After Death Mafia の短編小説 &IndependenceRegret小説

I'm going to die. In the eyes of the underworld, I was a sinner. My death would be a final, cursed dishonor. But even with the Ricci family in ruins, I was still the noble Principessa. The Ricci pride in my blood would not allow my body to fall into the hands of a rival Family. Humiliation. Desecration. Photographs flaunted for all to see. I didn't much care if my body became a trophy to celebrate their victory. But if the world knew the last of the Ricci bloodline had become a plaything for our enemies, it would be a disgrace to the entire Family. After weighing my options, I dragged my broken body to the turf of my ex-boyfriend, the man I'd left seven years ago, now the Don of the Falcone family. "After I die, I need you to handle my body." He was silent for a long moment, then let out a cold laugh. "Of course. I'll sink you in the Hudson River with a tombstone tied to your feet, engraved with the name of your filthy family."

"The Donna is very pleased with the son you gave her, but she'd like a daughter to keep her company too." Not long after I'd given birth, Don Elias Voss pinned me beneath him and took me again and again, all because of those words. Ten months later, I gave them the daughter they wanted. But the moment I heard her first cry, all I could do was watch as she was carried away. The maid beside me wiped away my tears like it was nothing new. It was the second time. Everyone knew that five years ago, in a shootout, Vivian Voss, the family's Donna, had been badly wounded protecting Elias and could never have children. If not for that, I'd never have ended up in his bed. I was only the nanny's daughter, even if we'd grown up together. I was Elias's first love. I'd already given him two children. Yet to the entire Voss family, I was nothing more than a vessel meant to bear children. My only purpose was to give Vivian heirs and secure her position as Donna. Two years ago, I gave birth to my first child. I thought I'd at least get to hold him. Instead, Elias took him away himself and warned me. "This child belongs to Vivian and me. Remember your place. "Either he becomes the heir of the Don and Donna, or he lives his life as an illegitimate child hidden in the shadows. You should know which to choose." After that, my son, Felix Voss, became first in line to lead the family, while his birth mother swept floors as a maid. Just to catch one more glimpse of my son, I volunteered for every chore on the estate that would take me inside the main house. At first, Elias let it go. That changed when Vivian spoke up. She said the way I looked at the boy made her feel as if I were coveting her child. After that, I was assigned to work in the gardens and banned from the main house altogether. And now, two years later, my daughter had been taken from me too. I never even got to see her face.

For as long as I could remember, I knew my mother, Isabella, hated me. She once threw me into the basement, leaving me to rot in the dark or crawl out on my own. But I was hard to kill. Even after nine days of starvation, I still clawed at the bottom of the door until all ten of my fingers were bloody. At seven, I taught myself how to fight back against her. When she locked me out, I shattered the champagne tower at a family dinner. If I couldn't be happy, no one could. When she had her guards pin me to the ground to teach me a lesson, I secretly locked her precious son, Leo, in the attic. I listened to him cry until his voice went hoarse. I stubbornly fought against her like this until I was twelve. Until they brought my newborn sister, Rosie, home. I stood by the crib, clumsily changing the soiled cashmere blanket for the tiny pink bundle. Isabella barged in and slammed me hard against the wall. Behind the disgust in her eyes was fear. "What are you trying to do to my daughter?" "I knew it! You're the spawn of that Barone bastard. You're up to no good!" "Why don't you just die and do this family a favor!" In that moment, I finally understood. Clutching the back of my bleeding head, for the first time, I didn't fight back. It was also the first time I actually agreed with her. My birth, from start to finish, was a dirty mistake. I really did deserve to die.

In the seventh year of holding down the Chicago arms trade for Matteo, he finally came back from the Mediterranean. The night the Five Families threw him his coronation ball, I put on my custom gown. I was ready to see the man I had waited seven years for. Right before my entrance, my cousin Vivienne barged into the dressing room. She did our books, and she snatched the head-table nameplate off my table. She looked at me with cold pity. "Camilla, don't embarrass yourself. The seat for the Don's wife was never meant for you." She slammed a yellowed betting slip from a Vegas underground bookmaker onto the table. The wager was a hundred grand. The name on the ticket was Matteo. The betting line had just one sentence: Let's see how many years the ruined Bellini princess will stay faithful to my old love letters. Vivienne told me the truth. He kept a stripper overseas years ago. His bastard daughter was almost five now. The Commission knew. His capos looked the other way. Even my own mother, living on his handouts, helped him keep it completely quiet. For seven years, he sent handwritten letters sealed with wax. Every single one went on and on about the Sicilian rain. He wrote about how much he missed me. He told me to keep the house safe. Just for those sweet words, I took bullets for him. I stayed by the bedside of the dying old Don until his last breath. I survived firefight after firefight. The entire underworld knew about this bet. I was the only fool in the dark. My eyes burned, and I laughed. Fine. I would walk right out of his empire, in front of every boss in America.