Cerita Pendek Feel-Good Story & Novel Mafia Face Slapping

When Lilith, the woman my fiancé Andrew had never gotten over, was kidnapped and used as leverage by a rival family during a critical transfer of power, I urged him to put the Family first and wait until our internal affairs were stable before rescuing her. By the time he became Don and went after her, Lilith's body had already been dumped in the wilderness. She had died horribly. Andrew never blamed me. If anything, he treated me better than ever and refused to let anyone defy me. Later, after seizing control of both families, he slaughtered my people. His first act was to deliver me to the rival family bound to mine by a blood feud. He stood by while they tortured me to death. He stood over my body, his gaze cold as unmelting ice. "This is how she died. Now you can suffer what she suffered." When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment Lilith was kidnapped. I didn't stop him from giving up his chance to be Don in order to save her. He disappointed the Family. Perfect. This time, both families would answer to me.

On my wedding day,I rode to the church in a prison transport van. I'm the future Godmother of the family. But his little side piece whined that she "wanted to know what marriage feels like." So,my future husband tossed me aside without a second thought. He let her wear my custom bridal gown. She took my bouquet,got into my getaway car,and drove off. Ever since we started planning this wedding,I've been a shadow. Just because that bitch claims she's "anti-marriage." She wanted a taste of a happy ending she'll never get. The wedding photos,the dress fitting—my fiancé put her first every single time. And now,she's hijacking my own damn wedding. I just laughed. It's pathetic. If she wants him that bad,she can have him. I don't do sloppy seconds.

Dad had 22 sons before he finally got me, a daughter at last. He was so thrilled that he replaced our century-old crest of two lions with a lily. I grew up surrounded by doting older brothers. But not one of them had a clue about girls. So when my brother Anthony Gambino brought Elena Bellini home from Milan, I was delighted. When we first met, she stroked my hair and promised to have afternoon tea with me every day. Anthony said she was the love of his life. When Dad saw how much I liked her, he approved the marriage on the spot. But the day after the wedding, she cornered me in the glass greenhouse at the back of the estate. "You stupid little girl. Did you really think I came here to be your playmate? "My husband controls shipping operations at every port in North America. One day, he'll have the final say in this family. "In two weeks, I'll have him send you to Mexico to marry a drug lord. "The only girl the Gambino family treasures will be my daughter." I stared at her smug smile, stunned. Does she really think Anthony got control of our shipping operations all by himself? Years ago, Dad had asked me which brother I liked best. I'd pointed to Anthony without giving it much thought. Dad had put him in charge of the organization's books right then and there. If his wife wanted to make my life miserable, I'd just have Dad pick a different heir.

I came across a cage-fight livestream on the dark web. A girl was being forced to fight a vicious dog. Her clothes were torn, and her arms and legs were covered in blood. I couldn't bear to watch. I ordered the stream shut down. She looked about my daughter's age. Ten years earlier, when my daughter was born, I'd stepped back from everything to raise her. I handed the Lorenzi family's four most important operations to my four adopted sons. I'd raised every one of them myself. They were ruthless, capable, and each could hold his own. But with my daughter, all that toughness disappeared. If she so much as frowned, they'd spend ages coaxing a smile out of her. A second before the stream cut out, the girl suddenly looked up. The moment I saw her face, rage flooded through me. That blood-smeared face belonged to my daughter! Marco DeLuca, my second-in-command, came in with a report, his head bowed. "Boss, we traced the source of the stream. Your daughter clashed with a girl your adopted sons brought around. They said they'll let her out when she admits she was wrong." That dog cage was what we used to punish traitors. And my adopted sons had locked my own daughter inside it. They'd forgotten the promises they made back then and what it was like to fight beggars for scraps. I would make them remember.

