The Mafia Boss Who Buried Me Alive Chapter 02
“You ungrateful child! What did you do this time?”
His eyes were bloodshot as he pointed a finger directly at my nose.
“If you want to die, go find a place where nobody can see you! Drop dead and don’t let us know! Just stop torturing us!”
I held my burning cheek, staring at him blankly.
This was the same father who used to carry me on his shoulders, the same man who had cried harder than I did at my wedding.
Now, he looked at me as if I were a pile of disgusting garbage blocking his way.
I clutched my chest, taking several ragged breaths before I could finally force a sound out.
“Mom, Dad, just leave. From now on… just pretend you only have one daughter.”
Both of them froze. My mother stopped crying, kneeling on the floor and staring at me. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately kept quiet. My father’s raised hand slowly dropped to his side. His lips twitched, his expression complicated.
Watching them, I suddenly remembered the very first time I had been saved after slitting my wrists. My mother had held me, crying as if her heart was breaking.
“Nina! If you die, how am I supposed to live? You can’t be this selfish. You can’t make a mother bury her own child!”
But now, she stood up from the floor, her face masking over with absolute coldness.
“I’ve done nothing wrong as your mother! If I hadn’t been terrified that your death would leave your sister drowning in guilt for the rest of her life, I wouldn’t have bothered saving you time and time again!”
“Since you’re using these kinds of threats against your father and me today, we’re leaving! Do whatever you want from now on! We’ll just pretend we never gave birth to such an ungrateful daughter!”
They walked out one after the other, and the world fell silent again.
I curled into a ball under the blanket, burying my face in the pillow as body-racking sobs tore through me.
Hours must have passed before my phone buzzed. It was a text from my father.
[Nina, no matter what, we are still your parents. Even if we did something wrong, you shouldn’t have treated your mother like that. You’re thirty years old. It’s time to grow up.
Take some time to reflect on your actions and apologize to your mother.
Parents are always right—think about that phrase carefully. You’re the older sister, so it’s only natural for you to yield to Sofia. Not to mention, you were the one who couldn’t keep your husband’s heart. Who else can you blame?
As for the child, everyone had good intentions. Sofia is family, and she treats him like her own. It’s better for a child to grow up with his biological father anyway. Look at yourself these past few years, constantly trying to end your life. The boy would have truly suffered if he stayed with you. I hope you can understand that.
Stop breaking your mother’s heart. We are old, and we can’t handle this drama anymore.]
I stared at the screen, but my tears had completely run dry. My eyes just throbbed with a dull, burning ache.
It had always been like this, since I was a little girl.
In elementary school, Sofia wanted the hair clip I had saved my allowance for six months to buy. Mom said, “Let your sister have it,” so I gave it to her.
In middle school, Sofia wanted to join the school choir. Mom said, “Your sister has a better voice. Let her have the spot,” so I stepped down.
In high school, Sofia wanted to go to the state competition training camp, but there was only one spot. Dad said, “Your grades are more stable than hers. Let her go see the world this time. You’ll have other chances,” so I nodded.
I had given in for eighteen years. I thought I had given up more than enough.
Until I met Luca.
It was my twentieth birthday, and I was sitting alone on the school rooftop, letting the wind blow through my hair. He had just finished a meeting in New York and ran up the stairs still wearing his pilot uniform. Catching his breath, he handed me a half-melted cake.
“I heard it was someone’s birthday today,” he said. “I ordered half the bakeries in Chicago to stop what they were doing and compete to make the best cake for you.”
I asked him why he was being so good to me.
He said, “Because you deserve it.”
In my entire life, no one had ever told me those four words. No one ever thought I deserved anything. The only thing I deserved was to step aside.
Luca made me realize that, for once, I didn’t have to give in.
The first time he held my hand, his palm was covered in sweat, and his ears were as red as a cooked shrimp.
He told me, “Nina, you don’t have to fight for anything. I will lay the absolute best of everything at your feet.”
I thought I finally found someone I didn’t have to give up. But in the end, even he wanted me to step aside.
I tossed the phone onto the bed and curled back beneath the covers, crying silently. I kept my eyes wide open in the darkness, my nails digging hard into my arms. It stung, but the pain couldn’t compare to the massive, hollow crater in my chest.
Ultimately, the burning resentment inside me won out. I pulled the phone back and sent Luca a single text.
“I know everything. Let’s meet.”
