All Chapters of I Paid My Mafia Family Back. They Lost Their Daughter: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The last payment went through while I was washing glasses in the diner's kitchen.Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.On my 18th birthday, my father had put the bills in front of me and told me I wasn't his biological daughter. The girl beside my mother, wearing my grandmother's necklace, was."You've been living Bianca's life for 18 years," he said. "The Bellini family doesn't owe you anything. You owe her."I sold my jewelry and my car, handed over my savings, and spent three years paying off the rest.I'd always believed that once I paid the debt, there might still be a place for me in that family.Then my mother's text hit me like a punch."Elena, the test is over. You're our daughter too, you know. We were just worried you wouldn't accept your sister. Come home tonight, raise a glass to her, and apologize. Then we'll give you all the money back."Icy water from the faucet pounded against my hands.I read the message four times, then looked down at my bank balance.$23.Three years

That night, the party at the Bellini house still hadn't started.Rosa Bellini slipped a diamond necklace into her handbag and glanced at the long table.Bianca was sitting next to Marco. The seat that used to be Elena's held a vase of flowers."Where's she sitting?" asked Bruno, the butler."She comes up for the toast. After that, she can sit wherever you put her." Vittorio Bellini adjusted his cufflinks. "She needs to learn that not everything revolves around her."Many of tonight's guests depended on the Bellini family's business for a living. Vittorio wanted them to see for themselves: his lost daughter was back, and his other daughter knew how to do as she was told.Marco handed his car keys to the driver."Go to the east docks. Take the dress. If she says her legs hurt, help her to the car."Bianca tugged at his sleeve. "Don't scare her. If she's willing to come back, I won't give her a hard time."Rosa smiled."Our younger girl is the sensible one."Rosa remembered that Elena had

When Paolo arrived, Anna was pressing a hat she'd just knitted into my hands.He hadn't come in one of my father's cars, and he was wearing an old jacket."My mom says you don't want to see them right now. I came to see if you need help with anything."I shook my head out of habit.Under the table, Anna nudged my knee.Slowly, I changed my answer. "Please don't tell them which floor or room I'm in.""Okay."He didn't ask why.His phone rang again. It was my father. Paolo looked at me, and I nodded.He answered and said only, "She's safe, and she's thinking clearly. I'll look after her for you.""Put her on the phone!""She doesn't want to."My father's voice blasted out of the speaker. "I paid to raise that girl, and now you're making the rules for me?"Paolo glanced at his mother."My father took a bullet for you. You promised our family would always be taken care of.""Haven't I been giving you money all these years?""The month my mom fell and got hurt, your people said the payment

The next afternoon, my mother came to the diner with my father and Bianca.As soon as she walked in, her eyes went straight to the fresh dressing on my hand."Lena—"She seemed to realize it was the nickname she'd given me as a child, and she corrected herself. "Elena."I poured them water. I didn't call them Mom and Dad.My father set a check on the table."Two hundred fifty thousand dollars. You're getting it back today. This ends here."I took out my own ledger too.My old jewelry, car, and savings came to one hundred sixteen thousand dollars. After that, I put my paychecks toward the rest each month, sometimes more, sometimes less, until I'd paid back the full two hundred fifty thousand dollars.My father flipped through two pages, then snapped the ledger shut."I told you I'm giving it back. You don't need to keep such careful accounts.""You're the one who told me to keep careful accounts."His mouth tightened."Bianca had only just come back. She couldn't handle seeing you have

A week later, my father asked to meet me in a reception room near the harbor.I asked Teresa to come with me. Paolo came too, bringing records of the support payments my father had promised to the families of longtime associates. He wanted to go over the accounts face-to-face."We'll host another dinner," my father said. "In front of everyone, I'll make it clear that you're my daughter. And no one is to bring up the past again."I looked at the necklace on the table and didn't reach for it.My mother turned the box toward me. "This is to make it up to you," she said softly. "It isn't something Bianca passed over. I picked it out just for you.""I don't want a necklace.""Then what do you want?"She nudged the box closer, still waiting for me to name my price.I handed her a sheet of paper."Don't come looking for me at work or at school. Don't send anyone to speak for you. And tell everyone who heard what you said back then that I'm your biological daughter. Tell them why I left home,