My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 281

Chapter 281: Greatest Crisis Yet

"Are you okay?"

Ashley’s brows rose at Raka’s abrupt question. Not just her, but Julius and the other parents who were shaking hands with the opposing team also turned toward the duo.

Most of them already knew Raka since their children had attended the school together since kindergarten. Over the years, they had become acquainted with him. Some got along with him, while others—like Julius—simply couldn’t tolerate someone like Raka.

The man was egotistical and had a twisted way of thinking.

Raka was not the type to worry about others. In his world, his son always came first. So hearing such a question from him was enough to catch everyone’s attention.

Lucian, meanwhile, stared at the man before him with an unreadable expression.

"I am fine," Lucian answered, one brow lifting slightly. "We won... are you?"

Raka’s face twisted as he let go of Lucian’s hand. He clicked his tongue irritably. Losing didn’t feel nearly as demoralizing today, but Lucian’s roundabout jab still left an unpleasant feeling in his chest.

"Never mind," he scoffed, looking away.

Ashley quietly chuckled as Lucian gave her a subtle knowing glance.

"So he does know how to be petty," she whispered to herself before offering another parent a bright smile while shaking their hand. "That was an awesome game."

The other parent laughed. "Yes, it was. You were amazing."

*****

"I can’t believe I got too invested in this kind of game," Red murmured, finally calming down in his seat.

Rum tilted his head. "Wow. That was nerve-racking."

"Feels like watching a major league," Vodka remarked. "Who would’ve thought something like this could actually be interesting?"

Khan and his group, along with the ever-quiet Tank, nodded in agreement.

At first, they thought they were only there to cheer for the young master. Then the games involved the parents as well, so naturally, they started cheering for the people signing their paychecks.

But before they realized it, they were already shouting, screaming, and roaring just as intensely as everyone else.

"I still can’t believe it, though," Rus muttered, his blank expression making it seem as though he was only now processing everything.

His words earned curious looks from everyone seated in their row.

Rus cleared his throat while sitting between his own group and the original Dominion crew under Ashley.

"I mean... look at them," he said, pointing toward Ashley and Lucian. "We’re new here, but are they always like that?"

He didn’t elaborate, but everyone understood what he meant.

Were Ashley and Lucian always this normal?

No matter what, it didn’t change the fact that Lucian was the head of Dominion. Ashley was his wife, the Madam of Dominion.

Both of them carried responsibilities far beyond what they openly showed.

Not to mention, the world they lived in had nothing to do with harmless school games. The games Lucian usually played involved life-and-death stakes.

"If we weren’t here to witness this ourselves, I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me," Rus admitted honestly, earning nods from his group. "This just... doesn’t fit the image of the Black Dragon."

Hearing that, Khan, Nelek, and Warriyo glanced toward the original crew. However, each of the five men wore different expressions, making them impossible to read.

"Honestly..." Gin exhaled as he leaned back in his seat. "It’s complicated."

That answer alone made the others nod.

"As he said earlier, you guys are lucky," Red remarked, pointing toward Rum. "Not just because of the young master, but because the boss... well, even that woman wasn’t like this before either."

As for Vodka and Gin, they handled cleanup duty, while Gin made decisions regarding Ashley until Lucian arrived.

"Are you guys okay?" Nelek asked carefully, noticing how conflicted they suddenly looked.

Gin sighed heavily before turning toward them. "Just... think of it as us getting off easy."

The others huffed quietly and nodded in agreement.

Nelek, Khan, Warriyo, and Rus exchanged confused looks. As people who had only recently met Ashley and the original Dominion crew, they had no idea about the history between them.

Still, they chose not to pry further and instead shifted their attention back toward the court, where everyone had already begun dispersing.

Ashley, Lucian, Primo, Elliot, and Julius had already returned to the audience stands to rest now that the games were over.

Then Lucian suddenly stood and walked away after quietly telling Ashley something.

"Should someone follow him?" Khan asked, keeping his eyes on Lucian.

The rest watched their boss walk off before exchanging glances.

But before anyone could decide who would tail Lucian, they noticed Ashley rise from her seat with a bottle of water in hand, heading in the same direction.

"I’ll go," Red said as he pushed himself to his feet. "Just in case."

It wasn’t that they expected danger or thought someone would dare attack Lucian on school grounds. No one expected that at all. This wasn’t like the amusement park incident.

There were simply too many important people present at the school right now.

What none of them considered, however, was that the worst threats often didn’t come from outside forces.

And that Dominion was about to face its greatest crisis yet.