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Chapter 3

Autor: Liora Z
Seraphina stood at the door and gave the order.

Eight huge guys stormed the warehouse.

CRASH!

My workbench was kicked over.

Paint and scissors scattered everywhere.

The gown designs I’d stayed up nights drawing were ripped to shreds.

Seraphina walked in. "You stupid bitch." Her heel ground my sketches into the dirt. "Stay away from my husband."

Neighbors crowded the doorway to watch.

But no one said a word. The men wore the Gallo family crest on their suits. In this neighborhood, you don't mess with the mob.

Suddenly, Seraphina clutched her stomach.

Tears streamed down her face as she cried out to the crowd. "I'm carrying the Valenti heir! Why won't you leave him alone!"

The crowd started whispering, pointing.

Just then, a car pulled up.

Julian strode in.

I stared at him.

I thought he would at least stop this circus. Leave me with a shred of dignity.

He didn't even look at me.

He walked straight to Seraphina and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" he asked her softly.

Then, he turned to me.

His eyes were like ice.

"Alessia. Apologize."

I was stunned. The blood rushed to my head.

"What did you say?"

"Apologize to her," he repeated. So entitled. "She's carrying the future head of the Valenti family. You can't afford to cross her."

I looked at him. The fire inside me just died.

My father was in the hospital. Ten thousand a day. He was paying.

I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt. I forced myself to look down.

"I'm sorry."

Julian smiled, satisfied.

He put his arm around Seraphina and started to leave. Then he glanced back at me.

I knew that look. It meant: Be good. I'll make it up to you tonight.

Late that night.

The warehouse window slid open.

Julian climbed in, smelling of booze.

He grabbed me from behind, burying his face in my neck.

"Still mad?" He kissed my ear. "It was just an act. I had to save face for the Gallos."

I froze. Ice in my veins.

"Be a good girl," he whispered, grabbing my waist. "Once the alliance is solid, I'll move you into the penthouse."

His hand touched my stomach.

I flinched. My gut twisted.

When I was twenty, I had been pregnant with his child, too.

What did he say back then?

"A bastard is a liability. It'll weaken my position in the family."

That night, his men dragged me to a back-alley clinic in Brooklyn. They didn't even use real anesthetic.

I almost bled to death on that table.

And him? The next day, he flew to Vegas with Seraphina for a week.

Tears fell, hot on his hand.

Julian turned me around. He sighed, wiping my tears with his thumb.

"Don't cry. It hurts me to see you cry." His voice was so gentle.

After he left.

I stood there and slapped myself. Hard.

"Pathetic," I whispered.

But my father's condition really did improve. Because Julian paid, the hospital's best machines never stopped for a second.

I clutched the key to the penthouse.

For my father's life, I’d be a goomah. I accepted it.

A few days later, an invitation arrived.

Seraphina wanted me to join her for prayers at the church.

Julian's bodyguard delivered the message: "The boss says this is an olive branch. Take it."

I had no choice.

That Sunday, I went to the cathedral.

It was packed. Seraphina stood by the statue of the Holy Mother, a smile on her face.

"Alessia, come here," she beckoned.

I walked over, closed my eyes, and clasped my hands.

The second I finished my prayer and opened my eyes to stand up…

"Ah!"

Seraphina screamed.

She fell straight backward. Her head hit the marble floor with a sickening thud.

The next second…

A wave of bright red blood spread from under her white dress.

The church went silent.

Then, men appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me.

In front of hundreds of shocked guests, they pointed at me and yelled:

"She pushed Miss Seraphina! She tried to murder the Valenti heir!"
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    After the guests had all gone, I stood alone before my father's new headstone.A cold wind blew through the green cemetery in Brooklyn. I took the antique Cartier cross from my coat pocket.The one my mother left me. The one I had given Julian ten years ago as a promise. He had tainted it. He turned it into a leash, a symbol of my blind, pathetic submission.I knelt down. With my bare hands, I dug a small hole in the dirt beside the headstone and dropped the necklace in without a second thought.The dirt covered the cold diamonds, burying those ten pathetic years for good."Dad, don't worry about me anymore," I whispered, touching the cold engraving on the stone. "Someone is taking care of me now."Steady footsteps approached.Caspian came and knelt beside me. Without hesitation.He crossed himself. He kissed his fingertips and pressed them to the cold stone."Father, you can rest easy," he said, looking up, his eyes as solid as unshakable rock. "I, Caspian, will spend the rest of my l

