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Chapter Twenty Three: Not Mother
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2026-06-06 23:13:26
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The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Twenty Three: Not Mother
IvyI slept better that night than I had in weeks.When I woke up, the sun was streaming through the curtains and Mrs Chen was already in my room, opening the windows, letting the fresh air in."Good morning, child," she said. "Did you sleep well?""Yes," I said. "I slept very well."Mrs Chen smiled. It was a warm smile. A mother's smile."I made you breakfast. Eggs and toast and fresh fruit.""Thank you, Mrs Chen."She left. I got dressed and walked to the dining room. The table was set for one. Dorian's chair was empty.I ate my breakfast alone. The eggs were good. The toast was warm. But I could not stop thinking about the way Dorian had looked at me last night. The way he had said my name. The way he had held me.Something had changed between us. I did not know what. I did not know if it was good or bad. But something had shifted.At 10 AM, I walked to the training room. Sofia was there, stretching on the mat."You look different," she said."Different how?""I do not know. Softer
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Twenty Two: The Art of Pushing Away
DorianThree weeks passed. Three weeks of meetings and shipments and contracts. Three weeks of telling myself I had made the right choice. Three weeks of not looking at her.I became good at it. The not looking. The not thinking. The not caring. I buried myself so deep in work that Marcus started making jokes about me becoming an accountant."The Irish are getting impatient," Marcus said, dropping a folder on my desk. "They want to meet her.""Not yet.""She has been here almost two months. People are talking.""Let them talk."Marcus did not move. He stood there with his arms crossed, staring at me like I was a puzzle he could not solve."You have not asked about her in ten days.""I have not needed to.""Mrs Chen says she is doing well. Eating. Sleeping. Training with Sofia." He paused. "She does not ask about you either."Something twisted in my chest. I ignored it."Good. That is how it should be."Marcus shook his head. "You are a fool, Dorian.""I am alive.""Are you?" He walked
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Twenty One: The Taste Of Honey
IvyI stopped trying.I stopped trying to figure out who was killing the brides. I stopped trying to earn Dorian's trust. I stopped trying to be anything other than what I had always been.Invisible.The first day, I sat on my bed and stared at the wall. Mrs Chen brought food. I did not eat it. Mrs Chen brought tea. I did not drink it. Mrs Chen sat beside me and held my hand and told me everything would be okay.I did not believe her.The second day, I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Mrs Chen brought soup. I ate a few spoonfuls. Mrs Chen brought tea. I let it go cold. Mrs Chen brushed my hair and told me stories about Dorian when he was a boy.I listened. I did not speak.The third day, I cried.Not silent tears. Not quiet sobs. Ugly crying. The kind that made my whole body shake and my throat hurt and my eyes swell shut.Mrs Chen was there. She held me. She rocked me. She whispered soft words in my ear."It is okay, child. Let it out. I am here. I am not going anywhere."I crie
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Twenty: The Devil I Know
DorianI went back to business.That was what I told myself. That was what I told Marcus. That was what I told everyone who looked at me with questions in their eyes.The shipments. The contracts. The deals. The endless dance of men who wanted what I had and would do anything to take it. I buried myself in it. Let the numbers and the names and the deadlines fill my head so I would not have to think about her.It did not work.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face. The way her tears had rolled down her cheeks. The way her voice had cracked when she said my name. The way she had stood in my doorway, small and broken and begging me to listen.I had told her to leave.I had told her I did not want her.I had watched her walk away and done nothing to stop her.Marcus walked into my office at noon. He had a tablet in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other."The Irish are asking about the alliance," he said. "They want to know when you are introducing the bride.""Soon.""You have b
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Nineteen: Truth Exposed
IvyMrs Chen did not move from the bed.She just sat there with her hands folded in her lap and her silver hair pinned up neatly and her eyes that were not kind or gentle or anything I had seen before."Close the door, child," she said.I did not want to close the door. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I wanted to find Dorian and tell him that the woman he trusted was sitting on my bed like she owned the room.But my feet would not move. My hands would not move. My mouth would not open.Mrs Chen sighed. It was a soft sound. Almost sad."I said close the door."I reached behind me and pushed the door closed. The click echoed through the room."Good." Mrs Chen patted the bed beside her. "Sit."I did not sit.Mrs Chen's eyes hardened. Just a little. Just enough."I have been nothing but kind to you since you arrived," she said. Her voice was calm. Hurt. Like a mother scolding a child who had been misbehaving. "I have made you meals. I have cleaned your room. I have brought you tea ev
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Eighteen: The Choice
DorianI could not stop thinking about it.The files. The photographs. The way Ivy had looked at me when she pointed out the pattern. The way her voice had been so sure, so certain, so convinced that Mrs Chen was a killer.I poured myself another drink and stared at the wall.The whiskey burned going down. It was the only thing I had felt in hours. The only thing that reminded me I was still alive.Marcus found me at two in the morning. He did not knock. Just walked in and sat down across from me."You look terrible," he said."I feel terrible.""Because of the girl?""Because of everything."Marcus leaned back in his chair. He did not say anything. He was good at that. Waiting. Letting me fill the silence with my own words.I did."She thinks Mrs Chen killed them. All twelve. She found a pattern in the files. The day they died. The day Mrs Chen had off. She thinks it is evidence."Marcus raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think?""I do not know what to think.""You know Mrs Chen. Yo
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Eight: Running Again
DorianIt was me at her door.I stood there in the dark hallway like an idiot, my hand on the handle, listening to her whisper through the wood.Please don't let me die here.Those words stopped me cold.I had heard begging before. Pleading. Screaming. Women on their knees promising anything if I w
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Seven: Corpses Getting Married
IvyIt's been three days since I arrived at this house, and I hadn't seen my husband since the night he bought me.Not that I wanted to see him.The Widower, they called him. Twelve dead wives. Twelve graves.I would be number thirteen.That alone was enough to make a man as cold as the grave.I sa
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Six: A Whisper
DorianThree days.For three days, there had been a woman living in my house.I hadn't seen her. Hadn't spoken to her. Hadn't asked about her.She was there like a piece of furniture I hadn't ordered. Present but irrelevant."You should at least have dinner with her," Marcus said, standing in the d
The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride Chapter Five: Down The Drain
IvyThe estate was enormous and dark and it looked like the kind of place that swallowed people whole.I saw it through the car window as the iron gates opened ahead of us, the black stone building rising against the sky with lights burning in its upper windows. The gardens on either side were perf
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