I Took Mafia Don’s Empire Chapter 04

I Took Mafia Don’s Empire Chapter 04

Ivy’s crying suddenly came from outside.

I shot to my feet and rushed out.

She was on the ground in the mud, her hair, cheeks, and dress filthy. Enzo and three other children stood around her with fistfuls of dirt, throwing mud at her again and again.

“Your mom is the loser squatting in our house!”

“Yeah!”

“My mom said you’re dead weight!”

Ivy tried to crawl up, but Enzo shoved her hard, and she went down again in the mud.

The nanny stood only a few steps away.

Her head was lowered, her eyes fixed on the ground. She didn’t move.

No one stepped forward.

Matteo stood beneath the garden colonnade with his arms crossed. He watched like it had nothing to do with him.

At last, Ivy saw him. Her little face was covered in mud and tears as she reached out her hands.

“Daddy…”

“Hug…”

Matteo didn’t move.

He only looked on, cold and untouched, as if the child crying in the mud had nothing to do with him.

I rushed over and pulled my daughter into my arms.

Ivy wrapped her arms around my neck, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

“Mommy…why won’t Daddy look at me?”

“Did I do something bad?”

My heart felt like it was being crushed.

I held her tighter, my voice trembling.

“No.”

“Daddy did.”

Only then did Matteo slowly walk over. His leather shoes stepped through the soft, wet mud, but he didn’t even frown.

“Celeste.”

“Do you see it now?”

“If you refuse to divorce me, there will be plenty more days like this.”

I looked up and slapped him across the face.

The sound cracked through the garden.

Matteo’s face snapped to the side.

I stared at him, my eyes burning.

“Ivy is your daughter too. You’re worse than an animal.”

Five finger marks slowly rose on Matteo’s cheek.

He didn’t get angry.

He smiled.

“If I’m worse than an animal, then sign the divorce papers.”

“Celeste, what are you still dragging this out for?”

“Are you that pathetic?”

“Do you love me that much?”

“You have to cling to me with your daughter and refuse to leave?”

He stepped closer, lowering his voice, but the malice in it only grew sharper.

“You know what?”

“You and Ivy are like gum stuck to my shoe.”

“Disgusting.”

Ivy sobbed in my arms. She didn’t understand every word, but she understood the contempt in his voice.

Her small body shuddered, and her fingers tightened around my collar.

I held her close and stared Matteo down.

“Matteo.”

“When you were kneeling outside Whitmore Manor, begging to sign the Whitmore marriage contract, why didn’t you find me disgusting then?”

“When you took Whitmore money to plug the holes in the Rinaldi Family, why didn’t my money disgust you?”

“When you climbed up by stepping on my shoulders and secured your seat as head of the family, why wasn’t I in your way then?”

“Now that the Rinaldi Family has finally caught its breath, suddenly my daughter and I disgust you.”

I looked him in the eye and asked, word by word.

“Matteo Rinaldi.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

For once, Matteo had no answer.

Around us, Bianca’s friends and the staff went completely still.

Bianca stood under the colonnade, the smugness on her face stiffening bit by bit.

Lucia’s lips moved like she wanted to curse at me, but my stare forced her mouth shut.

Just then, Matteo’s phone vibrated.

He glanced down, and his expression shifted.

After he answered the call, his brows drew tighter and tighter.

“Impossible. When did I mortgage the entire Rinaldi Group?”

Whatever the person on the other end said made Matteo’s face go deathly pale.

“What did you say?”

“It’s not just Rinaldi Group…”

“I owe a massive debt on top of it?”

Bianca went rigid.

The smile she had worn all afternoon vanished from her face.