Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Nobody! It is nobody!” I cried out, my voice breaking with desperation. “I have never cheated on you, Asher. It’s always been you. It has always been only you.”

“Shut up, you bitch!” he snapped, his voice laced with pure fury. “You think I’m foolish? Do you think I’m stupid? You think I-“He cut himself off, running a hand through his hair before glaring down at me again. Then where did this son come from? You think you’re the virgin Mary?”

“No. I never said that, I….”

“You think I haven’t heard the rumours? People whispering behind my back, saying you were sneaking around? You think I don’t know why you were after me, the Don’s son?”

I shook my head, my lips parting to speak, but he wasn’t done.

“You think I don’t know why you forced me to sleep with you just weeks before you faked your own death?” His voice dropped lower, more dangerous. “Staged it, I should say.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Asher,” I whispered, still curled up on the floor, my arms wrapped around my legs, holding myself together. “I have never been with anyone. I have never lied to you. I have never cheated on you.”

He scoffed, ignoring me completely.

“And this son of yours,” he continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm as if the words themselves disgusted him. “How old is he?”

I hesitated. I thought about lying. But I knew he would find out eventually.

He backed away, laughing. It was a cruel, hollow sound, filled with something deeper-sadness, resentment.

“He’s four years old,” I finally admitted.

His laughter stopped abruptly. He stared at me, his jaw tightening, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

“So… just right around the time you left, you left and got knocked up on the stop,” he murmured, his voice eerily calm. Then his gaze darkened again. “Who did you run away with?” He took a step closer. “Tell me now. I wan to know. Is it someone in the famiglia? Someone you met at the university? Is that it?” He tilted his head mockingly. “You fell in love with a normal guy and wanted to have a normal family?”

“I loved you once, Ariella. Costa”

I flinched.

“When I was young, naive, and stupid enough to believe I could turn dirt into gold,” he continued, his eyes dark with bitterness. “But you proved me wrong. You showed me that in this world, you have to be ruthless. That nobody is ever truly loyal. That women were nothing but snakes and love is a weakness..”

He exhaled sharply, then pointed at himself.

“But you had me, Ariella,” he said, his voice raw. “You had me!”

His words felt like a punch to the gut.

“I loved you. I did everything you wanted. You had me right in the palm of your hand, and you could’ve done anything with me,” he said, his voice thick with anger and something far more painful. “And instead of cherishing me, instead of protecting the love and trust I placed in you… what did you do?”