The Mafia King's Unknown Doctor Wife novel Chapter 328

Leo walked away immediately. Though his words promised retaliation and revenge, Elena doubted he would do anything drastic tonight. The best opportunities to drag the Ferraro family's reputation down had come and gone already.

All that was left was the countdown to the new year.

It was already midnight. The large digital scoreboard had been changed into a countdown timer—sixty seconds left until the year was over.

Elena was dreading every second.

It was tradition for many couples to kiss when the timer reached zero—it was thought to bring good luck to the couple in the coming year. And while Elena was pleased that Massimo's reputation had stayed spotless and that his family had won the competition, that didn't mean she wanted to kiss him. After all, she was now more certain than ever that she needed to leave the mafia the second her contract expired.

As the timer ticked down, Massimo put a hand around Elena's waist. Elena went rigid.

Suddenly, he called out the crowd of guests. "Everyone," he called, "please join me in a New Year's toast."

Everyone raised their glasses. Elena hesitantly lifted hers, too.

Thirty seconds left on the timer.

"Truly, none of this would've been possible without your help," Massimo stated. "So let us toast to our continued cooperation and success in the coming year. To the mafia!"

"To the mafia!" everyone repeated.

Five seconds left on the timer.

Massimo turned to Elena. Then, he just gingerly tapped his glass against hers.

"Happy New Year," he said softly.

"Happy New Year," Elena whispered back.

The timer reached zero.

The next morning, Elena and Massimo could sleep in. It was a luxury afforded by the fact that they had to wait for all the guests to leave before they could fully clean up the Ferraro's woodland estate.

But the second the guests were gone, they worked like crazy with the Ferraro's servants to tidy everything up. While it took weeks to get everything set up, it took hours to tear it all down. The buildings, of course, were kept intact, but the digital screen, the stage, and then all the outposts and zone markers needed to be taken down.

Massimo tried to talk to Elena in between tasks, but she stayed completely focused on work. He had thought for a moment that Elena was no longer upset with him, but he had been mistaken.

Massimo understood that Elena was experiencing a sort of culture shock. After all, she had told "Max" that herself. But he didn't understand why that meant she was still avoiding him.

He needed to fix this. But how?

Once everything was packed up, Massimo packed his and Elena's things into his car. At the very least, he had an hour-long drive alone with Elena. Surely, she couldn't avoid him for that long.

Or maybe she could. Elena stayed absolutely silent for thirty minutes straight.

Alright, Elena was definitely still upset and it was up to Massimo to solve this problem.