THE DON'S SECRET OBSESSION ( His Bride, Her Prison)

I never wanted any part in this. But I have no choice. With a deep sigh, I force down an invisible lump in my throat, looking up at the priest. I press my fingers tighter into the flower I am holding, hoping it hides how much I am shaking. Dreading the words the priest is about to utter. "Do you, Ariella Cecilia Boone, take Dermos Salvatore to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The priest asks. I blink. I badly want to say it, badly want to scream that I am not Ariella Cecilia Boone. My lips tremble as I force the truth down my throat, "Yes, I do." I murmur, my voice a little over a whisper. ~~~~ Ariel Hannah Boone didn't know what life had in store for her when she woke up on her twin sister's wedding day, only to find out her sister had run away. She went into panic when her mother insisted she take her place because Dermos Salvatore was no man to joke with. Dermos was the most feared Don in the whole of Sicily, one who killed without care. A blood thirsty murderer with no remorse. In an attempt to save her family from his wrath, she takes her sister's place at the wedding. Pain, suffering, and betrayal are all she knows the moment she became his. Secrets begin to unveil as she realises her family isn't what it seems. And when whispers of her sister's disappearance reach her, she finds out the truth. He never wanted Ariella; it had always been her. Ariel has to choose between a love built on lies or betraying her sister and family. She was his bride, and he was her prison, yet he would never let her go.

Chapters

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

He sets his fork down before speaking again. "The changes are noted and will be made."

He joins his hands together. "Once we finish breakfast, I would love to introduce you to the two most important people in this house."

Something new to talk about. Finally.

"Okay, that's fine. Do I get to work as a part of the household?" I can't help but broach the subject of not wanting to be a housewife.

He is rich, yes. But I have no interest in whiling away my days here doing nothing. I hate it.

"No, you aren't. As a Donna, it's not allowed for you to work, I do the working-"

"So, what am I going to spend my life doing?" I snap, dropping my cutlery as I feel my appetite take a fast dive to Neverland.

He doesn't say anything at first, just sits there, hands placed on the table as he slowly chews on his food like he moves at his own pace, and every other person should go shit themselves.

It's so annoying.

"Listen, Ariella, we have gone over the rules, but you seem to have forgotten, so I will refresh your memory." He starts, his words calm but deadly, every word piercing through me.

Shit! I am going out of character.

"Rule number one, you are not allowed to question your Don, be it in public or private.

Two, no Donna of mine is allowed to work.

Three, do not speak when not spoken to.

Lastly, all you have to do is look pretty and bear me children when the time comes.

Obey all these rules and have a peaceful life here with me." He speaks, every word like a hot knife to my guts.

I know I should shut up; he is the Don, and he will kill me. Besides, Ariella would never complain, so I should just shut up. But I can't help the burst of words that follows.

"Look here, Dermos, this is not 2014, where women's only use is in the kitchen and to bear kids. If that's what you wanted, you should have just bought a stupid robot. I refuse to follow those ridiculous rules." I huff, placing both my arms under my boobs.

"Okay." He smiles slightly, raising his hand to make a gesture.

Okay? Just okay?

"Is that all?" I can't help but ask. I was expecting a full-blown speech.

"I can't force you to obey, so you are free to do whatever, but every disobedience comes with punishment. Ones I won't fail to deliver," he says, shrugging like he didn't just threaten his wife.

A shudder runs down my spine as I shrink back in my seat.

He didn't shout or get angry; he just calmly threatened me like he was talking about the weather, and that freaked the hell out of me more than anything.

"Carlos." He calls.

"Yes, boss?" Carlos suddenly appears from nowhere.

This guy is creepy.

"Introduce Luciana to her." He instructs, gracefully rising to his feet before strolling out like he didn't just cause chaos in me.

"Come," Carlos calls, and a set of heels starts clicking on the tiles.

They sound uncomfortable and annoying. I mean, raise your damn legs, woman, you don't have to screech your feet like an attention banshee just to be noticed.

A deep sigh escapes my lips as I realise it's going to be harder than I thought to be Ariella.

I raise my eyes to look at her when she finally gets closer, and gosh, she is gorgeous.

Killer shape dressed in a tight red gown that shows every dip and curve, her hair is red compared to my black one, his lips coated in blood-red lipstick, topped with a nose so painted it's surreal.

How is she this gorgeous?

"This is Luciana. The Don's bedmate." Carlos calls out, and my eyes widen as I take her in again.

She is his what?

Why the heck would he introduce her to me? Luciana glares at me in a way that is too familiar, yet I can't place my finger on it.

