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홈 / Mafia / The Ghost Husband’s Deal / Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

작가: Shirley
The room descended into chaos.

The family doctor knelt by the bed, performing chest compressions. He then scrambled to pull the defibrillator cart to the bedside, his hands trembling as he charged the paddles.

"Clear! Everyone back!"

Marco was pushed against the wall, his face ashen. If Lorenzo died right after he had barged in, the family's stubborn old guard would have him chopped up and fed to the dogs.

"Aurora! Was this your doing?" Marco bellowed, pointing at my face.

I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed, and didn't move.

"I was just washing him, and he happened to stop breathing?" I let out a cold laugh.

"His body was already failing. He couldn't even handle a little stimulation. If you hadn't burst in here like a rabid dog, maybe the shock wouldn't have finished him off."

"You're full of shit!"

"BEEEEEEEEEP—"

The monitor let out one long, piercing tone. The doctor was sweating profusely. "It's no use! Mr. Lorenzo is gone! Someone get Nonna!"

Lorenzo's spirit floated above the doctor, his brow furrowed as he watched his own body being manhandled.

"A bunch of incompetents," he cursed. "They don't even know how to perform chest compressions. They're just making it worse."

"Hold on," I told him in my mind. "The more real this looks, the better. Your soul is still tied to your body. So shut up and wait for my signal."

He turned to look at me, his eyes flashing. "What do you mean?"

"Play dead," I mouthed.

Lorenzo's eyes instantly lit up.

Just then, a flurry of footsteps echoed from the hallway.

"Lorenzo! My darling boy!"

An old woman in a black dress rushed in, leaning on a silver-headed ebony cane with a string of onyx beads around her neck.

Nonna Volpe, the widow of the former Don, the most respected woman in the entire family. Isabella followed close behind, supporting her arm.

The moment Nonna saw the bloodless face of Lorenzo on the bed, her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed.

"Lorenzo! You can't leave your Nonna… You can't…" She stumbled to the bedside, gripping his hand tightly as tears streamed down her face.

The doctor stood up, removed his mask, and bowed his head low.

"Nonna, we did everything we could… Mr. Lorenzo… he didn't make it."

Lorenzo was dead.

The pronouncement hung in the air, and the room went deathly silent.

The corner of Marco's mouth twitched upward for a fraction of a second before he quickly arranged his features into a mask of unbearable grief.

"My brother… how could you just leave the family like this…"

Isabella also put on a show, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "A terrible tragedy…"

Lorenzo floated in mid-air, watching the performance, his face twitching.

"A nest of vipers, all waiting to pop the champagne," he gritted out. "Aurora, am I actually dead, or are we faking it? How am I still floating here?"

"The real show is about to begin," I answered in my mind.

Nonna's head snapped up. Her weathered eyes, red with grief, were suddenly fixed on Lorenzo's body.

"Wait. Did you all see that?"

Marco looked confused. "See what?"

"Didn't Lorenzo just wake up? Didn't he say something?" The old woman's hands gripped her onyx beads so tightly they creaked. She pointed at the doctor. "When you made the announcement, his eyes!"

The doctor recoiled in fear. "No… Nonna, there was no brainwave activity. He's really…"

"Then why are his eyes open?" the old woman demanded.

Everyone looked at the bed.

Lorenzo's eyes were indeed open, staring blankly at the crystal chandelier. His pupils were dilated, lifeless.

But I could see Lorenzo's soul slowly, inch by inch, sinking back into that body.

"I'm in," his voice echoed in my head. "Damn, this is a tight squeeze."

Marco panicked. He strode forward, intending to close Lorenzo's eyes before anyone else could react.

"Rest in peace, brother…"

The moment his fingertips touched Lorenzo's eyelid, the pale hand on the bed shot up.

It clamped down on Marco's wrist like an iron vise, the force astonishing.

Marco's pupils dilated in terror. He let out a bloodcurdling scream. "He's a ghost!"

He struggled frantically, but the hand's grip was impossibly strong.

The veins on the back of Lorenzo's hand bulged, his nails digging mercilessly into Marco's skin, drawing blood that trickled down his wrist.

"Ahhh! Let me go! Mother! Help me!" Marco fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

Nonna's eyes widened. The string of onyx beads in her hand snapped, and black beads scattered across the floor with a clatter.

"Lorenzo…?"

On the bed, the head slowly turned, the vertebrae in the neck making a series of soft clicks. The vacant eyes began to refocus, the pupils constricting like a lamp being turned back on.

Finally, his gaze locked onto Marco's face.

Lorenzo's cracked lips parted, and a hoarse, broken sound emerged from deep in his throat, like sandpaper scraping against a rusty blade.

"Who… gave you… the nerve… to touch me…"

Marco broke down. A dark patch spread across the crotch of his trousers as the reek of urine filled the air. "He's alive! He's back! He's a ghost…"

A sliver of Lorenzo's spirit popped out of his body again and floated next to me, a wicked grin on his face. "So, baby, how was my performance?"

"Flawless," I replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

Nonna finally snapped out of her shock. She threw her cane aside and rushed over, cupping Lorenzo's face.

"He's alive! My Lorenzo is back! Oh, God! Quick! Get more doctors! Get all the doctors in the family!"

Isabella leaned against the vanity, her face the color of old parchment, her knees so weak she could barely stand.

Lorenzo released his grip. Marco collapsed to the floor, scrambling to a corner, shaking uncontrollably.

His gaze finally landed on me.

The corner of his mouth twitched into the faintest of smirks. It was weak, but it carried a hint of his old, infuriating charm.

"Wife… water…"

That one word, "Wife," made everyone in the room freeze.

Nonna slowly turned her head and stared at me. "You're… the girl who came to settle the debt?"

Lorenzo closed his eyes, his breathing shallow, but his words were deliberate. "She is… my wife. From now on… if anyone dares to touch a hair on her head…"

He paused, his throat working.

"I will drag them to hell myself."
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  • The Ghost Husband’s Deal   Chapter 10

    Three years later.A grand banquet was held to celebrate the Volpe family's takeover of the largest port on the East Coast.As the new Don, Lorenzo stood at the head of the table, giving a speech.He wore an expensive custom-tailored suit, exuding an aura of command and power. The sickly man from years ago was completely gone.I sat at the far end of the long table, swirling a glass of red wine."So? Isn't the new Don to die for?" my sister, Chloe, said from beside me, her face a mask of unconcealed jealousy.After Frank had crossed the wrong gang and ended up dead, Chloe had failed to climb any higher. Now she was just a card dealer in one of the family's casinos."He'll do," I said with a casual smile, pride swelling in my chest."Sister, who would have thought you'd win such a huge gamble," Chloe sighed wistfully. "Back then, the entire underworld thought Lorenzo was a dead man.""Just lucky, I guess." I took a sip of my strong drink.Lorenzo finished his speech and walked straight

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