The Fallen King: A Mafia Boss's Downfall

"Angelina, I gave up my dreams for you. All I ask is that you keep the child. If you agree, we can go get our marriage certificate right now.”

The words echoed through the bustling hospital lobby like gunfire, stopping me in my tracks.

My hands tightened around the edges of the premarital checkup and pregnancy report. The paper crumpled under the weight of my trembling hands.

It seemed like I was watching a scene that felt ripped from the pages of a betrayal novel. There he was—Xavier Knight, my boyfriend of ten years, the ruthless boss of the Knight family, kneeling before her.

His usual cold demeanour was replaced with a desperation I’d never seen in all the ten years I’d loved him.

I, Scarlett Thomson, came there expecting a future with him. Instead, I found him proposing to another woman, the one I had always suspected but never confronted.

Meanwhile, Angelina, the delicate yet dangerous woman who had haunted my nightmares, smirked softly.

Her hand was brushing over her stomach—a gesture so casual, yet it stole the air from my lungs. She extended her left hand and eventually allowed him to slide the ring onto her finger.

It was the same ring that I had once admired in his possession.

Then my eyes turned towards the gathered onlookers. Many of them were likely members of the Knight Mafia Family.

They erupted in cheers and applause. Their whistles and hollers pierced through me like bullets.

They kissed. Passionately. Publicly. As if my presence didn’t matter. As if I didn’t exist.

The next moment, I tore the checkup and pregnancy test reports in half. Afterward, I let the pieces of paper fall to the cold, polished floor.

The weight of my ten years with Xavier crushed me, but I refused to break here. Not now. Not in front of them.

Three years ago, he had made it clear that an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would be a liability to his position in the family.

When I told him I was carrying his child, he left without hesitation. He left me alone to deal with the consequences. Alone, I had lost our child. Alone, I had grieved.

But for Angelina? For her child? He had abandoned his lifelong ambitions. He stepped down from the family business to ensure her safety and happiness.

My child wasn’t enough for him. But hers? Hers had changed everything.

Tears fell from my cheeks, I turned on my heel and walked away. With every step, I left the shattered pieces of my heart and those damned reports behind.

When I reached the parking lot, I spotted them again. Xavier and Angelina were standing by his black armoured SUV. The next moment, their conversation drifted toward me on the breeze.

“Xavier, if you want to marry me, you have two options: either cancel your engagement.” She paused.

“Or?” Xavier raised his left eyebrow in a flirtatious tone.

“Or make Scarlett your bridesmaid.”

My stomach twisted as my name left her lips.

“Cancelling the engagement isn’t right. I don’t want you to be gossiped about,” he said, painting the picture of the honourable mafia man.

“Then make Scarlett my bridesmaid!”

The nerve of this woman.

Then I heard Xavier’s laughter was low and indulgent, almost affectionate. “All right, my darling. Now you can rest easy and marry me, right?”

“But you have to tell her on the wedding day. If she runs away, I won’t have a bridesmaid!” Angelina added further.

Her laughter echoed like bells, mocking me from afar.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his tone laced with confidence. “She owes me her life. I’ve protected her for ten years. Now that I’ve found someone whom I want to protect for a lifetime, asking her for this small favour will surely save her face. She’ll eventually agree.”

My body trembled with suppressed fury as they kissed again. Their lips locked together as if the world was their stage, and I was nothing more than a spectator.

How wrong they were.

In no time, I slid into my car, slammed the door shut, and gripped the steering wheel. I wasn’t the weak, naive girl Xavier thought I was. Not anymore.

I called my uncle, the head of the Vega Mafia family.

“Uncle,” I said, my voice steady but laced with venom. “Does your organisation have room for one more?”

There was a pause before he chuckled. “Tired of playing house with Knight? Finally ready to come home?”

Afterward, my eyes turned toward the pile of prescriptions and vitamins meant to prepare my body for pregnancy—our future that never was.

“Getting married and having kids isn’t everything,” I said, my voice firm. “Building power, reclaiming what’s mine, that's what matters now.”

My uncle’s laughter deepened. “Then pack your bags. I’ll make sure you’re so busy, you won’t have time to think about him or his betrayal.”