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Chapter 3

作者: Peachy
I walked through the crowd, champagne in hand.

On stage, my father was raising his glass.

His voice boomed across the hall. "Thank you all for coming! Let's raise a glass to our family's treasure. Happy birthday!"

POP! Confetti cannons exploded.

The crowd cheered.

"Our family?"

My voice, cold and sharp, cut through the noise.

The music screeched to a halt.

Every single head turned to me.

On stage, the happy family's smiles froze.

"Aurelia…" My mother saw me. Her face went white.

She hiked up her dress and ran down the steps, reaching for my hand.

I flinched back, disgusted. I wouldn't let her touch me.

"What are you doing here?!" My father marched toward me, his Don persona in full force. His eyes were dark, dangerous. "Do you know what today is? Stop this nonsense and go home!"

"Nonsense?"

I laughed out loud. And I smashed my champagne glass on the floor.

Shards of glass and wine sprayed across the carpet.

"The Don of Chicago throws a massive party for an outsider in his own home! But he forgets that today is also his own daughter's birthday!"

I lifted my chin. My voice rang out. "So who's really the one causing trouble here?!"

The room erupted.

The dead silence exploded into whispers.

Everyone stared, their eyes darting between my parents and me. Shock written all over their faces.

"He's ignoring his own daughter's birthday for this?"

"What is the Boss doing? I don't get it."

The whispers were like slaps across my parents' faces.

My father trembled with rage. He slammed his palm on a table.

"Everybody shut up!" he roared. He turned back to me, his eyes locked on mine. "Aurelia, are you trying to destroy this family's name?!"

"You're the ones destroying it!"

I didn't back down.

I pulled out my phone. Turned the volume all the way up. Held it high.

The video I just took played for everyone to see.

My mother's gentle voice filled the hall. "…commissioned just for you. Only you deserve it…"

Then I swiped to the next photo.

Bianca in the garden, wearing my sapphire brooch.

"Look at the brooch she's wearing! That was my work! I spent three nights making that for you!"

Ten years of pain, of anger, finally broke through.

I pointed at the pale-faced girl on the stage. I screamed, my voice raw.

"You treat someone else's daughter like she's a precious jewel! And you leave me in an empty house like a piece of trash!"

"Ten years! What did I do wrong to deserve this?! To be abandoned by you?!"

Tears streamed down my mother's face.

Her eyes were filled with panic and regret. She shook her head, her voice choked with sobs. "Aurelia, don't… It's not like that. Mom can explain…"

"I don't need your explanation!"

I was done being weak.

I looked away from her, my face hard as stone. I strode toward the tech booth at the side of the stage.

The projector controls were there.

My phone still had the screenshots from the "La Famiglia" group chat.

I was going to let all of Chicago see how the great Don and Donna conspired to humiliate their own daughter.

I grabbed the projector cable.

I aimed it for my phone.

In that split second—

BANG!

The ballroom doors were thrown open.

A figure rushed in.

Nico.

He lunged for me. Snatched my phone. Clutched it to his chest.

"Nico! Let go!" I yelled, trying to grab it back.

But he held on tight, his whole body shaking.

His expensive suit was wrinkled, his hair a mess. His eyes were bloodshot.

Tears fell from his eyes. Big, heavy drops. He looked terrified. Desperate.

Just as I was about to lose it, Nico looked at me, his eyes red and broken. He begged me, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"Sis! Please! Just wait five minutes! Just five minutes!"
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  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 9

    I stayed locked in that suite for three days. In a hotel owned by my enemy.For three days, I replayed the "Gift for the Princess."The dusty gown. The voided tickets. The video of my family falling apart in the ruins of their grand plan.We were all bleeding.I finally understood. The wall of ice I built didn't just lock them out. It locked me in.On the third afternoon, I pulled out the USB drive. I checked out.The moment I pushed open the door to the Cassano estate, it was silent. You could hear a pin drop.No squads of bodyguards. No maids rushing around.I slipped off my shoes and walked into the living room.My old diary from when I was a teenager sat right in the middle of the coffee table.Next to it was that faded photo of me at seven in Sicily, hugging my teddy bear.A peace offering.A small noise came from the kitchen.My mother walked out carrying a plate of freshly baked biscotti.She wore no makeup. Her hair was pulled back simply. She was in plain house clothes. The po

