Semua Bab A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss: Bab 21 - Bab 30

SerafinaThe dead don’t rest when vengeance is left unfinished.I wasn’t supposed to feel.Not after what they did to me. Not after being betrayed, stripped of my identity, of my future, and thrown into the shadows like a disposable secret. But there I stood, draped in crimson silk stolen from the wardrobe of my captor’s wife, watching Valentina Russo dance in the home that was meant to be mine.She looked like me. But she wasn’t me.She smiled like I used to. But her eyes had not seen what I had seen. Her lips hadn’t tasted the poison I’d swallowed every day I was held in that hellhole. She thought she was fighting a war.She didn’t know I was the war.I moved through the De Luca villa like a whisper, silent as death. It wasn’t hard. Not when most of the guards still thought I was a ghost. Rumors of my survival had begun to spread like wildfire, but Alessandro hadn’t confirmed a thing. Not even to himself. Not even to his cousin.Lorenzo.That name alone made my teeth clench and my h

AlessandroShe was alive. She was right in front of me. And every bone in my body was on fire.Serafina.The girl I thought was dead. The woman I had buried with my guilt and rage.But now, she was here. Walking through my ballroom like a queen risen from her grave. And my carefully built empire every bloody stone I’d laid.shuddered beneath her heels.My enemies feared me.But I feared her.I watched Valentina from the corner of my eye. She was trembling, but not from fear. No. She was burning with something far more dangerous:Jealousy.And I couldn't blame her.Serafina was a storm we all thought we'd survived.Turns out, we’d only endured the silence before it.ValentinaHis gaze wouldn't leave her.I could scream. Tear my dress to shreds. Shoot a man in the head right here.And stillAlessandro would be staring at her.At Serafina.The ex-fiancée who vanished. The one no one dared to name.But now she was back, and somehow, I was the intruder.My fingers curled into fists. I refus

ValentinaI was born with blood on my hands.Not literal—not at first.But when you grow up in the house of Russo, you learn quickly: innocence is a fairytale, and blood is currency.And now, as I stood on the balcony of the De Luca estate, the night air thick with rain and secrets, I realized something vital.Serafina thought she was playing the game.But I’d been raised by the devil himself.My uncle, Don Raphael Russo, didn’t believe in mercy. He believed in debt. Loyalty. Vengeance served on a platter of gold and bullets.And now he was coming.Because I called him.Because I wanted to win.Even if it cost me every piece of my soul.Hours Earlier – Don Raphael’s EstateHe was slicing into a bloody steak when I arrived. Two guards flanked the doors. His wolves lay sprawled at the hearth."Valentina," he drawled, not looking up. "The prodigal niece returns.""I need leverage," I said.His knife paused mid-cut. "So it's war then.""It's survival."He chuckled. "Ah. The difference bet

~AlessandroThe storm had passed, but the thunder still echoed in my mind.I stood by the window, watching the estate fall into silence, the rain having soaked the earth like a confession. The scent of wet roses and blood clung to the air an omen.Valentina had changed. She wasn't the naive girl I forced into this marriage. She had grown claws, sharpened by secrets, betrayal, and pain.And now… Serafina was back.I closed my eyes. Her name used to be a melody in my head. Now it was a curse.The door opened behind me. Lorenzo entered, dressed in black, dripping with the same storm I’d been watching.“Did you follow her?” I asked.He nodded. “Valentina met with Don Russo last night. She showed him Serafina’s file.”My jaw clenched. “What did he say?”“He’s siding with her.”Of course he is.“She’s playing a dangerous game,” I muttered. “And she’s dragging us all into it.”“No,” Lorenzo said. “She’s playing to survive.”Lorenzo – The Garage, 3:30 AMThe garage was quiet, but I could feel

VALENTINAThe silence was louder than any gunshot.Lorenzo held me tighter than I thought I deserved, his arms the only warmth in a world now chilled by betrayal and bloodlines. I couldn’t cry. I didn’t even know how anymore. I’d been trained raised to be strong, to keep my pain polished behind silence and smirks.But tonight?I was crumbling.I pulled away gently, breath hitching. “I need to breathe,” I said, barely a whisper.He nodded, stepping back with reluctance clouding his eyes.I walked alone into the mist drenched night, each step a war between the girl I once was and the woman I was becoming. Somewhere along the way, I had become a queen without a throne an heir made from hidden roots and burning questions.Who was I now?Valentina Russo?Or Valentina De Luca?Maybe both. Maybe neither.The Garden Maze – 3:45 AMThe roses here always reminded me of the ones at my childhood home. Except these were thornier. Just like this house beautiful, but deadly.I stood before the old m