[The user has an impressive reputation. That is good, the user should be proud.]
'Shut up.'
Dante snapped at the system as he ignored its message and continued moving towards the Matron and Fredrick. The system had been sending him messages all the time recently and he was slowly learning how to ignore the unimportant ones. Even though the system sounded like a robot most of the time, Dante could tell that it had an actual personality, and it was more than willing to speak up whenever something good or bad happened. Dante turned back to look at the Matron and Fredrick and he let out a silent sigh when he saw the words blinking over their heads.
——
Name: Talia Lucas
Affiliations: Lucas Family
Title(s): The Matron
——
Name: Fredrick Lucas
Affiliations: Lucas Family
Title(s): Heir Apparent [Fake]
——
[Physical Analysis [Rank D (95.5%)]]
——
Even after yesterday, a small part of Dante had still been trying to deny the existence of the system, but it was because of things like these that Dane was incapable of ignoring it. The system was real and it could definitely do the things it said it could. Dante's eyes narrowed slightly when he saw the [Fake] written beside Fredrick's name, but Dante didn't have much time to dwell on it as he finally reached the mansion entrance. Fredrick gained a wide smile once he saw Dante, and he moved toward him and took Dante's hand in a firm handshake before pulling Dante in for a hug. Dante patted Fredrick on the back and spoke in his ear.
"I'm sorry for your loss, brother."
Fredrick nodded into Dante's shoulder before pulling back with a genuinely sad smile on his face as he said:
"Thank you for coming, brother. It means a lot to me, and I know it would have meant a lot to him too."
Dante took off his sunglasses and nodded once before his gaze shifted over to the Matron standing behind Fredrick. The woman was still standing in a regal and calm manner, but the look she had in her eyes as she gazed at Dante was the same scornful look she always had whenever she was in his presence. It was obvious she couldn't bear to be in the same space as Dante, and she couldn't wait to get away from him as quickly as possible. Dante ignored the Matron's hostility with practiced ease. This was something that the Matron had been doing from the very first day Dante entered the Lucas family, and Dante knew that nothing would ever make the woman like him. Dante walked closer and took the Matron's hand. He gently kissed her knuckles before speaking.
"Please accept my most sincere condolences, Matron. Your husband was a great man, perhaps the greatest of us all. The world will surely feel the weight of his loss."
The Matron turned her eyes away from Dante with a slight huff, and Fredrick released a small sigh at his mother's actions. Fredrick could never understand why his mother had such hatred for Dante, but he had hoped that she would at least be able to put it away for one fucking day!
"Master and Madam Lucas, please accept my sincerest condolences."
Risa spoke up from the side while curtseying respectfully to both Fredrick and the Matron, and Fredrick couldn't stop his eyes from following the way her chest moved as she bowed! Fredrick knew that Risa was not trying to be sensual at all, and she was simply showing them respect, but Risa's natural allure was just so great that even a motion as simple as curtseying became a sensual act when she did it! Fredrick didn't know how Dante managed to get the loyalty of such a woman, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't jealous!
The Matron eyed Risa with distaste when she heard Risa's greeting, and for a split second, she noticed Risa's gaze becoming hard and mocking as she stared her directly in the eye! The Matron frowned at Risa and she was about to say something, but the look was gone as quickly as it came and Risa was suddenly the prim and proper woman once again! The Matron grit her teeth as she glared at Risa angrily! The Matron didn't know why, but she had always noticed Risa's hostility towards her! Even though Risa seemed perfectly respectful and agreeable on the outside, the Matron knew that it was only a front! Risa was obviously disrespecting her inside her head! But the Matron didn't have any way to prove this, so she had to settle for simply nodding to Risa's greeting.
Dante turned to Fredrick and spoke.
"I'll go inside and make sure things are settled. I got off the phone with Richard and Angelina earlier. Their flights are coming in tomorrow, so they won't be able to make it to the funeral, but they should be here for the will reading."
Fredrick nodded along. Fredrick had made sure no one in the family told Richard or Angelina about their father's death, and he was happy that his younger siblings wouldn't be here for all this. They were coming back home after such a long time, and he didn't want this to be the first thing they would see once they got into the house. If they had to start dealing with the traditions and politics of their family immediately, then he was sure they would both go mad!
"Thank you, Dante. For everything. You were there for my father in his final years when most of us were too busy to keep him company, and that means a lot to me. I won't forget what you've done for this family."
Dante nodded back at Fredrick and finally turned to enter the mansion with Risa, but they both stopped when they heard some loud voices coming from the gate. All of the family members who were standing outside began to move out of the way, and Dante's eyes widened when he saw a bright red Humvee coming through the mansion gates. There was only one family in the city that drove Humvees and had the color red as their family symbol: the Bellegrini family!
There were many armed men from the Lucas family escorting the Humvee, and one of the men came forward and spoke to the Matron and Fredrick with furrowed brows.
"They approached us at the gate and claimed that they were here to pay their respects to the late Boss. They don't have any weapons on them, and their phones have been confiscated. What should we do with them?"
The Matron gained a look of pure fury when she heard this! The Bellegrini actually dared to show their fucking faces in this place on such an important day! Just how much disrespect would they show to us!? The Matron was about to tell the man to kill the fucking Bellegrini scum, but Dante spoke up before he could.
"Who's in the car?"
Everyone turned to glance at Dante once he said this, and the armed man spoke to Dante respectfully.
"Sir, it's the second daughter of the head of the Bellegrini family. Aliya Bellegrini."
Dante cursed internally as he realized that the Bellegrini had played their game almost perfectly! Aliya Bellegrini was only one of the four children that the Bellegrini boss had, and she was a common face in the arms business. By sending his second daughter, the Bellegrini Boss basically ensured that they wouldn't be able to touch her. The Lucas family wasn't at their best right now, so if they killed the daughter of the Bellegrini boss, then they would be getting into a war that they were definitely going to lose! They hadn't even put their previous boss in the ground yet, so there was no order in their family! And at the same time, the Bellegrini boss was pretending to show respect to the Lucas by sending his daughter there. If they killed her, Bellegrini would have even more of an excuse to start a war.
Dante felt a red-hot anger rising from within him, but he forced himself to calm down as he walked over to Fredrick and spoke into his ear so no one else would hear his next words.
"We should let them pay respects and leave. It'll be the best way to avoid a war when we're still grieving."
Fredrick frowned while giving Dante a curious look.
"Is that a good idea?"