All Chapters of The Mafia's Little Doll: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Maria's POVI dressed simple, wearing nothing fancy. Just jeans and a blouse. The hospital wouldn't care about my appearance, and truthfully, I had no energy to put on a show.My mind was restless, circling around possibilities I wished I could silence.Stepping into the sitting room, I found Louisa arranging some flowers on the table. Her head lifted at the sound of my footsteps.“I’m heading out,” I told her.Her hands stilled. “Where to? I hope you won’t take as long as last time.”I shrugged, though a sharpness went into my voice. “Does it matter? Luca is barely home. It’s not like he notices if I’m here or not.”Louisa looked at me as though I’d spoken blasphemy. “That’s not true and you know it. He cares. He’s probably just… going through something. You know, after what just happened with the shooting. It must have affected him in a way you don't know.”“He was like this once,” Louisa continues, “after Alexa left. He became different. Started acting strange. He would leave the h

Maria's POV The hospital’s reception is quieter than I expected, but still, I feel restless.I sit idly, hands in my lap, waiting for the nurse to call me in. My head isn’t with me fully, it keeps drifting where I don’t want it to go.Luca.I hate that I’m thinking about him. Of all places, of all moments, my mind still insists on circling back to him. To his face when he looks at me. To the way his silence feels heavier than his words. To the distance that has grown between us.A sound startles me. It's the vibration of my phone and its ringtone.I blink and fumble through my purse, sheepishly pulling it out as if the device itself had caught me off guard. The screen lights up. His name glows at me. Luca.I just stare.Of course it’s him. Who else would it be? Probably to apologize. Probably to ask where I’ve gone. Probably to… I don’t even know.The ringing cuts off, leaving me staring at the darkened screen. I almost felt relief, until it lights up again. Same name. Same weight p

Stephanie's POVI’ve always wanted to go to the city.Even as a little girl, I used to stand outside our small house and stare at the dusty road that led out of our town. I would imagine the cars, the tall buildings, the lights, the sound of many people moving at once. In my head, the city was where life began.Back then, I had a friend, Esme. We grew up together, played with the same dolls, shared the same secrets. But when her mother died, everything changed.Her father took her and left for the city. I stayed behind, stuck in our little town with my drunk father and tired mother.I didn’t hear much about her after she left. But sometime later, word spread that Esme’s father had died tragically in the city. People whispered about it. They said he was the driver for a dangerous man.They didn’t mention names. They didn't need to because we all knew the kind of men they meant. Men with power, men everyone feared.Years passed. I thought I had lost Esme forever. Then one day, when pho

Maria's POV I still sat at the park, the cool breeze brushing my skin. My head felt lighter than it had been in days, and for in this moment, I thought I could fall asleep right here. But then my phone rang, pulling me back.My first thought was Luca. I hated myself for thinking that, for always expecting him. But no, it wasn’t Luca. It was Liam.My heart skipped. Liam.I hadn’t thought about him properly in so long. Not since that night when I let him touch me for a while, then pulled away and ran. I had buried that memory under everything that came with Luca. Yet here he was, his name flashing across my phone.The call ended. Relief mixed with disappointment. But before I could breathe, it rang again. This time, I answered.“Hello?” My voice sounded softer than I intended.“Maria,” Liam said. He sounded careful, almost unsure.“Liam,” I answered, forcing a smile into my tone like he was an old friend. “How are you today?.”There was a pause, I'm sure he wasn't expecting that but t

Maria's POVI sat on the bathroom floor, my knees pulled to my chest with the cool tiles pressing against my bare legs. I sat there still, trying to figure out a way to get out of here. I had summoned the courage to tell Luca I was leaving him and I did tell him. But now, he wasn't going to let me leave.The penthouse was high above the city. There were no windows in the bathroom, no fire escape, no way out. Just me, the four walls, and the sound of my own breathing.I had paced around the bathroom so long that my legs have become weak. At first, I had walked back and forth with angry steps, telling myself I had to find a way to leave. But after the anger wore itself down and I couldn't figure something reasonable, I collapsed onto the floor.My chest rose and fell quickly. My thoughts were empty, not fixed on anything at all. It was almost a relief not to think. Not to picture Luca’s face. Not to feel the ache that settled in the middle of my chest.Then came a knock. A sharp rap aga