Chapter 4
The Mafia King’s Final Choice
The discovery changed everything.
Elias Marchetti had faced enemies before.
But betrayal from someone he loved was different.
Because enemies attacked from outside.
Betrayal entered through the front door.
For the first time in months, Elias stopped pretending he was unaffected.
Maeve found him alone in the study.
The wheelchair was gone.
The disguise was gone.
But the pain remained.
“You’re blaming yourself.”
Elias looked at her.
“For what?”
“For trusting the wrong person.”
He was silent.
Maeve walked closer.
“Elias.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t get to punish yourself because someone else chose to be cruel.”
His expression softened.
“You always know what to say.”
“No.”
She smiled slightly.
“I just say what everyone else is afraid to say.”
That made him laugh quietly.
A real laugh.
Something Maeve had rarely heard.
Then his phone rang.
Gabriel.
Elias answered.
His expression changed within seconds.
“What happened?”
A pause.
“Where?”
He ended the call.
Maeve immediately noticed.
“What is it?”
“Sienna disappeared.”
---
Sienna was found two hours later.
Not injured.
Not trapped.
Waiting.
She sat inside an abandoned office building with the man who had been funding her plans.
Victor Bellini.
The same businessman who questioned Maeve at the ballroom.
Elias arrived with Gabriel.
Sienna looked at him.
For a moment, she looked ashamed.
Then defensive.
“You came.”
Elias stared.
“You expected me not to?”
“I thought you would send someone else.”
“You know me better than that.”
Sienna looked away.
“I made a mistake.”
“No.”
Elias’s voice was cold.
“You made choices.”
Victor smiled.
“She was always ambitious.”
Elias looked at him.
“You used her.”
Victor laughed.
“No.”
He glanced at Sienna.
“She used herself.”
Sienna’s face changed.
“Victor.”
“You wanted his empire.”
“You said you would help me.”
“And I did.”
Victor smiled.
“But you never understood something.”
He looked at Elias.
“You can’t replace a king by stealing his crown.”
---
The confrontation ended with Victor exposed.
The evidence was enough.
His network collapsed within days.
But Elias refused revenge.
Everyone expected punishment.
Instead, he simply said:
“Remove him from my world.”
That was all.
Maeve watched him afterward.
“You could have destroyed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Elias looked at her.
“Because I spent too long believing power meant making people suffer.”
A pause.
“Now I understand power means choosing what you refuse to become.”
---
One month later, Daniel’s surgery was successful.
Maeve cried when she received the call.
Not because she was sad.
Because after years of fear…
Her brother was finally safe.
Elias stood beside her.
“You’re smiling.”
She wiped her eyes.
“I forgot what that felt like.”
“What?”
“Not worrying.”
Elias looked at her quietly.
Then said:
May you like
“You deserve more days like that.”
---