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 8

    I walked two blocks. I got a suite at the Peninsula. Top floor. The hotel owned by my family's biggest rival.I turned off my phone. Threw it deep into the sofa cushions.The absurdity of it all sat like lead in my chest.I sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in a robe, watching the lights of Michigan Avenue go out, one by one. I didn't sleep.The next morning, a sharp knock cut through the silence.I thought it was room service.The second I opened the door a crack, it was forced open.Nico.He brought the autumn chill in with him. His Armani suit was a mess. Wrinkled. I could smell stale cigar smoke and gunpowder on him.The dark circles under his eyes were like angry bruises.He was holding a thermos. He shut the door behind him, and I heard the lock click. He pulled out the key card. Double-locked it.His body was a wall, moving closer, blocking the light from the entryway. I had to take a step back.He put the thermos on the counter. A faint scent wafted out.My mother's tortellini

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 7

    My verdict landed in the silence.My words snuffed out the last spark of hope in my parents' eyes.I walked past Nico's rigid shoulders, straight to the restored sports car.My heels were silent on the thick carpet. Only my ragged breathing gave me away.I stopped at the front of the car.My fingers traced the cool metal body.The paint was flawless. Not a single scratch under the bright lights.This was the gift I used to dream of.I waited summer after summer for it.I turned around. My gaze was calm as I faced the three people who sat at the apex of Chicago's underworld."At ten, I didn't give a damn about a vacation in Sicily," I looked into my father's eyes. "I just wanted ten minutes of your day. Just to sit on the sofa and have a glass of hot milk with me. Not to listen to you take another overseas call about a gang war."My father's lips trembled. His eyes were a frightening shade of red."At twelve, I didn't need a princess dress covered in crystals," I turned to my mother. "I

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 6

    Blood pounded in my ears.It all clicked.The "La Famiglia" group chat. It was all a goddamn mind game.The precious "treasure" they all adored. It was me.The words that stabbed me, the cold shoulders… all rehearsed lines in their sick play.I was frozen.My stomach churned. It was sick. A wave of disgust washed over me.Nico took a step forward.He pushed the phone he’d snatched back into my hand.His thumb deliberately pressed against my skin. The heat of it burned, an undeniable pressure on my nerves."I knew everything," his voice was rough, his eyes full of guilt. "I was afraid you'd break. The screenshot… it was a signal. A warning."I looked up.Met his bloodshot eyes.I grabbed his tie. Yanked him close.The space between us vanished."So you were in on it? An actor, too?" I seethed, staring him down. "Watching me lose it like some clown… did you enjoy the show? Is this how the Cassanos do business? Playing games with your own blood?"He didn't flinch.He let me pull his tie t

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 5

    Lights danced on the big screen.The picture changed.Five years old. Me in a tiny, custom-made riding outfit. Stumbling around the heavily guarded stables.Seven years old. My face smeared with paint. Holding up a messy drawing in the art studio.Ten years old. Clutching that old teddy bear. Sitting on the couch in an empty living room, waiting. The cold silhouettes of bodyguards patrolling outside.In the background, Dad's voice came through the speakers, low and trembling."I thought… conquering Chicago's underworld… was the best way to protect you.""I was wrong. I made the Cassano empire my only mission."A heavy sigh echoed through the speakers. Tired. Broken."No one knows. The Don of this city… hands soaked in my enemies' blood… but I couldn't even hold my own daughter."The screen went dark.Twelve years old. My massive, empty bedroom at the estate. Me, alone, making a wish over a small cake with a single candle.Fifteen years old. Passed out on a pile of design sketches. Tear

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 4

    I stopped.The cable slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor.The hall was silent. Every eye was on the stage.My father walked over and picked up the microphone.The raging Don was gone.His shoulders slumped. The hard shell was gone.A screech of feedback cut through the air.My father stood straight, his eyes finding me in the crowd."Everyone." His voice was hoarse. It echoed through the room. "Tonight… was a lie."Silence again. Absolute silence."Today is not Bianca's birthday," my father said slowly. "Today is my daughter's birthday. Aurelia Cassano's birthday."Bianca, standing near my mother, turned pale.She tried to speak. "Don, you…""Shut up," my mother snapped, her voice cold. "Your job is over. Get off the stage."Bianca retreated into the shadows.Job?I stared at them."What do you mean?" My own voice was thin.My father took two steps toward me, holding the mic.His deep eyes were swirling with pain."Aurelia. When you were ten, I was fighting for territory in C

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