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The Contract Bride He Left To Die

The Contract Bride He Left To Die

Maikling Kwento · Mafia
By:  EternityKumpleto
Language: English
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10Mga Kabanata
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Synopsis

System

Countdown

Winning Back the Wife

Plot Twists

Tragic Love

Mafia

Bias

Seven days after my twin sister Bianca suffered cardiac arrest and slipped into a coma, my fiancé Matteo De Luca sat beside her ICU bed, holding her cool hand through the night. “So you were telling the truth.” “If I don’t marry you, you really will die.” “Bianca, wake up, and I’ll marry you immediately.” After his promise, her pulse quickened on the monitor, and Bianca opened her eyes. Everyone called it a miracle. Only then did I learn that Bianca was a Contract Holder, and the man she had been assigned to win was Matteo—the man I had loved for five years and was about to marry. His promise had only stabilized her. According to Bianca, the contract would not be complete until the marriage became legal. That same night, our two mafia families rewrote the wedding plans. The De Luca chapel remained booked. The reception, guest list, and priest stayed the same. My mother placed the De Luca heirloom veil that had been fitted for me on Bianca’s head, my father ordered the lawyers to replace my name on the marriage documents, and Matteo slid my engagement ring onto her finger. They were relieved that Bianca had survived and assumed I could wait. Standing outside her room, I watched Matteo kiss her hand as the system spoke inside my mind. 【Target individual is preparing to marry another Contract Holder.】 【Original task entering failure countdown.】 They did not know I was a Contract Holder too. Bianca and I had received the same task, with the same man as our target. She was awake. Now I was the one marked for erasure.

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Kabanata 1

Chapter 1

The day Bianca fully regained consciousness, the De Luca lawyers had already been waiting at the hospital for three hours.

When I entered the top-floor conference room, Matteo was signing new marriage documents. The name Isabella Caruso had been replaced with Bianca Caruso.

The chapel confirmation, the priest’s schedule, and the revised guest list lay across the table, each stamped with the De Luca family’s black-and-gold seal.

Matteo saw me and paused.

“Isabella.”

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his shirt collar was wrinkled. He had barely left Bianca’s room all week.

I approached the table.

“You’re marrying her.”

“She’s recovering.”

“Because you promised to marry her.”

Matteo set down the pen.

“Her heart stopped once. I can’t let that happen again.”

“So our wedding is canceled?”

“Postponed.”

“Until after she becomes your wife?”

His brow tightened.

“This isn’t about love.”

“Then what is it?”

“Saving her.”

Matteo stepped closer and reached for my coat collar, the way he always did when he thought I was underdressed.

“Isabella, I’m not abandoning you. I can’t stand by and watch Bianca die.”

I stepped away.

“Then marry me legally first.”

His hand froze.

“What?”

“She can have the chapel, the reception, and the ring.” I held his gaze. “Sign the civil papers with me first. It will take ten minutes.”

Disbelief flashed across his face.

“Bianca needs a legal marriage to survive. If I marry you first, you take away her only chance.”

“What about mine?”

The door opened.

My mother entered, her eyes still swollen from crying.

“Your sister just woke up. Do you have to upset her now?”

“I only need ten minutes.”

“And then what?” She gripped my arm. “You know Bianca needs this marriage, yet you still want to sign first. When did you become this cruel?”

I did not pull away.

“What if I die without it too?”

She hesitated.

“What if I’m the same as her?”

Her doubt vanished almost immediately.

“Don’t imitate your sister.”

My father entered and closed the door behind him.

“The De Lucas saw Bianca’s heart stop, and they saw her wake after Matteo promised to marry her.” His tone was as calm as it was during a family ruling. “This marriage will proceed.”

“Because of the alliance?”

“And because she is your sister.”

“I’m your daughter too.”

He looked away.

“We’ll discuss that later.”

My mother softened her voice.

“Bella, you’ve always been stronger than Bianca. Her body cannot survive another collapse. You’re losing a wedding. She would lose her life.”

Matteo did not disagree.

I looked at him.

“You think I should give her everything too?”

“I know this is unfair.”

“But you’ll still marry her.”

“Yes.”

He stepped closer, trying to touch my shoulder.

“When she’s stable, I’ll make it up to you. We can prepare another wedding and commission another ring. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“Including you?”

He did not answer.

A nurse called from the corridor.

“Matteo, Bianca is awake. She keeps asking for you.”

He turned at once.

As he passed me, he stopped.

“Isabella, don’t make this harder for her.”

He only used my full name during family meetings or when he was angry. Usually, I was Isa.

But when he opened Bianca’s door, his voice softened.

“Bia, I’m here.”