"You aren't much to look at." She says, venom and disgust visibly dripping down her voice.

I shouldn't feel anything; I don't matter to Dermos, but at the same time, it stings. I don't say anything as I rise to my feet, literally racing to my room.

It was at that moment that it dawned on me that Dermos didn't care about my family and me. This marriage was just a contract to him.

I realise that this is exactly what Ariella would have faced also.

I hid out in my room all day, eating lunch and dinner there. I am swamped in the book I am reading on my phone when my eyes suddenly snap to the left, catching a strange thing.

Red blinking light.

It's small, just behind my curtain; I wouldn't notice it normally, but the whole room is dark, so I can.

What the hell?

My heart thuds as I move closer, snapping the curtains open, and there a small camera lies. Without thinking, I sent my foot at it, causing it to shatter.

Who the hell installed a camera here? I am still racking my brain when a message enters my phone.

I shouldn't have looked at it; my whole brain froze as I turned to stare at the message.

The same unknown number.

"You can smash the camera, but I am still watching, and I know."

Who is this person? Does he or she live here?

This is beginning to freak me out. It is enough confirmation that nothing about this is a prank.

I am still contemplating when the door pries open, a lanky figure graces the entrance.

My heart thuds thinking it's Dermos, but once I switch on the lights, I am met with Carlos's buzz cut and cold gaze.

"What the hell!" A loud scream tears out of my lips. I literally fling my phone as my palms snap to my mouth.

"Shhhh!! Just came to tell you to leave while you still can. Leave before it's too late." He says each word cold like a bucket of ice thrown over me.

In the name of what is going on?

Before I can respond, the door snaps open as an angry voice booms.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Continue to next part

On our wedding night, my Fated Mate, Alpha Cedric, left our bed to care for his mistress. He told me our marriage was just an obligation. But the real betrayal came months later on a rooftop. When Rogues demanded a trade, Cedric didn't hesitate. He chose to save Jayden because of her "heart condition," handing me—his pregnant wife—over to the killers. "You are stronger," he said as he pushed me toward them. I fell from the building. I survived, but our unborn pup didn't. Instead of comfort, I woke up to handcuffs. Cedric believed Jayden’s lies that I staged the kidnapping for attention. He threw me into the dungeon, shackling my wrists with silver cuffs that burned my flesh, while Jayden poisoned my food with wolfsbane. He stripped me of my title and dignity, never realizing that the "fragile" woman he protected was the true monster. He didn't know about the glowing rune on my chest counting down the seconds I had left. He didn't know I was the legendary White Wolf, and my time was up. On my final night, I asked for one last ride on the Ferris wheel where we first met. At midnight, as Cedric rushed back to the amusement park, he didn't find a body. He found only my empty clothes and a text message on the seat. "Don't look for me, Cedric. I'm giving my wolf back to the moon." As he watched the security footage, he finally saw me dissolve into stardust and ascend to the sky, leaving him alone in a world that suddenly felt too quiet.

Mafia Romance Werewolf

9.1

His Unwanted Fiancée Was His True Savior

9.1

I was standing in five thousand dollars of hand-stitched lace when I received the medical report. My fiancé, Dante de Rossi, the future Don of Chicago, had gotten another woman pregnant. He didn't apologize. He didn't beg. He looked me in the eye and called it a "strategic necessity." "Isobel saved my life five years ago," he said coldly. "I owe her this child. You will raise it as your own. It is the price of the Peace Treaty." He forced me to cancel our engagement photos so he could take them with her. He took her on the vacation meant for our honeymoon. At dinner, he ordered me the seafood risotto, completely forgetting my deadly shellfish allergy, while fussing over Isobel’s water temperature. When I tried to leave, he cornered me. "You are a mob wife, Nina. Act like one. She is the hero who saved me." I wanted to laugh. Because five years ago, in that alley, Isobel wasn't even there. I was the one in the mask. I was the one who stitched his femoral artery and saved his life, risking my own medical license. He was destroying our twenty-year relationship to pay a debt to a liar. I didn't scream. I didn't fight. I simply picked up a red marker and walked to the calendar. On the day of our wedding, while Dante stood at the altar waiting for his obedient Queen, I was already boarding a one-way flight to the other side of the world. I left him nothing but four words scrawled across the date: "Let's break up, Dante."