When an avalanche struck, Cristiano Corleone, the man I grew up with, held my hand tightly. But I chose to let go, giving the last seat on the helicopter to my adopted younger sister, Tania Lanza. And that was because in my previous life, after Cristiano chose to save me, Tania was swallowed by the snowstorm, forever lost in the mountains. He acted like he didn't mind marrying me and making me Donna, but then he gave me the silent treatment for 20 years. "If it weren't for you, Tania would never have died." Because of that, I ended up dying from depression. Now, given a second chance at life, I decisively chose to let them be together. Just as I was on the verge of death, Cesare Martelli, the Don of North Arocia's largest mafia family, saved me in the nick of time. I didn't think twice before accepting his proposal and bearing his heir. Three years passed by, and I accompanied Cesare to a business banquet. As he got tied up with some last-minute work and couldn't get away, the men in the region offered to pick me up at the airport. I had never expected the person who would show up would be none other than Cristiano, whom I hadn't seen in three years. The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up with shock and joy. "I knew you were still alive! It's just a shame that Tania is my wife now. But for old times' sake, I don't mind making you my mistress."

All I did was reach for a pastry Lila had her eye on, and my childhood sweetheart Luca, the Don's heir of Galvani family, had me thrown in the estate cellar for three days and three nights. His voice was as cold. "I've told you before, Lila is like a sister to me. Why can't you just let her be?" This time I didn't cry or beg. I just looked at him. I had been half out of my mind over this man for more than a decade. I had even slashed my own wrist in front of his father, just to force him into marrying me. Luca looked at me like he was disappointed all over again. "With a temper like yours, how could you ever be the Donna of Galvani family?" "Get down to the cellar and think about what you've done. Come back when you've come to your senses." Then, as if he couldn't quite help himself, he dropped his voice: "Look, as long as you come around and stop making Lila's life difficult, everything goes back to how it was. Okay?" I clenched my jaw. It felt like a blade pressed against my chest. "Okay," I said. Next month, the Don of the Ferrara family will marry me as his Donna. This time, I am done with Luca.

The night before Edward was officially crowned Don, we gathered together to drink and celebrate. Someone suggested playing a game of “Never Have I Ever.” That was when Bella, Edward’s female adviser, suddenly filled a glass to the brim and pushed it toward me. With a mocking smile, she said, “I didn’t risk everything to help a man become Don, only to end up as a mistress.” The entire room fell silent. Edward grabbed my hand and broke one of my fingers himself. “Losers have to pay up. Drink.” Then he looked at me calmly. “Actually, the marriage certificate I gave you was fake.” “I’ve been married to Bella for three years. She’s pregnant now, and I want to give her the title of Donna.” “You’ve done so much for the Family. I’ll make sure you still have a place here. Don’t make a big deal out of this.” His men immediately followed his lead. “Monica, everyone in the Family knows that Don Edward and Bella are together. We just kept it from you because we didn’t want to hurt you.” “Every major capo in the Family attended their wedding.” My hand trembled uncontrollably. For seven years, I had bled and fought beside Edward, risking my life to help him rise to the top. And what did I get in return? A fake marriage certificate. Everything else I had built had only become the perfect foundation for the love story between him and Bella. In everyone’s eyes, I was nothing but a joke. I went into the bathroom, wiped away my tears, and made a call to Edward’s rival Family. “I agree to the deal.” A cold voice answered from the other end. “What do you want?” I stared at my reflection in the mirror and spoke quietly. “Within one week, I want the Edward Family gone.”

I was Don Victor’s secret wife for five years, hidden away like a dirty little secret. He made me a promise. Give him an heir, and he’d show me to the world. I’d be the Donna everyone envied. But there was a catch. A lie. His doctor told me I was barren. Victor held me while I sobbed, kissing my face. "Baby, we can still do IVF. I want a child from you. Only you." So I took the pain. Five years. 999 needles. I was finally pregnant on Christmas Day. I ran to his office to share the news, only to find him buried deep inside another woman. Julia. A Mafia princess from another family. The betrayal hit me. I turned to leave, tears in my eyes, but then I heard a truth I couldn't escape. "Don't you worry, my princess. The baby in Maria's belly? It's ours. Your egg, my sperm. She’s just the perfect vessel." My hand trembled. I backed away, silent. Then I made a call. A lawyer. "I don't care what it costs. I want a divorce from Don Victor."