My mother followed him. My father returned to the lawyers and the marriage documents.

Then the system spoke.

【Original task has suffered irreversible deviation.】

【Temporary alternative condition activated: obtain one unconditional, sincere declaration of love from the target within twenty-four hours.】

【Time remaining: 23:59:59.】

Through the glass, I watched Matteo sit beside Bianca and raise a cup of water to her lips.

I opened the door and called his name.
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10 Kabanata
Chapter 1
The day Bianca fully regained consciousness, the De Luca lawyers had already been waiting at the hospital for three hours.When I entered the top-floor conference room, Matteo was signing new marriage documents. The name Isabella Caruso had been replaced with Bianca Caruso.The chapel confirmation, the priest’s schedule, and the revised guest list lay across the table, each stamped with the De Luca family’s black-and-gold seal.Matteo saw me and paused.“Isabella.”Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his shirt collar was wrinkled. He had barely left Bianca’s room all week.I approached the table.“You’re marrying her.”“She’s recovering.”“Because you promised to marry her.”Matteo set down the pen.“Her heart stopped once. I can’t let that happen again.”“So our wedding is canceled?”“Postponed.”“Until after she becomes your wife?”His brow tightened.“This isn’t about love.”“Then what is it?”“Saving her.”Matteo stepped closer and reached for my coat collar, the way he always did
Magbasa pa
Chapter 2
Matteo turned back. Bianca was propped against the pillows, still holding the glass he had given her.“What is it?”“Do you still love me?”The room went quiet.Matteo studied me for a moment, exhaustion clear in his face.“Of course.”“I want to hear you say it.”“Isabella, I love you. But Bianca needs me right now.”I waited, but the system remained silent.Matteo rubbed his brow.“Is that enough?”“Do you mean it?”His patience thinned.“I just told you I love you. Bianca has only just woken up. Do we have to do this here?”“Only once.” I held his gaze. “No duty, no compensation, and no one else attached to the answer. Just tell me you love me.”Bianca’s eyes filled with tears.“Isa, don’t force him. If you don’t want me to have the wedding, I can give it up.”She reached for her IV. Matteo caught her hand at once.“Don’t.”He steadied her before turning back to me.“My feelings for you haven’t changed, but she needs this marriage to survive. We can’t let her die for our relationshi
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Chapter 3
Five minutes past eight, Matteo still had not replied.I called him. He answered on the seventh ring. Low organ music and hushed voices sounded in the background.“Isa?”“It’s eight.”A brief silence followed.“I know,” Matteo said. “Bianca is rehearsing in the chapel. She nearly fainted when she stood up. The priest and the family elders are here. I can’t leave yet.”I tightened my grip on the cold coffee.“You promised you’d come.”“I haven’t forgotten.”“Then when will you be here?”Fabric rustled on the other end before Bianca spoke softly.“Matteo, is the comb pulling my hair?”“Don’t move. I’ll fix it.”His voice softened at once. A moment later, he returned to me.“It’s the De Luca family’s heirloom wedding veil. We need to finish the full rehearsal tonight. I’ll come as soon as it’s over.”“How long?”“Half an hour. An hour at most.”【Time remaining: 07:55:00.】“Do you remember why I’m waiting?”“You want me to confess my love again.”“Not casually.”“I understand.” His patienc
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Chapter 4
After the nurse left, I stared at the report.Eight weeks.That was when Matteo still came home late, held me in bed, and talked about our future. He once said that if we had children, he would step back from family business and make it home for dinner.I called him.“Isa?”Someone was discussing the chapel seating plan in the background.“Matteo, I need to tell you something.”“I can’t talk. There’s a problem with the wedding schedule.”“I’m pregnant.”Silence followed.“Isa—”Someone called his name from the chapel, and the line went dead.I removed the IV and returned to the Caruso estate with the report.My mother and Bianca sat near the fireplace, surrounded by chapel plans, seating charts, and bridal catalogs. My father was reviewing the guest list with a De Luca lawyer. Matteo stood behind Bianca while she chose the processional music.The room fell silent when I entered.I walked to Matteo and handed him the report.“I’m eight weeks pregnant.”Shock crossed his face.Bianca’s c
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Chapter 5
No one followed me when I left the Caruso estate.My mother stayed behind with the medical report, while my father returned downstairs to finish reviewing the wedding guest list. Through the closed door, I could still hear the doctor examining Bianca and Matteo answering in a low, urgent voice.The snow had already settled thickly.I did not return to my apartment. I went back to the old clock tower at Northwestern and sat on the same bench where I had waited for Matteo only hours earlier.The ache in my abdomen had not stopped.【Time remaining: 02:17:46.】During Bianca’s coma, my mother barely left the hospital, my father canceled every family meeting, and Matteo spent night after night outside the ICU.I handled the Caruso family’s legitimate business during the day, brought them food and clothes at night, then returned alone to an empty apartment.No one ever asked whether I was tired. They only said that if Bianca never woke, the family would fall apart.I had wanted her to wake to
