All Chapters of The Mafia Heir’s Forbidden Bride: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The Ghost"You should be dead."The words echoed through the corridor.Nobody moved.Nobody breathed.The laughter coming from Alessio's phone sent chills down my spine.It wasn't normal laughter.It wasn't amused.It was the kind of laugh that belonged to someone dangerous.Someone unstable.Someone who enjoyed watching other people suffer.Alessio's jaw tightened.For the first time since I'd met him—he looked shaken.Not afraid.Never afraid.But shocked.Genuinely shocked.Roman noticed it too.His face darkened immediately."Who is it?" Roman demanded.The voice laughed again."You sound older, Roman."My stomach twisted.The caller knew Roman.Personally.That wasn't good.That was very, very bad.Roman's expression hardened."No."The word came out barely above a whisper.Almost like he was talking to himself.The voice chuckled."Oh yes."A horrible silence followed.Then Roman spoke a name.A single name.And suddenly every guard in the hallway went pale."Matteo."My pulse

The silence after the call didn’t feel real.It felt staged.Like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for us to move first.Bianca’s voice still echoed faintly in my head.“Alessio…”Broken.Terrified.Alive.And then Matteo’s voice right after.Calm.Smiling.“You have twenty-four hours.”That part wouldn’t leave me.Twenty-four hours wasn’t just a threat.It was a countdown.A death timer.Alessio stood completely still in front of the phone, as if even blinking might break something inside him.Roman was the first to move.“Trace it,” he ordered one of the guards.The man nodded and rushed out.But Alessio didn’t react.Not immediately.His hand was still curled around the empty space where the phone had been.Like he could still feel her through it.Then slowly, he lifted his head.And when he looked at me—something inside my chest tightened.Because I’d seen him angry.I’d seen him cold.I’d seen him dangerous.But I had never seen him like this.Still.Too still.L

The fall didn’t feel like falling at first.It felt like being swallowed.One moment, I was standing beside Alessio, his hand still gripping mine, the floor vibrating under our feet like a living thing.The next—the world vanished.Air ripped past my ears.My scream got lost somewhere between my throat and the darkness.And then impact.Hard.Not into ground.Into water.Cold water.It hit me so violently I forgot how to breathe.My body sank instantly, dragged down by weight and shock.For a second, I couldn’t tell which way was up.Panic swallowed everything.Lucia.That was all I could think.Lucia don’t die like this.My lungs burned as I kicked upward blindly.My hand reached out—and found fabric.Someone’s arm.Alessio.He pulled me upward instantly.We broke the surface together.I gasped so hard it hurt.Air.Finally.But the relief didn’t last.Because we weren’t safe.Not even close.We were in a dark underground reservoir.Barely lit.Water stretching endlessly around us.

The word collapse didn’t feel real at first.It floated in the tunnel like it belonged to someone else’s life.Not mine.Not Bianca’s.Not Alessio’s.But then the ground shifted again.A deeper rumble this time.Like the entire underground system had taken a breath… and decided not to let it out.Alessio reacted instantly.“Move.”His hand grabbed mine hard.Not gentle.Not asking.Just pulling me into motion.Bianca stepped back quickly as Matteo remained completely still.That was the most terrifying part.He wasn’t reacting.He was expecting.“This was always your plan,” Alessio said coldly, eyes locked on Matteo.Matteo tilted his head slightly.“Not always,” he replied. “But it became necessary.”Another tremor ran through the tunnel.Dust fell from the ceiling in thin streams.I coughed slightly, instinctively covering my mouth.Bianca looked at me.For a moment, something softer flickered in her eyes.“Lucia,” she said quietly, “you need to trust me.”I let out a bitter laugh.

The word father still echoed in my head like broken glass.I couldn’t move.Couldn’t breathe properly.Couldn’t even tell if the tunnel was still collapsing or if my world had already finished collapsing instead.Matteo’s voice from the speaker system had done something worse than any gunshot.It didn’t just threaten me.It rewrote everything I thought I knew about myself.Beside me, Alessio was completely still.That alone scared me more than the falling ceiling or Marco Moretti standing in front of us like a ghost that refused to die.Alessio Romano did not freeze.Ever.But now he had.Marco wiped blood from the corner of his mouth slowly, watching Alessio like he was waiting for something to snap.“You didn’t know?” Marco asked quietly.Alessio didn’t answer.That silence was enough.My throat tightened.“What is he talking about?” I whispered.No one answered me.That made it worse.The tunnel groaned again.This time, deeper.Like the underground itself was warning us that time