For five years, I'd poured every resource my family had into making my fiancé, Julian Vane, a star. Now he was slipping the wedding gown of the century, the one supposedly made to my measurements, onto my best friend, Mia Shaw. The gown that had been digging into my ribs fit Mia perfectly. He looked at me with disgust. "Chloe, you don't deserve my designs." Meanwhile, my family was facing bankruptcy and liquidation. Julian was waiting for me to crawl back and beg him like a kicked dog. Instead, I knocked on the door of Killian Valentine, the most ruthless tyrant on Wall Street. He'd been my family's sworn enemy for ten years. "You hold the Winslow debt. Name your price. What do you want in exchange for leaving my family alone?" "I want you. Take off those dirty clothes and be my wife."

I spent eight years raising Dante's children. Three of them, and every single one belonged to him and his arranged wife Bianca. Not one was mine. I fought against it. I really did. But the Costello family needed heirs, and my background was too ordinary. The family would never accept me. Dante always had something to say about it. "Nora, once Bianca has the baby, I'll take you to the States. You can go to art school, open your own gallery. It's what your mother always wanted, isn't it?" Then Bianca had a son, and suddenly the family needed a daughter too, someone they could marry off to another faction. When the daughter came, the elders stepped in and said the mob was a bloody business and you needed enough children to guarantee the line would continue. Eight years. I went from Dante's lover to something worse than a servant. Then I got pregnant. I was so happy I could barely breathe when I told him. I thought this baby would finally be our way out. But there was no smile on his face. Just a look that was pained and apologetic, like he already knew what he was going to say. "Nora, you don't have a place in this family. Neither does your child. He'd disrupt the line of succession. We can't let him be born." I pressed my hand to my stomach, just barely starting to show. Hot tears hit the floor. Fine. If we couldn't leave together, I would leave alone.

Every time my driver took me back to Camorra Family, he brought his girlfriend along. Since she was going the same way, I said nothing. That was until one day when I opened the car door and found a note stuck on my usual seat in the back: "Freeloaders are not allowed in this car. " I ripped the note off and looked at my driver,David. "What is this supposed to mean?" David's girlfriend was sitting in the passenger seat, glaring at me with hostility. "Can't you read?" she snapped. "You've been shamelessly hitching rides from my boyfriend everyday. If you can't afford a car,just stay home. Son of a bitch." I stared at her in disbelief. Before I could say anything,David immediately got out of the car and hurried over to me. Lowering his voice,he explained nervously, "Princess,my girlfriend doesn't know that I'm your driver. She's just very possessive because she loves me,that's why she wrote it ." Then he added, " She feels uncomfortable sitting in the same car as you. I'll take her home first,and then I'll come back for you." With that,David got back into my Maybach and drove away. I stood there, watching my own car disappear down the road, then took out my phone and called the family soldiers " Someone has taken possession of family property without authorization. I need you to come and handle it."

Three years ago, during a brutal war with a rival family, my fiancé Warren took a bullet for me. To protect me, he dragged the enemy down a cliff with him. I never found his body—only his blood-soaked suit. On the day of his funeral, I stood in the pouring rain all night, swearing to make our enemies pay in blood. Three years later, I had wiped out every mafia family on the West Coast, becoming the cold-blooded, ruthless Donna everyone feared. On the anniversary of Warren's death, I took my gun to the cliff where he fell. "Warren, I can finally come see you." "Living without you... it's been hell." Just as I pressed the barrel to my temple, the bells of a nearby chapel rang. To my surprise, I saw my top Capos walking inside. Frowning, I quietly followed them in. But standing at the altar, saying his vows, was my "dead" fiancé, Warren. And the woman snuggled in his arms was my own sister, Chloe. Right as the guests erupted in cheers, they shared a deep, passionate kiss. I froze, my blood running cold.

Our company was having a team building event in the Huka Islands, where every employee would get their own room. As I prepared to check in, my colleague from the same department, Yvonne Caruso, suddenly snatched my ID from my hand. "The rooms are full. The rest of you should find another hotel." I did not say anything much but took my ID back to hand it to the employee working behind the front desk. "One room, please. Thank you." However, Yvonne pushed me away viciously and berated me, "I told you to get lost. Are you deaf?!" I was not prepared for it, and I hit the corner of the front desk hard. I felt a sharp pain in my waist and immediately lost my temper. Yvonne was infuriated when I pushed her back, and she roared at me, "How dare you push me! My dad is the real boss behind this company. He's the Don of the Carusos. Cross me and you won't even see it coming when you die!" I was taken aback and broke out with laughter a second later. The Don of the Carusos, Ian Caruso, was my father. Why did I have no idea that he had another daughter apart from me?

