Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 45

Chapter 45

I stayed in the bathroom long after my mom left. I wasn’t doing anything in there-I just didn’t want to be in the same room with her while she kept trying to convince me to break up with Asher. That wasn’t happening.

I had a plan. And the plan was going to work. I hadn’t expected Asher himself to be the obstacle. I knew he loved me. I felt it. In the way he kissed me, the way he touched me, how his hands lingered when he held me. I thought that would be enough. I thought if I wanted it, he’d want it too-if not more.

But he was hesitating. And that made it a problem.

Still, I could see him slowly bending. I just needed to wait for the right moment-somewhere calm, somewhere private. Somewhere where no one could interrupt us.

When I finally walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom, I called him. He didn’t pick up. For a moment, my heart sank. But then I remembered what he said earlier his father had tasked him with something, and he had to work on it. So I told myself to relax. He’d see the missed call and call me back. He always did.

Feeling better than before, I decided to get myself busy and focus on my schoolwork. The hours passed, and before I knew it, it was seven. Still no call.

Which was odd. Asher always called back.

When my mom told me to come downstairs for dinner, I texted him again.

[I miss you. Please call me when you’re free.]

Then I went downstairs. Dinner was quiet at first. Just me and my mother, picking at food, saying little. She was clearly annoyed, but I wasn’t about to entertain her.

Dad arrived not long after. We greeted each other he asked me how my day was—and I thought we’d get through the meal without incident.

But then, as if she’d been waiting for the right moment to pounce, my mom announced it.

“Asher was here today.”

My dad didn’t react. It wasn’t exactly news,-Asher had taken me to the university that morning, after all.

But then she added,

“I found him in Ariella’s bedroom.”

And that changed everything.

My dad’s fork froze mid-air.

His gaze snapped from his plate to me, sharp and cold. My heartbeat thudded. He didn’t say anything at first.

At that moment, I felt this uncontrollable urge to defend myself. I spoke before my dad even had a chance to fully react.

“We didn’t do anything. We were just talking.”

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Chapter 45

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His expression hardened with disappointment. For a second I felt guilty, reminding me of what I was planning in that bedroom. But I pushed it away. They were the ones who were forcing me into this. They were the ones making me choose between love and survival. I wasn’t going to drown in guilt for fighting for my love.

“Just talking?” my father repeated, his voice low. “Why in your bedroom? Why today, of all days, when your mother and I weren’t home?”

I squared my shoulders. “Mother was here,” I said calmly. “She was the one who let him in. She was the one who allowed him to come upstairs. Because she trusts me. And she trusts Asher.”

I looked between the two of them, daring them to say otherwise.

“We’ve been dating for over a year,” I continued. “If we wanted to do something… we would have done it already. So I’m really surprised by your reactions just because he was in my bedroom.”

Then I looked back down at my plate, trying to slow my breathing. The table fell quiet for a moment.

Then my mother broke the silence, her voice sharp. “He cannot be in your bedroom, Ariella. You’re supposed to be breaking up with him.”

And then, like she was passing the baton, she turned to my father.

“Tell her,” she urged. “She listens to you more than she listens to me. She needs to face reality and let this childish thing go.”

Childish thing? That did it.

I raised my head, eyes burning. “I love him. I love him, okay? It’s not a ‘thing’-it’s real. It’s a feeling. I love him, and I don’t want to marry his father. He’s old. He’s older than my own father. And you expect me to marry him?”

I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief and continued,

“I can’t believe this. What if it were you? What if you were madly in love with Dad, and then you were told to marry his father? Would you have agreed?”

She didn’t even blink.

“If he were the don,” she said without hesitation, “I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“What are you looking so surprised for?” my mom shot back, unfazed by the shock on my face. “This is going to save your parent’s lives. Your family. I would do anything for my family. And don’t act so scandalised, please.”

She waved her hand, as if brushing off my disbelief and continued.

“You think you wouldn’t have been happier-more fulfilled-if your dad had been a Don? You would have been a princess, Ariella. You would have had everything you ever wanted. Your name would’ve meant something.”

I just… stared. My mouth was open, but no sound came out. My eyes instinctively drifted to my father. But he didn’t even look at me-or her. He just kept his eyes on the table, still, quiet, as if none of this was being said out

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Chapter 45

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loud in front of him.

And then I looked back at her. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I mean… I got it, I really did. Maybe she had always dreamed of marrying someone powerful-an underboss, a capo, someone with status. Instead, she ended up with a mere soldier.

But my dad loved her. I had seen it. I had felt it. He always listened. Always tried. He gave us everything he could to make sure we were happy, and to keep our life full. And still… still she wanted more.

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