My Eight Years as the Don’s Substitute

I was a substitute, sent to the Mercer family to pay off my family's debt. For eight long years, I took care of my dead sister's Mafia husband and his heir.At the family dinner, after I mistakenly wore my sister's gown, the nephew I had raised myself doused me in red wine. Meanwhile, the Don of Mercer family, kept bringing home women who looked even more like my sister than I did.When Lucian brought the twenty-ninth and most convincing lookalike back to the estate, I finished packing my bags, ready to leave for a place where none of them would ever find me.The early spring air in New York still held a biting chill, but the cold inside this mansion was the kind that seeped into your bones.I ignored the mocking gazes at my back and walked straight to the art studio at the end of the attic.All I had to do was wash out the wine stain, change into my own clothes, and I'd be one step closer to leaving the identity of Vera Rossi behind for good.But the moment I pushed open the studio do

At dawn in the Mercer estate, before the morning mist had even cleared, my Aunt Carmela burst into my room.Just as she had eight years ago when she delivered me to this gilded cage, she was putting on her usual act for the sake of the family's interests."Vera, my dear niece, you can't leave."She clutched at the hem of my dress, her tears flowing with perfect timing."The Rossi family's business in Brooklyn is entirely dependent on our connection to Don Mercer. If you anger him, we'll all end up dead in the streets!""Your father is still in a hospital, kept alive only because Lucian pays the bills! If you provoke the Don, we'll all end up in concrete shoes at the bottom of the Hudson!""Axel still needs you. How can you be so selfish?"Calling me selfish?Looking at this woman I was supposed to call family, all I wanted to do was laugh."Auntie, in these eight years, have you ever once asked me if I was even living like a human being in this house?"Carmela froze, her eyes darting a

BANG!In that instant, the world spun.The acrid smell of burning rubber filled my nostrils as the car swerved out of control, slamming into the guardrail.The screech of metal on metal pierced my eardrums. The moment the airbag deployed, the world tilted, then plunged into a silent, blinding white.A few seconds later.The pain returned.I kicked open the car door and stumbled out.On the lawn not far away, Axel stood frozen in his shooting stance, the gun clattering from his hand to the ground.All the arrogant cruelty from before was gone.Now, he was just an eight-year-old boy, terrified by the massive recoil and the violent crash he had just caused."Vera," His lips trembled, his face ashen. "I didn't mean to..."I wiped the blood from my forehead.The nearby guards were in shock, completely unprepared for me to get back on my feet as if nothing had happened.With a sudden burst of strength, I yanked the tactical combat knife from a guard's belt.The cold blade glinted under the l

"You're wrong.""Axel doesn't need me, Mr. Mercer."I took a step back from the leather-gloved hand Lucian extended toward me."He has Aunt Vivian, tutors from prestigious universities, and a whole squad of bodyguards."I glanced at the stunned Vivian standing behind him, my voice dripping with sarcasm."And I am just a payment for a debt, a commoner from a bankrupt family. As you once said, my low-born blood would only dirty the noble floors of the Mercer estate."Lucian's hand froze in mid-air.His expression hardened for a moment, then, as if he'd heard an amusing joke, he withdrew his hand and casually brushed a fallen leaf from his sleeve."You're throwing a tantrum, Vera. It's cute."He said it with a dismissive tone, flicking a leaf from his overcoat.He snapped his fingers.The bodyguards behind him immediately opened the trunk and pulled out three heavy, black-lacquered wooden chests, dropping them with a thud onto the muddy ground.The lids were opened.One was full of cash,

Lucian's POVOn the flight back from the Pacific Northwest, I finished a whole bottle of whiskey.The alcohol burned my throat, but it couldn't burn away Vera's words."I never loved you."How ridiculous.I am the king of New York. I control the lives and deaths of countless people, and I am used to being flattered, feared, and surrounded by false love.I always thought Vera was one of them.It was late when I returned to the estate.The moment I pushed open the bedroom door, that suffocating sense of emptiness hit me again.The faint scent of turpentine and lavender was gone.Vivian came to greet me, wearing an expensive silk nightgown and doused in Chanel No. 5.Rose used to love this heavy perfume.Now, I find it sharp, even nauseating."Get out," I said coldly.Vivian froze, tears welling in her eyes.I impatiently loosened my tie. I couldn't stand another second in this room, haunted by the ghost of the wrong woman.I escaped to the study.A huge oil painting hung there.I had for