Betrayed Bride, Mafia Don's Wife

01

Three days before the wedding, Arthur Pierce said he had a surprise for me. Then he drove me out so he could crash his so-called sworn sister's elopement.

In the passenger seat, Amelia Ashford—wearing a wedding gown—kissed Arthur with abandon, then choked out：

“Arthur, I knew you'd come. You could never stand to see me hurt.”

“Let's run away together!”

My eyes burned red, my whole body shaking uncontrollably：

“Arthur, this is the surprise you had for me? We're getting married in three days!”

“You know there are only three days left. If I don't marry, I'll be deported. What exactly do I mean to you?”

Arthur tenderly wiped Amelia's tears, then turned to scold me：

“Victoria, you're a woman too. How can you stand by and watch her marry a man she doesn't love?”

“When did you get so selfish? Get out of the car. I'm taking Amelia and going, right now!”

He shoved me out of the car and dumped me in the middle of nowhere.

I clenched my fists and finally laughed out loud, even as the tears came crashing down.

Then an engine roared behind me, and a car braked hard at my side.

The window rolled down, revealing a sharp, angular face. He took off his sunglasses, his deep eyes fixing tight on me：

“Miss, I happen to be short one fiancée. What do you think of me?”

I wiped my tears and curled the corner of my mouth：“What a coincidence. I happen to be short one fiancé.”

——

He pushed the door open, looked down at me, the corner of his lips tilting up：“I thought you'd refuse. After all, from what I've found, you love Arthur very much.”

I silently tightened my fists, my eyes scalding, forcing down the tremble in my throat：“But I have my dignity too.”

He raised an eyebrow, his voice cool and clear, the obvious smile in it when he spoke again：“You're stronger than I expected. So then, strong lady, allow your newly appointed fiancé to escort you home.”

The car sped the whole way and stopped beneath my building.

As we parted, he braced one hand against the door, those deep eyes on me, and spoke gravely：“I'll come to marry you in three days.”

“By the way, your fiancé is named Gabriel Abbott. Don't get it wrong.”

“Okay.” I managed a faint smile and answered.

Gabriel's taillights disappeared around the corner. I drew a deep breath and pushed open my front door.

The first thing I saw was clothes thrown all over the floor, the whole place ransacked into a mess.

From the bedroom came Amelia's light, teasing voice：“Arthur……do you love me, or……Victoria? Answer me. If I like the answer, I'll send you straight to heaven in bed.”

Arthur's voice was hoarse beyond belief：“You! I love you to death!”

“She's never half as fiery as you are in bed.”

Amelia panted softly as she went on：“Doing this, aren't you afraid Victoria will get hurt and leave you?”

Arthur answered her, eager and impatient：“Relax. No matter how hurt she gets, she can't run. Three days left—where's she going to find a ready-made fiancé?”

“She'll just have to swallow it. Otherwise it's deportation.”

I stood in the doorway, my heart clenched in an instant, barely able to breathe.

So this man who once said he loved me humiliated me like this because he thought he had my weakness in his grip.

But what he never imagined was that I'd actually found a fiancé.

In that moment, disappointment and grief curdled into boundless rage. I grabbed the stool beside me and smashed it against the door.

The door burst open, and the sounds inside cut off at once.

My chest heaved violently. I heard my own voice, strangely calm：“Arthur, you've gone too far.”

Arthur scrambled to throw on his clothes, panic written all over his face：

“Victoria, let me explain!”

“We thought it over and over—your place was the safest……as for what happened after, we just couldn't help ourselves……”

Amelia unhurriedly picked up the clothes and pulled them on, one piece at a time. But the clothes on her body were mine.

The lingerie I'd bought with my first paycheck handing out flyers. The dress she'd yanked on so carelessly, I'd bought from washing dishes at a restaurant.

I'd never once let myself wear these things, only saving them for dates with Arthur. And now they were on her.

She even curled her lip：“We didn't expect you back so fast. We were already being considerate of your feelings. Whose fault is it you had to come back right now?”

Fury flared up in an instant. I raised my hand and swung at Amelia.

But in the end, the slap landed on Arthur's face—at the last second, he threw himself in front of her.

He raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face darkening, then suddenly smiled：“Feel better now?”

“Victoria, it's already come to this. All these years you've leaned on me so much. You have no friends, no family in this city. You can't live without me.”

“Let's call it even and move on. At most, after the wedding, I'll spend more time with you to make it up.”

I looked at that face, and something inside me shattered, falling to the floor piece by piece, then crumbling to dust in the wind……

“Get out.”

My eyes red, my finger trembling, I pointed at the door.

“Who'd ever marry a thing like you!”

“Get out!”