little one. You've done me proud already."

"Exactly," Elijah teased her, "She didn't murder you."

Eric glared at him, "I won't condone such talks around my child. Rose and Arianna would be siblings soon, I wouldn't want any hard feelings between them."

"And I would be her brother-in-law too, remember?" Elijah retorted.

"Stop it, both of you," Natalie chided both of them before facing Rose, "Now go finish the rest of your meal before it gets cold."

The girl took her seat and Eric took that chance to lean toward her, "What are you going to do now?"

"Let her be," Natalie snorted, "I wonder where she got that stubbornness from?"

"From the woman seated next to me?" Eric muttered under his breath, but she heard him. Natalie glowered at him and Eric slowly shifted away from her with a smirk at the corner of his lips.

Just like that, the family fell into old habits, conversing in between meals until there was an interruption in the air and Natalie turned to see what, or rather everyone was staring at.

It was Arianna.

Her daughter was standing right before them and the way she was staring at them like aliens made it look like she was out of place.

Natalie stood up immediately, her chair releasing a squeaking sound. She turned to face Arianna and swallowed numbly, having no clue where to start.

But Arianna was the first to break the silence when she asked unsurely,

"Can I join?"

It took Natalie over a minute to answer that question because she was in shock.

"O-of course," She pulled out a chair for her to sit and it was located beside Elijah.

So Elijah stood up, "I guess this is my cue to leave -"

"Sit," Eric told him with authority and though there was a look of defiance in his eyes, Elijah obeyed him nonetheless. It was his house and that meant his rules.

"Your wish is my command, then," He told him with a wry look, forcing his butt back to the chair just as Arianna walked over and took her seat too.

Unlike the others affected by the tension in the air, Natalie looked like Christmas had come early for her as she began to serve Arianna food from the bowls excitedly.

"Have this and this and this…"

In the twinkle of an eye, the plates in front of her were piled up with food and Arianna stared at them in disbelief.

"You have grown so thin, you're literally all bones now. You need the food, Arianna. So eat more." The woman persuaded her enthusiastically. No, with the kind of excitement running through her veins, Natalie might as well feed Arianna in the mouth if she wanted it - and she wouldn't mind at all.

Her daughter was a woman, meaning that she had missed out on her childhood and rebellious teenhood. In one word, Natalie would give anything in the world just to get to spend time and get to know her daughter more. She wanted Arianna to give her that chance - that was her greatest chance.

"Fine," Arianna grumbled in response before she picked up her spoon and took a sip of the soup. Honestly, Arianna did not expect to eat much but when that soup touched her tongue, it was as if her taste bud exploded and she wanted more.

"Good." Natalie was happy to see her eating well.

"Don't you think eating too much after a while of starvation would upset your stomach," Elijah asked out of mere concern but the deep glare he received from Arianna was enough to shut him up forever. Well, he guessed he was still on her blacklist and learned to respect his business.

"So what made you change your mind?" Rose was the next to ask her after a while of awkward silence - everyone witnessed the tension between her and Elijah. And it doesn't seem like it is ending anytime soon.

"Did I motivate you enough?" The girl grinned at her.

"No," Arianna said, "I just didn't want to give you a reason to come into my room next time and fill my ears with your pep talk." She said.

"But It did work, right?" The young girl never gives up.

Arianna filled her mouth with the soup instead and didn't answer her. But Rose was not discouraged, she saw this as a first step towards their great relationship in the future.

Natalie said to Arianna, "So I made something for you and I think this is the right time to have it."

Her mother disappeared from the dining table only to appear minutes later with a cake in hand.

Placing it in the middle of the table, she announced proudly to Arianna, "I once saw you having this strawberry yogurt cake in a café and it looked to me like you liked it. So I made it. " Natalie intentionally omitted the fact that she had seen her having it with Marcel.

"Strawberry yogurt cake? " Arianna muttered, looking shocked.

"Yes," Natalie said confidently, thinking that she had made the right choice by making that cake.

However, what none of them expected was for Arianna to burst into tears in the middle of breakfast leaving all of them horrified.

What just happened?