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    On the day my father's mourning period ended, a spectacle unfolded outside my warehouse that became the joke of the neighborhood.Julian was wearing an expensive Zegna suit. His hair was perfectly combed, just like when he first took over the family business.He knelt at my warehouse door like a devout pilgrim, holding a single piece of paper.It was the marriage certificate we were supposed to sign at our church wedding.The one he had tossed aside at the altar. Now, it was crumpled and desperately smoothed out.He just knelt there, holding the certificate high above his head.Neighbors shook their heads and walked around him.His proud mother knelt in the mud beside him, crying and pulling at his arm."Julian! Are you mad? Get up! You're the head of the Valenti family!"He shook her off. His eyes were locked on my closed iron door.He knelt from dawn till dusk.That night, a storm broke. He was soaked to the bone, but he clutched that pathetic piece of paper to his chest, protecting

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    "Get out! Get the hell out!"Julian's roar echoed through the Upper East Side penthouse, followed by the crash of something heavy shattering.The New York underworld had been turned upside down overnight.For crossing the Ravanelli family, the Valentis were disgraced.The Gallo family cut ties to save themselves. Seraphina was put under house arrest. Their alliance controlling the docks and smuggling routes was broken.The furious Commission stripped Julian of all his power.The once-untouchable boss of New York was now a puppet. His turf was carved up and divided.After the bodyguards left, the apartment was dead silent.He sat on the floor, not eating, not drinking, for three days and three nights.Scattered around him was a decade of his life. My life.The money laundering ledgers I had organized and labeled for him for ten years.The thick stack of offshore account records from when I sold my fashion studio to cover his debts.The custom suit designs I’d stayed up all night creatin

  • Left at the Altar I Chose the Underground Fighter   Chapter 6

    A nurse at the hospital ward handed me a faded old envelope."Your father stared at the door until the very end," she said. "He was waiting for you to come home."Her voice was sharp in the empty room.My hands trembled. I dug my nails into the seal of the envelope, tearing it open only when they turned white.Inside was a wad of crumpled cash. A few small checks, worn and blurry from being held so tight. He must have saved for so long.There was also a note.The handwriting was twisted, distorted by agony."Take the money. Go live your own life. Papa loves you."My stomach clenched, hard.I clutched that thin piece of paper and my knees gave out. I fell to the floor.The tears broke free.I buried my face in my father’s already stiff hand and cried my heart out.If only I'd seen Julian for who he was sooner. If I hadn't wasted ten years in that toxic relationship, laundering his money, cleaning his messes.My dad wouldn't have died.Heavy footsteps approached from behind.Caspian knel

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    "Are you fucking nuts?" Julian was doubled over, howling in the private casino suite.He pointed a finger at Caspian, his eyes dripping with contempt."Some gutter dog rents a few armored Escalades and thinks he can play big shot in Valenti territory?"Seraphina shrieked, pointing at the door."Guards! Get this psycho and that cheap bitch out of my sight!"Caspian didn't even give them a sideways glance.Behind him, two rows of enforcers in custom black suits moved as one. They pulled Glocks with silencers. Submachine guns, too.The clean click of metal in the closed room was like death knocking.The guns in the hands of Julian’s bodyguards clattered to the marble floor.Everyone’s hands shot up. They were all shaking.Julian’s face changed. But he kept his chin up."You dare touch me? I'm the head of the Valenti family! I'll have the Commission put a contract on your head!"Just then, frantic footsteps pounded outside the door.The core members of the Commission—the men who held the f

  • Left at the Altar I Chose the Underground Fighter   Chapter 4

    "The account has been cut."The next morning, the hospital called.The Valenti family stopped paying. They kicked my father out of the private ICU. Dumped him in a general ward.I ran like a madwoman to the Valenti family's private casino suite.The door swung open.The room was thick with cigar smoke. Heads of several families were playing poker.Julian was leaning back on a leather sofa.Seraphina was lying with her head in his lap.He was reading the Bible to her flat stomach in that magnetic voice of his.The room went silent."Learned your lesson?" Julian didn't even look up. He turned a page. "Kneel."I walked to the sofa. And I dropped. Straight onto the marble floor."I pushed her. I was jealous. I was crazy. I admit it."I stared into his eyes, my voice shaking. "Please, turn the account back on. My dad is dying in the general ward."Julian smiled.Seraphina just snorted. "Not good enough. Do it again."I didn't hesitate.Thud.My forehead hit the floor. Hard. Once. Twice.The

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