After I had stood by Don Theo Vitale through the hardest seven years of his life, he asked me for a divorce on our anniversary. He wanted me to step aside for the daughter of one of the Five Families. “Caterina and I grew up together. Our backgrounds are a better match, too. You’ve killed too many people. Keeping you as my Donna is too dangerous.” “Here’s twenty million dollars. Leave New York.” Before we married, I had used my beauty countless times to get close to the men he wanted dead. Until his position as Don was secure. He used to tell me that every person I killed brought us closer to having a warm, loving home. We had been married for barely three years, and there was already no room for me in that home. My eyes filled with tears. He grew impatient. “Enough. You’ve used those tears on me too many times. I’ll throw in a seaside villa. Will that do?” A single tear slipped down my cheek. “…You can have the Rolls-Royce Phantom, too.” Now tears streamed down both cheeks. I simply couldn’t stop them. “Enough already! What else do you want?” If I couldn’t have love, money would do. I wanted everything the Vitale family owned.

The fearsome Romano family has made an announcement. Whoever among me and my sister, Vivienne Everhart, can give birth to the first grandson of the Romano bloodline shall inherit the Romanos' wealth that's worth tens of billions of dollars. Also, said grandson will be the next Don of the Romano family. In my previous life, Vivienne had married Dominic Romano, a healthy and strong young man of the Romano family. My parents were the one who had arranged for this marriage to happen. I, on the other hand, got married to Julian Romano, a gloomy man who was confined to his wheelchair due to his crippled legs. In less than a year after our marriage, Julian had regained his ability to walk once again. At the same time, I got pregnant with the first grandson of the Romano family. As such, Vivienne got abused by Dominic to the point that she completely lost her marbles. That was how she became the laughingstock of the rich socialites of the upper crust. On the day I was about to go into labor, Vivienne stabbed my belly with a blade. Then, she grabbed me before jumping off a tall building with me in her arms. When I open my eyes again, I see Vivienne snatching away the bouquet made of blue roses that's given to me by Julian. "I want to marry Julian!" "Vivienne, how could you snatch Isabella's bouquet away?" As soon as Vivienne receives the fancy blue rose bouquet, she freezes in place when she hears our father scolding her. After Dad grabs the bouquet from Vivienne's hands, he passes it to me before saying, "Isabella, you have a healthy body. Julian might be handicapped, but at least he's pretty talented when it comes to running his business." Then, he pats Vivienne on the head lovingly. "Vivienne, you're in poor health. Marrying Dominic is your best option." As I stare at the blue rose bouquet in my hands as well as the wedding gown I'm currently wearing, I dig my nails into my palm forcefully. Finally, I realize that I've gotten reborn.

Attending the ten-year high school reunion for the cheerleading squad and football team, I arrived in an old domestic Ford, while the parking lot was filled with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maybachs, and even a gold Bugatti. It was as if I were the only relic from another era. The moment I stepped out of my car, a former classmate, whose name I could no longer remember, looked at me with a sneer. “Well, if it isn’t the coach’s pet. How is it that after all these years, you’re still driving this beat-up old Ford?” “This thing looks like it belongs in a scrapyard from the last century!” During dinner, everyone gathered around the Bugatti owner, raising their glasses in celebration, while I was left ignored at the side. Only the cheerleading assistant sat next to me, raising a glass in my direction with a comforting smile. “Don’t let it get to you. Your car may be old, but I believe you’ll be driving a luxury car one day.” I let a small smirk curl at the corner of my lips and lowered my voice. “This car may look unimpressive, but it’s been fully upgraded with a carbon fiber body. It’s already worth over half a million dollars. Too bad, none of you even recognized its true value.”

