All Chapters of The Mafia's Adopted Princess : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

NOVARIA’S POVBreakfast with the Muskegons felt strangely peaceful.The dining room was bathed in the soft gray light of the rainy morning outside. The chandelier hanging above the long marble table glowed warmly, reflecting against the polished black furniture and silver cutlery. For the first time in a long while, I felt… comfortable. Too comfortable.Sylvester sat across from me, sleeves rolled slightly above his wrists as he poured hot chocolate into my cup. Steam curled upward in lazy swirls, carrying the rich scent of cocoa through the room.Then he placed two cookies beside my plate.Only two.I stared at them suspiciously.Out of the entire jar sitting on the counter, he had chosen just two.My lips twitched in disbelief. Sylvester noticed immediately.“Don’t even think about it,” he warned calmly, already knowing exactly what was going through my mind.I tried to look innocent.“I wasn’t thinking about anything.”“You were,” he replied smoothly, lifting his coffee cup. “And

NOVARIA’S POVI couldn’t believe the words that had come out of my mother’s mouth.The same woman who never bothered to call when I disappeared… the same woman who never searched for me… was now standing there judging Sylvester as though she had every right to.The smell of cigarette smoke filled the room while the dim yellow light above her head flickered lazily. Her wine glass dangled between her fingers, her expression cold and bitter.I wanted to yell back at her. I wanted to ask her why she hated me so much. But no matter how cruel Morgana was… she was still my mother.And that alone was enough to keep my mouth shut.Still, hearing her insult Sylvester after everything he had done for me made something ache violently inside my chest. I just couldn't stand there and watch Sylvester being humiliated, and still keeping his cool all for my sake.“Let’s go, Sly,” I whispered weakly, turning toward the door before my tears embarrassed me any further.But of course, Morgana wasn’t done.

NOVARIA’S POVIt was sometime around five in the evening when the front doors finally swung open.Collins and I were sprawled across the living room floor, surrounded by coloring pencils, scattered pages, and empty snack wrappers. The sound of my laughter still echoed through the room from one of Collins’ ridiculous jokes when the familiar heavy footsteps entered the mansion.The Muskegon brothers were back. The atmosphere shifted instantly.All three of them walked in wearing expensive dark coats dampened slightly by the rain outside. Their polished shoes clicked against the marble floor while droplets of water glimmered on their sleeves beneath the chandelier lights. There was something intimidating about the way they carried themselves after returning from work–sharp eyes, unreadable expressions, tense shoulders.They looked dangerous and tired. Like men who had spent the entire day carrying the weight of things they could never speak about.But the moment their eyes landed on me

NOVARIA’S POVThe rain never stopped that night.Even while asleep, I could still hear the steady tapping of raindrops against the large bedroom windows. The sound blended softly with the occasional rumble of thunder outside, wrapping the mansion in an eerie kind of silence.I didn’t dream. I was far too exhausted for that.Despite doing almost nothing all day, my mind had been overwhelmed from everything that happened earlier–the basement, Sylvester’s warning, his confession about the Mafia.And maybe because of all that… I found myself clinging to him more than usual in my sleep.His arms remained wrapped tightly around me beneath the blankets, warm and protective.At some point during the early hours of the morning, exhaustion completely swallowed me whole.Until.CRACK!A deafening thunderclap exploded through the sky.My eyes snapped open instantly.I shot upright on the bed, breathing heavily as another violent rumble shook the windows around me.The room was pitch black.For a

NOVARIA’S POVI slowly turned around and saw Kelvin standing halfway down the staircase. His expression was unreadable, but from the look in his eyes, it was obvious he had witnessed everything that had happened between Sylvester and me.For a second, neither of us said anything.The silence only made the emotions bubbling inside me worse.I was angry. Not just at Sylvester. At all of them.At the way they constantly treated me like I was too fragile to know anything. Too innocent to understand their world. They babied me endlessly, protected me from every conversation, every truth, every danger.Usually, I didn’t mind it. Sometimes I even liked it. But right now? It felt suffocating.For the first time since arriving at the Muskegon mansion, I felt genuinely upset.Kelvin sighed softly before walking toward me.I opened my mouth, ready to tell him I wanted to be alone, but before the words could leave my lips, his arms wrapped around me.The warmth of the sudden embrace caught me com