All Chapters of The Mafia's Thirteenth Bride : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

61 Chapters

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

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

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

Chapter Twenty Four: Cold Fingers

IvyI stared at the coat in my hands. It was heavy and dark and smelled like leather. Dorian was already walking toward the door, his shoulders tight, his jaw set."Celeste," I repeated. "My cousin Celeste?""The same.""What is she doing with my uncle?""I do not know. But I intend to find out." He paused at the door and looked back at me. "Are you coming or not?"I pulled on the coat and followed him.The car ride was silent. Dorian drove fast, his eyes fixed on the road, his hands tight on the wheel. I sat in the passenger seat and watched the city lights blur past the window."Why would Celeste be with Uncle Richard?" I asked. "She hates him almost as much as she hates me.""Maybe she wants something from him.""Like what?"Dorian did not answer. He just pressed the gas and drove faster.The Obsidian was busy when we arrived. Lights and music and people everywhere. Dorian walked through the crowd like he owned the place. Which he did. People parted around him, their eyes sliding a

Chapter Twenty Five: I Waited

DorianI could not sleep.The conversation with Celeste and Richard played on a loop in my head. The confession. The tears. The way Ivy had looked at me when she walked out of the room.She had been so strong. So steady. So sure.And then she had broken.Not in front of them. Not in front of me. But I had seen it in her eyes. The moment when the truth had hit her like a punch to the chest.Her parents had been murdered.By her own family.I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. My mind was spinning. Celeste and Richard would go to prison. That was certain. But what about Mrs Chen? What about the brides? What about the pattern Ivy had found in the files?I still did not know if Mrs Chen was guilty. I still did not know if I could trust the evidence. But I knew one thing for certain.I could not keep pushing Ivy away.She had lost so much. Her parents. Her childhood. Her innocence. And she was still standing. Still fighting. Still trying.I sat up in bed.I needed to see her. Needed to

Chapter Twenty Six: The Needle and The Truth

IvyI woke up to sunlight and the sound of someone breathing.For a moment, I did not remember where I was. The ceiling was white. The walls were pale. The bed was soft. Then I turned my head and saw Dorian sitting in a chair beside me, his eyes closed, his face slack with exhaustion.He had stayed.All night.I tried to sit up. My body would not cooperate. My arms were heavy. My legs were weak. My head was pounding.Dorian's eyes opened."You are awake.""Barely."He leaned forward. His gray eyes were tired but alert. "How do you feel?""Like someone drugged me.""Someone did."I remembered. The water. Mrs Chen. The syringe. The way my body had gone limp and useless."She tried to kill me," I said."She tried to sedate you. The dose was small. You were never in danger of dying.""That is comforting."Dorian did not smile. He just sat there, watching me with those unreadable eyes."She is gone," he said. "We searched the property. She is not here."I closed my eyes. Mrs Chen. The woma

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Trap

DorianI spent the next twenty four hours planning.Marcus brought me updates. Mrs Chen had disappeared completely. No credit card activity. No phone calls. No sightings. She had vanished like she had never existed."She is good," Marcus said. "I will give her that.""She has been planning this for years. She knows how to disappear.""So what do we do?"I looked at the map on my desk. The estate. The city. The surrounding areas."We draw her out.""How?"I picked up a photograph of Ivy. The one Marcus had taken during training. She was sweaty and tired and smiling."Ivy."Marcus shook his head. "You want to use her as bait.""She volunteered.""She is brave. She is also reckless.""She is the only one Mrs Chen wants to kill."Marcus was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded."What do you need?""Security. A location. A story that will make Mrs Chen think Ivy is alone and vulnerable."Marcus wrote something down. "I will take care of it."He left.I sat alone in my study and stared at the

Chapter Twenty Eight: The Woman Who Loved Him

IvyThe door slammed shut behind Mrs Chen and I heard the click of a lock. She had locked us in. She had locked herself in with us.I looked at Dorian. His face was hard. His jaw was tight. His hand was already reaching for the gun at his waist."Do not," Mrs Chen said. "I know you have a weapon. I know you are faster than me. But I also know you will not shoot me before I hurt her."Dorian froze.I looked at Mrs Chen. At her cold eyes and her steady hands and her smile that did not reach her face."You are insane," I said."I am not insane. I am in love." She stepped closer. "I have been in love with him since he was a baby. Since I held him in my arms and rocked him to sleep. Since I promised him that everything would be okay.""You killed twelve women.""Because they were not good enough for him. None of them were. They did not love him the way I do. They did not understand him. They did not deserve him."Mrs Chen's voice was calm. Measured. Like she was explaining something simple

Chapter Twenty Nine: The End of a Lie

DorianI dragged Mrs Chen down the hallway. Marcus met us at the elevator. His face was grim."Police are on their way," he said."Good.""She is going to prison, Dorian. For the rest of her life."I looked at Mrs Chen. At her wild eyes and her tangled hair and her face that had been the face of a mother for thirty two years."Good," I said again.Marcus took her. Led her to the elevator. She did not resist. She just looked at me with those black eyes."I love you," she said. "I have always loved you."I did not answer.The elevator doors closed.I walked back to the room. Ivy was still standing in the middle of the floor, staring at the broken glass."Ivy."She looked up at me. Her eyes were wet."It is over," she said."Yes.""She is gone.""Yes."She walked toward me. Stopped in front of me."I am not going to be like her," she said. "I am not going to love you like that. Obsessively. Possessively. I am not going to kill for you.""I do not want you to.""Then what do you want?"I

Chapter Thirty: The Revelation

IvyThree days passed.Three days of silence and stillness and the strange emptiness that comes after a storm. Mrs Chen was gone. Celeste and Richard were in prison. The house was quiet in a way it had never been quiet before.I spent most of my time in the garden. The roses were still blooming. The fountains were still sparkling. The hedges were still green. Everything looked the same. But everything felt different.Dorian had locked himself in his study. He said he had work to do. But I knew better. He was grieving. Not for Mrs Chen. For the woman he thought she was. For the years he had trusted her. For the lives she had taken.I brought him food. He barely touched it. I sat with him in silence. He barely spoke. I held his hand. He held on like I was the only thing keeping him from drowning.On the fourth day, I found the journal.It was on his desk. Open. Pages and pages of Mrs Chen's handwriting. I had seen it before. In the locked room. The small loops and sharp angles. The way

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