Action Mafia Romance

7.6

His Unwanted Wife, The Rival Don's Queen

7.6

The gunman pressed a Glock to my temple and gave my husband a choice. "One walks out. One stays. Choose, Mr. Underboss." I wasn't worried. I was Haven. I was his wife of ten years, his Consigliere, the woman who built his empire. Beside me sobbed Gemma, a fragile twenty-two-year-old he had known for six months. "Take Gemma! Leave Haven!" Connor screamed, his honor twisting into something unrecognizable. He walked out of the warehouse with another woman in his arms, leaving me to be butchered. I didn't wait for the bullet. I threw myself through a glass window into the freezing canal. I survived the fall, but the life inside me didn't. After five years of failed IVF, the miracle baby I hadn't even told Connor about was gone. While I lay in a cold hospital room, bleeding out the remains of our child, my husband was buying diamond earrings for the woman who had set me up to die. When the doctor tried to sedate me for the surgery, I grabbed his wrist. "No anesthesia," I commanded. "But the pain..." "I want to feel it," I said, staring at the ceiling. "I want to feel every scrap of him leaving my body." I burned that pain into my soul. Then, I went home, poured gasoline over our wedding bed, and lit a match. Two years later, I returned to the city. Connor thought I was dead. But when he saw me on the arm of his mortal enemy, wearing the crown of a rival Queen, he realized his mistake. He didn't just lose a wife. He started a war.

Mafia Modern Romance

8.6

Mafia Betrayal: Her Escape From Darkness

8.6

The Maybach glided through rain, Dante's cold cedar cologne a familiar comfort. Seven years, my life revolved around him, my fingers on his suit cuff, a silent promise. But tonight, our normal shattered with a single phone call. He answered, speaking rapid Italian – a language he thought I didn't understand. Every word: a death knell. Confirming his engagement to Sofia Moretti, dismissing me as a 'consolation prize.' Seven years of loyalty vanished. His loving mask back, he left for his fiancée. I stumbled into freezing rain, recalling my foster past. My numb fingers dialed his mother, Isabella, demanding fifty million for my silence. Her insults didn't sting. The true gut punch: Sofia's Instagram, a prenup on Dante's desk, proudly showing *my* watch, captioned: 'Fourteen days left.' This wasn't their celebration; it was my death sentence. I wouldn't stay another day in this gilded cage. My old duffel bag, packed, waited. The Australia brochure, a childhood dream, in my pocket. This time, I would live for myself, and they would all pay.

Action Mafia Modern

9.6

Marked by My Secondhand Delivery Wolf

9.6

To save on the outrageous wages of hired movers, I, Jade Lawson, bought a werewolf who had been returned three times from a secondhand trading site. The seller warned me he was vicious, wild, and prone to biting. What caught my eye wasn't his temperament. It was his build. Six foot three, solid muscle, the kind of body that looked like it could haul six hundred pounds of packages without breaking a sweat. When he arrived, he was indeed vicious. He kept sneaking into my room at night, pressing his scorching body against mine and grinding his teeth against the back of my neck. I thought he was teething. Or worse, developing rabies. I contacted the seller immediately to request a return. After hearing my description, the seller went quiet for a long time. "We don't recommend returning him." "He's not teething. Werewolves only feel the urge to bite the back of their mate's neck during their rut phase. It's a mate-marking instinct." "He wants you. He's trying to get you to bear his pups."

Mafia Romance Werewolf

7.3

Marrying The Rival: My Ex-Husband's Despair

7.3

I stood outside my husband's study, the perfect mafia wife, only to hear him mocking me as an "ice sculpture" while he entertained his mistress, Aria. But the betrayal went deeper than infidelity. A week later, my saddle snapped mid-jump, leaving me with a shattered leg. Lying in the hospital bed, I overheard the conversation that killed the last of my love. My husband, Alessandro, knew Aria had sabotaged my gear. He knew she could have killed me. Yet, he told his men to let it go. He called my near-death experience a "lesson" because I had bruised his mistress's ego. He humiliated me publicly, freezing my accounts to buy family heirlooms for her. He stood by while she threatened to leak our private tapes to the press. He destroyed my dignity to play the hero for a woman he thought was a helpless orphan. He had no idea she was a fraud. He didn't know I had installed micro-cameras throughout the estate while he was busy pampering her. He didn't know I had hours of footage showing his "innocent" Aria sleeping with his guards, his rivals, and even his staff, laughing about how easy he was to manipulate. At the annual charity gala, in front of the entire crime family, Alessandro demanded I apologize to her. I didn't beg. I didn't cry. I simply connected my drive to the main projector and pressed play.

Mafia Modern Romance

THE DON'S SECRET OBSESSION ( His Bride, Her Prison)

Chapter 4

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