บททั้งหมดของ Half a Lifetime Later—My Mafia Princess is Finally Mine: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ “You are a rapist.” He physically recoiled at the word. “You’ve always been one,” I spat, voice low, shaking, “Four years ago, you pinned me in place and forced your mouth on mine. You stole my first kiss. Then you bent me over a couch and told me you could take whatever you wanted.” I stared at him, chest heaving, hands balled into fists. “That wasn’t some empty threat, was it? That was a promise. And last night...” my throat caught, but I forced it out, “...you finally cashed in.” “Stop it,” he snapped, face twisting like I’d shoved a mirror in front of him. “Why? Because you don’t want to hear it?” I smiled viciously, “Because you don’t want to admit that this... what you did last night wasn’t a one-time mistake. It was a pattern. It was always inside you. You’ve just been waiting for the day you could finally go through with it.” “Shut the fuck up, Alessia!” he roared. I didn’t stop. “You did it. You finally made good on all your promises, didn’t you?” m

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ “Boys,” Isabella said gently, her hand still pressed between my shoulder blades, “go outside and play for a bit, huh? Zia needs to rest.” “No,” Vincenzo said immediately, his little arms still locked around my neck, “She’s crying. I’m not leaving her.” Adriano’s jaw jutted in stubborn mirror. “Zia’s sad. I’m staying.” Raphael pressed a kiss to my knee and looked up at me with watery eyes. “Did someone hurt you, Zia? I’ll bite them.” I choked on a wet laugh through my tears. Dante, wobbling on his chubby toddler legs, came over with his stuffed tiger, pushed it into my lap with both hands, and said, “Mine. Zia sad.” My heart cracked open all over again. I wanted to stay there, buried in their little arms forever, protected and loved. Untouched by the world. But Isabella’s voice shifted, “Boys. Now.” Vincenzo spun toward her, bristling. “But Mamma—” “I said now.” That tone meant no arguments, not even from Vincenzo, who always tried to talk his way around he

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ The courthouse looked too ordinary for what we were about to do. My palms were damp, fingers twisting the strap of my small purse as Antonio guided me through the metal detector. His hand brushed the small of my back. Every time the glass doors opened behind us, I flinched, expecting to see Lombardi soldiers striding in, or worse, my father’s men, his face when he realized what I was doing. My heart wouldn’t slow down. It hammered in my throat, in my ears, louder than the shuffle of papers and the soft voices of strangers waiting for traffic tickets and name changes. I shouldn’t have been here. I should have been in class. Or in my room at the estate, painting, reading, pretending nothing ever happened. But then I looked at Antonio. He stood taller than anyone else in that room, his suit dark, his jaw locked, eyes scanning every corner like he was ready to kill anyone who so much as breathed wrong in my direction. He didn’t look nervous. He looked lethal

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ I clawed at the ruined dress, pulling the torn, useless scraps of silk across my chest. The sobs weren't just tears, they were shaking my whole body, tearing out of my throat. Every inch of my skin felt wrong, dirty, like it was crawling. Even though he hadn't physically done it, the memory of his weight, his threats, Antonio's screaming voice on the phone, it all fused into one crushing, ugly feeling of being violated. I couldn't breathe past the panic. The flimsy silk wasn't enough to hide the shame or the cold. I scrambled sideways, desperate for substance, for anything clean, and dragged the heavy sheets off the bed. I wrapped the thick fabric around my naked body, tightening the sheet like a shroud until I could barely move. I was clinging to the material, trying to press the awful feeling of his hands and his voice out of my skin. I pulled my knees tighter to my chest, shrinking into the corner of the mattress, wishing I could just vanish into it. I was sti

Alessia ─ ∘❉∘ ─ I lay curled on the cold floor, my injured shoulder throbbing, my entire world reduced to a tight, agonizing knot of grief and despair. I wasn't going to her funeral. I wasn't going to be free. I was never going to see my mother again. I don't know how long I lay there, minutes or an hour, just listening to the blood pounding in my ears. The room was utterly silent, until a metallic sound cut through the silence. It was the sound of a key in the lock of the door. Someone else was here. My heart hammered against my ribs, a sudden rush of terror replacing the numbness. Was it Salvatore? Had he found us? Or was Rino bringing more men, more guards? Then I heard the voices. A deep mumble that I instantly recognized as Rino's. But the second voice was high-pitched. It was a woman. I heard footsteps and a door being slammed shut. I pushed myself up off the floor, trembling. A moment later, I heard the woman's voice again, slightly clearer this time. A breathy giggle