At 22, as the Santoro heiress, I'm choosing a husband out of the three Guerra brothers to honor the marriage pact between our families. I pass on Aurelio Guerra and choose the eldest brother, Cesare Guerra, the one with the burn scar on his face, leaving everyone in the Mafia reeling. Everyone knows I put aside my pride as a perfumer for Aurelio and shrank myself until I barely exist. For him, I even leaned on the Santoros' muscle to build his power base. In my last life, I married him, just like I'd always wanted. With the Santoros behind him, he became the youngest Don in the Mafia. After he was established, he hooked up with my stepsister, Maeve Santoro. Together, they stole the new perfume I created, "Reverie", locked me in the lab, and set the place ablaze, reducing me to ash. Now that I've been reborn, I decide to drag those two cheaters to hell myself. But then Aurelio comes back too, carrying the memories of our last life.

My studio's website receives an appraisal order worth 450 thousand dollars all of a sudden. The original poster of the order claims that this is a pre-wedding gift her fiance has gotten her. The comment section goes wild instantly. "If the appraisal fee alone is already 450 thousand dollars, does this mean the painting is worth 100 million dollars? Your husband really is generous to you!" "I'm so envious of you! You really are lucky to be able to marry such a rich man!" The poster quickly replies, "Luck has nothing to do with this. I fought for this fate with everything I had. I'll be frank with you; back then, my fiance still had a girlfriend. But everything I want in life will eventually be mine. "So, I slandered his girlfriend and pretended to be aggrieved just so my fiance's heart would go out to me. As time went on, his love for his girlfriend faded away. "In the end, all I have to do is lift a finger, and the girlfriend got her limbs crushed. After that, she got discarded like garbage." The Internet users post their replies of disbelief. There's no way someone will hurt their ex-girlfriend to this degree, after all. They all think that the original poster is being excessively dramatic. Someone even berates her for throwing a wrench into a relationship. Not only does she not feel ashamed, but she also finds it an extremely proud thing to have done. Even my assistant, Chiara Belmonte, tells me that this client seems like a nutjob and suggests that I decline this order. I don't say anything. Instead, I just tap "confirm". After all, what the poster said is the truth. The ex-girlfriend that she has described in her post is me.

My mysterious mafia boyfriend has only one weakness. He is hearing-impaired and often misunderstands what I say. When I told him about the necklace I wanted, the next day he showed up with two sets of the same necklace. When I asked him why, he casually replied. “I misheard again. We can give the extra one to Stacy.” When I asked him to book two tickets for the Archaeological Museum, he secured two tickets for the horse racing show. “I misheard you. Stacy loves betting on horses—let me take her there with me instead.” Stacy was his new assistant to handle all his hideous business. Also, the only assistant who managed to remain in service for more than six months and the only constant name that echoed in our bedroom. It continued until I meticulously planned the anniversary celebration that was supposed to be a private party for the two of us. I invited him to spend the night with me, but he showed up with Stacy instead, saying, “Sorry, I misheard and thought you wanted her to join.” Noticing my silence throughout the celebration, he apologized once again. “I really couldn't hear clearly. I thought you liked to share our happiness with more people, so I brought her without thinking.” He clearly knew I disliked the idea of a grand celebration or showing our private moment to his employees, yet he tagged her along and talked like it was supposed to make me happier. Since he so often 'can't understand' what I say, then perhaps we don't need to continue anymore. “Enzo Watson…” I called his name with absolute calm, “Let’s break up.”

Three years after marrying the Don, he died in a shootout. As second-in-command, I took the throne and ignored the whisperers. I needed my men focused on the streets. So I paid two hundred grand a month out of my own pocket. I built a bulletproof Long Island compound for their widows and kids, complete with top doctors and guaranteed trust payouts. Their leader Bianca bit my hand anyway. At our annual family summit, she ripped the ledger to shreds right in my face. She claimed I locked them in a cage, stole their money, and worked them like slaves. The old capos smelled blood. The crews cut side deals behind my back. They thought a woman on the throne made an easy target. They wanted to use those crying widows to carve up my East Side turf. Fine. They mistook my mercy for weakness. That same night, sirens wailed. My armed guards locked the gates. We tossed their designer luggage straight into the mud and turned that luxury compound into a military armory. Every perk was wiped clean. I threw three grand at each woman and severed all ties. As for the traitors leaking our intel, their names went straight to the hit squad for a blood debt. Those arrogant widows ended up in the dirt, sobbing on their knees and begging for shelter. I simply pressed cold steel against Bianca's temple. "Stop crying. You begged for freedom, didn't you? Now get off my land. Go enjoy your freedom in the slums."