Born in the Mud, Crowned the Mafia Queen Chapter 10

Born in the Mud, Crowned the Mafia Queen Chapter 10

My father and brother made a trip to Africa.

Marco caught some untreatable epidemic disease. Juliet, at a loss, called home in a panic, crying.

It was the worst point of the outbreak. They were so worried about their daughter they threw caution to the

wind and flew out to see her in person.

My mother wanted to go too, but given her health, my father wouldn’t let her.

Thankfully, Marco pulled through, though barely, with some lasting effects.

Unfortunately, my brother caught it too.

He survived, but with complications of his own.

Once they were back, my father sighed constantly.

My mother, worn down with worry, sleepwalked one night and fell down the stairs, ending up in the

hospital.

None of that touched my world, though.

A new round of family meetings convened, and Vivian was voted in as chairwoman of the board by a wide

margin.

My father, after one blow after another, had lost all interest in managing his crime empire.

He sat by my unconscious mother’s hospital bed, his hair gone half gray.

He and my mother had weathered a lifetime together, a genuinely close marriage. If something happened to

her, it would take half the life out of him too.

He was a good husband.

And a good father.

Just not my good father.

I was busy, and only caught bits of their lives here and there.

My mother never woke up. My father, having lost the will to keep fighting, gave up everything here and took her back to live in the countryside.

My brother, still not right in the head from the complications, went with them so my father could keep an

eye on him.

Vivian and I ran the company together.

The days were busy, the pressure real, but there was something full about it, deep down.

One day, I happened to hear news about Juliet.

Marco’s investment had failed. Everything was falling apart around him, and the two of them got into a brutal fight. Marco wanted a divorce.

Juliet called our father again, looking for way out, refusing to accept the divorce.

My father listened quietly, then suddenly asked, Juliet, your mother’s been sick this whole time. Have you

come to see her even once?”

Juliet froze.

Then, stammering, she made excuses. “There’s just so much going on with Marco, and I have the kids, Dad,

I really can’t get away.”

My father sighed, disappointed. “You always have your own things going on. Your own things always come

first.”

“Dad… ”

“Juliet, I’m an old man now. What do you think an old man like me can even do for you?”

That was the first time he ever turned her down. “I can’t help you anymore. Whatever comes next, you’re

going to have to handle it yourself.”

Nobody was left to help her.

Juliet looked around, lost, completely alone.

Even the kids had grown distant after years apart from her.

When she called Vivian for help, I happened to be right there, looking over some reports.

Vivian said calmly, “You’re grown now. You’re not some kid who can only run to family when things get

hard. So what if it’s a divorce? You can always start over. If you can’t see that, don’t bother calling me

again.”

After she hung up, Vivian smiled and said there was a new restaurant downstairs, suggested we grab lunch.

I smiled and nodded.

Outside the window, the sun was bright, everything alive.

Looking back, those people were still stuck exactly where they’d always been, drifting toward an inevitable

decline.

And I’d already walked so far ahead.

I’d go even further.