Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Because beneath the sadness in Dad’s face, beneath the anger, beneath the heavy emotion… was something worse.

Disappointment.

That was what broke me.

I had wanted a reaction-but not this one. I didn’t know what to do with this. So I stood there, frozen, unable to move, just watching him as he walked out. Leaving me behind. Leaving me alone with my sobbing mother.

My hand instinctively moved to my belly. I was holding it, cradling it.

Just minutes ago, I’d been so happy. And now… now I was completely lost.

When I realized I wouldn’t be getting any answers-not today-I quietly turned and walked toward the stairs. My mom kept sobbing and shouting behind me. I didn’t even register what she was saying. Her words were just noise.

I walked upstairs. I walked into my room. And then I just sat down.

I didn’t know how to feel. Didn’t know if I should be crying. Didn’t know what I should be doing.

So I just sat there for a long time, staring out the window. Silent. Still.

Lost.

The house was eerily quiet that day.

Even though all of us were there-my mom, my dad, and me-it was as if no one existed inside its walls. There was no TV playing, no radio humming softly in the background. Nothing. Just silence.

And that silence stretched on so long, it started to feel suffocating. It was as if the house itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

Later in the evening, when it was time for dinner-which no one had cooked, obviously, not after what I

had said-that’s when it started.

The shouting.

My mom’s voice rang out breaking through the calm. I could hear them downstairs-my mom and dad- arguing. My dad, of course, was calm and quiet, like he always was, his voice barely rising. But my mom

my mom was loud. Furious.

…

Apparently, she wasn’t so thrilled to find out she was going to be a grandmother. And in that moment, while listening to the storm rage downstairs, I realized something.

This plan of mine… it might not go the way I had hoped.

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Chapter 74

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But it was already done. There was nothing she could do to change it now.

The shouting continued for what felt like hours, echoing through the walls, and eating away at my nerves. And then-suddenly-a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I said cautiously.

The door creaked open and there she was-my mother. She stood there in the doorway, holding a box of pizza.

“It’s dinner,” she said quietly, stepping into the room. She placed the box gently on my nightstand.

Now, you have to understand something-we’re not allowed to eat in our bedrooms. My mom’s rules. Not unless we’re so sick we can’t get out of bed. But here she was, bringing me food, acting calm. Acting… normal.

And I wanted to believe it was a good sign. I wanted to believe she and Dad had talked, that they had agreed to accept what I’d told them.

But something about her quiet made me uneasy. Nervous. She turned to me with a softness that felt weird coming from her.

“Do you want anything to go with it? Milk? Soda? Water?” she asked-sweetly, too sweetly. Too softly.

Too unlike her.

“Milk, please-if you don’t mind.”

She nodded silently, stood up, and walked out of the room. I grabbed a slice of pizza and started eating, my appetite returning with a vengeance. I was starving. A few minutes later, she returned, a glass of milk in hand.

But as soon as I saw it, I wrinkled my nose.

“Um, could I have a soda instead? I don’t think I want milk anymore.”

She narrowed her eyes at me like she was trying to see straight through my soul. I thought she was about to snap or scold me, but instead, she placed the glass carefully on the nightstand and walked out again.

This time, she came back with both soda and water.

I guess she figured I might change my mind again and didn’t want to make a third trip.

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