The Broken & Reborn Mafia Matriarch Chapter 04

The Broken & Reborn Mafia Matriarch Chapter 04

Eric froze. Then he turned and grabbed her hands. His voice shook with wild, desperate joy. 

“Zoe… are you serious? You really want this?” 

She answered by crashing her lips against his. 

Eric lifted her into his arms and laid her gently on 

the bed. 

He undressed her slowly, reverently, like he was unwrapping the most precious gift in the world, like she was something fragile, something holy. 

Zoe’s eyes locked onto mine, standing in the doorway. A slow, cruel smile spread across her 

face. 

“Eric… what if Mia finds us? She’ll be heartbroken, 

right?” 

Eric’s eyes blazed. He kissed her harder, his hands 

rough now. 

“Let her. She means nothing to me. Not a single 

hair on your head is worth more than her entire 

pathetic life.” 

Silent, scalding tears streamed down my face. I raised my hand to push the door open. 

But a cold, hard hand clamped down on my 

shoulder. 

It was Audrey. 

She jerked her head toward her study, her face 

impassive. I glanced back at the tangled bodies 

on the bed, then followed her. 

“Well, Mia?” she said, pouring herself a glass of 

scotch. “Anything you want to say?” 

“Why did you stop me?” 

“Because you can’t have children.” 

I stared at her, stunned. She knew it all. She’d 

known all along what Eric had done. 

“So… why?” 

“Because Eric is all I have left,” she said, her voice 

cold and sharp as a blade, not a single flicker of 

remorse in her eyes. “I buried one son. I can’t lose 

him. Whatever he needs to be happy… I’ll let him 

have it.” 

“So no matter what he does, you’ll always take his 

side?” 

She said nothing. Her silence said it all. 

I stumbled back to our empty bedroom and 

collapsed on the bed, sobbing until my chest 

throbbed with pain. I had no one. Nowhere to go. 

Eric never came back that night. 

At breakfast the next morning, Audrey and I didn’t 

speak. We both knew exactly what had happened. 

When Zoe came downstairs, wearing one of Eric’s 

shirts, Audrey’s eyes immediately dropped to her 

stomach. A small, satisfied smile tugged at her 

lips. 

“Eat up, Zoe. You need to keep your strength up.” 

Zoe blushed and swatted Eric’s arm playfully. 

“Stop it, now everyone knows!” 

After breakfast, I grabbed my bag and headed for 

the door. Zoe chased after me, her smile bright but 

victorious. 

“Mia, you’re not mad at me, are you?” 

“Eric loved me for so many years. I let him marry 

you because I’d felt bad for you! I wanted you to 

have a nice life, after everything that happened 

with the Campbells.” 

“But after all these years… he still only loves me. 

Last night was…” 

I turned to her, my voice ice cold. 

“Does being a homewrecker make you feel proud, 

Zoe? Is this the win you’ve been chasing your 

whole life?” 

Zoe’s face twisted with rage. 

“At least he wanted me! Eric says he gets sick just looking at your scarred body! He can’t even get hard unless the lights are off and he’s pretending 

you’re me!” 

“Every boy who ever liked you ended up choosing 

me! You’re only better than me at lousy 

schoolwork. You’ve always been second best, Mia! 

Always!” 

Before I could reply, Eric charged over and shoved 

me hard to the ground. 

“Leave her alone! Last night, it was my fault, not 

hers!” 

He stepped in front of Zoe, shielding her like I was 

some kind of monster. 

My palm scraped against the gravel, blood oozing 

down my wrist. 

For a split second, I saw a flicker of guilt in Eric’s 

eyes. 

Maybe he’d been playing the part for so long, some small part of him actually cared. 

Then he opened his mouth, and snuffed out that last tiny spark of hope. 

“Having to look at your ghastly face every day and pretend I love you? You’ve had it good for years! You got a husband, a nice house, a life you never deserved!” 

“This was all Zoe’s charity! Do you think any man would ever actually love a freak like you?” 

I laughed, a bitter, hollow laugh that came from somewhere deep in my chest. 

“Is that why you slipped me sterilization pills and told me they were for my skin? Because you 

thought I wasn’t good enough to carry your 

children?” 

Eric froze. Then he shrugged, like it was no big 

deal. 

“Yeah. I was never going to have kids with a freak 

like you. But if you keep your mouth shut and do 

as you’re told, you can stay Mrs. Thompson. 

That’s more than you deserve, isn’t it?” 

He grabbed Zoe’s hand and walked back inside, 

not looking back. 

This time, I didn’t cry. 

I went inside, packed my bags, and called a taxi to 

the airport.