All Chapters of The Price of the Mafia’s Test: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The front door clicked open just as I put the gift list back.Dante walked in, smelling of expensive tobacco, and collapsed onto the sofa next to me with his usual arrogant swagger."So you’re finally back," he said, lecturing me like a child. "Are you still throwing a fit because I didn't give you the cash? Learn from Nadia and grow up, Elena. You'll realize later it’s all for our future."He looked so earnest, acting as if this was all pure, well-meaning love. But the real message was short and brutal: he needed to constantly test me to prove I wasn't after his money, just to see if I was worthy of his family.He leaned in to hug me, but I slid away, completely dodging his arms.Dante froze for a second, staring at his empty hands before glaring at me. To him, I was just throwing a childish tantrum over a petty $1,000."Stop acting out. I’m exhausted from work. Go make me some dinner," he commanded, instantly switching back to his mob-boss routine.His attitude wasn't like this when

In the dead of night, I dragged my heavy suitcases down the deserted, freezing streets. Sicily offered no sanctuary for me, and I had no reason to stay. My baby was gone, and my relationship was in ashes. Remaining here would only prolong the agony.With nowhere left to go, I spent the rest of the night shivering on a cold wooden bench in a lonely public park.The next morning, I walked straight into the office and handed in my resignation.My supervisor looked completely blindsided."Quitting? Did Mr. Moretti approve this? Oh, by the way, since you're leaving mid-month, your current bonus won't amount to much. I'll have the remaining balance wired to the secondary account on file, then."I frowned, completely lost. What secondary account? Since when did I have an accrued bonus? And why on earth would Dante need to approve my resignation from a regular corporate job?Noticing my blank stare, my supervisor grew equally confused."Aren't you and Mr. Moretti together? It was Mr. Moretti h

On top of skimming my hard-earned bonuses and raises, Dante had intentionally played dumb, refusing to approve my basic corporate benefits. He had even personally ordered the manager to cancel my emergency salary advance.It was a mere $1,000. Why couldn't he just let me have it? Why did he have to go out of his way to destroy me?Thinking back on everything I had sacrificed for Dante over the last five years, I realized I had been a pathetic fool. If I had worked at any normal company, I wouldn't have been so exhausted. I would have had plenty of savings, and my baby would still be alive today.If only I had never met Dante Moretti.The very colleagues who, seconds ago, were bashing me for faking an accident suddenly went completely white. Every single one of them lowered their heads, unable to meet my eyes.The slap to their faces had come faster than anyone anticipated.Yet, because the man standing across from them was Dante Moretti, a powerful mafia heir, no one dared to voice a w

For the next three days, Dante unleashed the full force of his mafia syndicate’s tracking assets, turning the city upside down to hunt me down. He placed his family’s extensive intelligence network on absolute high alert, desperate to locate the woman who had dared to vanish from his gilded cage. I knew exactly how he operated, which was precisely why I refused to sit idle and wait to be caught.Instead of hiding in fear, I dug through my old personal contacts until I found the number of my childhood best friend. She had climbed the ranks to become a top-tier corporate lawyer, completely removed from the corrupt underworld Dante commanded. With a steady hand, I typed out a direct message and sent it through WhatsApp.I watched the screen breathlessly until the two gray checkmarks rapidly turned blue. She hadn't deleted me, nor had she forgotten our bond.Leveraging our lifelong connection, we locked down a face-to-face meeting at a secluded diner within a few hours. I didn't hold bac

That afternoon, I finally made time to visit the local clinic for my long-overdue post-surgery checkup. Ever since I arrived in this valley town, I had been working myself to the bone, entirely ignoring the doctor's previous warnings about my critical physical condition.As I sat in the waiting room, a familiar figure stepped through the clinic doors. It was Julian. He was here to drop off an agricultural water safety report for the county health inspector, but the moment his eyes landed on me sitting in the row of plastic chairs, his face filled with immediate concern.He walked straight over, bypassing his errand entirely, and sat down beside me. He didn't pry or ask invasive questions; he simply stayed by my side, quietly accompanying me through the entire examination. When the doctor gently scolded me for being severely malnourished and neglecting my recovery after the miscarriage, Julian listened with absolute seriousness, nodding along to every dietary restriction and lifestyle r