Chapter 6
978words
I was in a black sedan printed with the Corleone family crest. Silvio was cutting his cigar elegantly next to me.
"The old coots of the Marinos have been taken care of, Mia.
"Even the Micosa banks have been issued a warning by the headquarters," Silvio informed me casually. The Marinos' life was in his hands, and he could change their fate with just a flick of his fingers.
I looked out at the scenery flying past me.
Micosa.
I thought I was this city's favorite child in the last six months. It turned out I was just a plaything locked up in a cage.
"Silvio, I want the Micosas to lose every asset and every cent," I said softly. "That includes their mansions, their clothes, and everything they have under their names."
He nodded and made a call. "Half an hour, Micosa. Make sure they end up applying for bankruptcy. Freeze all of their assets. Every trade they make will come under the Corleones."
A voice replied on the other end of the call with affirmation.
The Marinos, a family that held absolute power in Micosa, the new-age mafia family that swept the city by storm, could do nothing to fight back against the real giants of the underworld.
Their car stopped right in front of the Marinos' mansion. This was the place that used to be where Ernest and I lived after our wedding. Now, the mansion was surrounded by members of the Corleone family.
Ernest's mother never liked me. My mother-in-law had always found me distasteful and went as far as to call me 'cheap'. She was being dragged out by two men in black, and they threw her onto the snowy ground. She was wearing an expensive fur coat while holding a handbag encrusted with diamonds.
"Who are you?! Let go of me! Do you know who I am?! My son is Ernest Marino. He's the Don of the Marinos!"
I got out of the car and walked over to her through the thick snow. My mother-in-law's eyes lit up in wild delight when she saw me, and she immediately ordered me around out of habit.
"Where have you been, Mia? Get these rude people to get out of here. Look at my handbag! They've destroyed it! You need to tell Ernest to execute these penniless subordinates!"
I stood in front of her and stared down at her in superiority. "Ernest can't even protect himself right now. He probably… doesn't have time to execute anyone for you."
My mother-in-law was taken aback as she sensed something had gone wrong. "What do you mean, Mia? You're really just a wild woman with no manners…"
I slapped her so hard that my palm went numb. My mother-in-law fell to the ground. Her cheek immediately turned red as it became swollen.
"H-How dare you slap me!"
"I slapped you to teach you some manners." As I spoke to her, I grabbed her handbag and flung it into the garbage bin. "The Marinos have gone bankrupt. Every inch of land and every piece of clothing the Marinos have belongs to the Corleones now."
"No! That's impossible! The Marinos are the king of Micosa!"
My mother-in-law screamed wildly while coming at me to grab me. However, Silvio came forward and stepped hard on her hand. He had a cigar in his mouth, and his eyes were cold.
"Hey, old woman. Didn't you say before that it's my sister's fortune to be able to use her kidney to save Anna Bucca? Let me tell you right now that it's your fortune to be able to stay alive long enough to clean up every public toilet in Micosa.
"I've just bought over the rights to every toilet that can be found in Micosa."
Silvio turned to look at his subordinates.
"Take her away. Make sure she lives the remainder of her life in the dirtiest place there is."
My mother-in-law was dragged away like garbage. Her screaming eventually died off in the distance as she lost all the dignity she once had.
I walked into the mansion that I had lived in for six months. There was still a subtle scent of bitter medicine in the air. It was nauseating to me.
"Go to the bedroom and burn the bed inside," I calmly ordered a bodyguard. "Also, take every photo of us in the study and destroy all evidence of me being here. Burn everything."
The flames raged fiercely toward the sky as they reflected all the so-called 'love' and 'honor' Ernest was always talking about.
He had woken up by the time he was brought to me. Ernest's face was so pale that he was almost translucent. There was a thick bandage around his waist. That was the price of losing a kidney.
Ernest looked at the raging fire burning his mansion down, along with everything he had ever been proud of.
"Mia… Is it necessary to go that far?" His voice was weak, and his eyes looked dead.
I walked to him and pointed at the fire.
"When you fed me that medicine, have you ever thought about letting me live, Ernest? Did you even consider our relationship when you planned for me to die of infection on the surgery table?"
I leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, "This is only the beginning. I'll be sending you to the mines in the North. You'll be given a number there, and you'll fight to the death with the lowest rank of society, the same people you detest most, over a molded bun. You need to stay alive with a clear mind and watch me destroy the Marinos little by little until there's nothing left."
Ernest trembled as bloody tears flowed from his eyes.