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Chapter 6
The system pulled my consciousness back to the Caruso estate.My mother sat by the fire, calling me again and again. Each time the call went to voicemail, her expression hardened.“How long is she going to keep this up? Now she won’t even answer.”My father set a glass of whiskey in front of her.“Let her calm down. Once Bianca and Matteo are married, she’ll accept it.”“What if she still doesn’t come home tomorrow?”“She won’t leave this family.”Matteo stood near the fireplace, staring at our unanswered chat.Come home. We’ll discuss the baby tomorrow.Half an hour later, he sent another message.Hiding won’t change the wedding.My phone lay beneath the snow beside my body. The screen lit briefly, then went dark.“She only wants me to go after her,” Matteo said.My mother gave a cold laugh.“No one goes. She needs to learn that making a scene won’t force everyone to give in.”No one disagreed.The daughter they expected to return was already sitting beneath the snow at the clock towe
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Chapter 7
By the morning of the wedding, security around the De Luca chapel had doubled.My mother checked the guest list herself and stationed Caruso men at every entrance. Her orders were clear: if I appeared, I was not to be allowed near Bianca.Matteo overheard her.“If Isabella comes, don’t hurt her.”“She had someone impersonate the police and report her death,” my mother said. “How far are you going to let this go?”“Keep her outside. Nothing more.”He entered the chapel and checked his phone. None of his messages to me had been read.Enzo approached through the side aisle.“The police call was real. Cook County received a body registered under Isabella Caruso’s name.”Matteo’s expression tightened.“Registered under her name doesn’t prove it’s her.”“Her documents and fingerprints match. They still need a relative to identify her.”“Records can be altered.”“They want someone there before noon.”Matteo looked toward the altar, where the priest and staff were preparing for the ceremony.“
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Chapter 8
No one spoke.The officer opened the sealed envelope and placed my phone, identification, and preliminary report on the front pew.My father stepped forward.“These can be forged.”“Documents can,” the officer said. “Fingerprints cannot. We matched them with Ms. Caruso’s medical records and the police database. The body was found near Northwestern’s old clock tower, and the estimated time of death matches when she disappeared.”Matteo remained at the altar.“Records can be altered.”Enzo entered through the chapel doors, his expression grim.“Don, it’s confirmed. The police call, the body, the fingerprints—everything.”The ring was still caught at Bianca’s knuckle. The priest closed his book.My mother rose abruptly.“No. Bring her here.”“Her body is at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office,” the officer said. “Your family was contacted twice.”“She isn’t dead. She’s angry. She wants to stop the wedding.”The medical examiner’s representative opened his file.“Ms. Caruso died from
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Chapter 9
Matteo refused to let anyone take me from his arms.“Check again.”The doctor stood beside the open drawer. “Mr. De Luca, she has been dead for more than forty-eight hours. The baby did not survive either. There is nothing we can do.”Matteo looked down at my hands, still folded over my abdomen.“Our baby?”“I’m sorry.”Matteo gripped the edge of the drawer.“She told me she would die.”His voice broke.“She gave me the place and the time, and I left her there.”My mother entered and collapsed beside me.“Bella, open your eyes. Mommy’s here.”The moment she touched my frozen hand, she began to sob.“I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want you to lose the baby. I only wanted you to stop fighting the wedding.”My father remained near the door, unable to look at me.He had promised compensation, another future, another child—as though any of it could be replaced.My mother turned on him.“Why didn’t you send someone after her?”“You said she was making a scene.”“She was pregnant.”“And you told
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Chapter 10
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer Isabella Caruso.The system gave me a new face, a new name, and a life with no connection to either family. My records identified me as Elena Marlowe, twenty-seven years old, with enough money to disappear wherever I chose.My memories remained.So did the cold beneath the clock tower.I left Chicago that week.Three years later, I owned a small botanical studio in Portland. I lived above the shop, worked without guards outside the door, and answered to no family.The Caruso and De Luca names still appeared in the news. Their alliance had collapsed after my death. Bianca survived, but Matteo never married her. My parents withdrew from public life, while Matteo continued searching for proof that I might still exist.He found me on a rainy afternoon.I was tying ribbon around a box of winter roses when the bell above the door rang.“Give me a moment.”The room went silent.When I looked up, Matteo stood near the entrance.He looked older. Exha
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