The Mafia’s Unwanted Daughter Is Now Their Downfall Chapter 01

The Mafia’s Unwanted Daughter Is Now Their Downfall Chapter 01

The day my family left for Hawaii for the annual summit with our allies, I woke up early.

When I stepped out of my room, the mansion was silent. Not a single person was home.

The garage was empty. Even the two guards who normally stood watch on the front porch were gone.

Just as I was wondering what was happening, a message popped up in the family group chat.

It was from my twin sister, Bianca.

[Crap, I forgot to tell the security detail the convoy was leaving an hour early!]

A second later, the message was deleted.

I stared at the empty chat screen, a sharp sting pricking my nose.

So they had another group.

One without me.

Whenever the Moretti Family traveled, the cars, seating arrangements, and guards were all coordinated in that group. Being left out didn’t just mean I’d missed a single message.

It meant that in their eyes, I wasn’t someone who needed protection.

I was still standing there when my mother called.

“I’m so sorry, Elena.”

“The charter flight was moved up, and we forgot to tell you. Hurry and get a car to the airport. You might still make it—”

Before she could finish, my brother, Matteo, cut her off.

“If she doesn’t come, she doesn’t come. There’s no need to change the flight manifest for her.”

“Hasn’t Bianca always wanted to be the only daughter Father presents to the allies? This works out perfectly.”

My brother was the heir Father had handpicked. If he said not to add me to the protection roster, no one would dare object.

I took a deep breath, forcing my emotions down.

“I’m not going. Have fun.”

After hanging up, I canceled my ticket to Hawaii and booked one to New York instead.

My boyfriend, Luca, and I had originally planned to spend a few days in New York together before graduation.

Now I could go by myself.

For the past eighteen years, my family had always preferred Bianca—smarter, prettier, and better at charming the heads of the other Families.

Luca was the only one who had never seemed to mind that I was the ordinary one, the only one who had always stood by me.

I was about to text him my new plans when his social media post appeared on my feed.

[Chasing the waves with my queen.]

The photo showed him and Bianca on the plane to Hawaii.

They were shoulder to shoulder, smiling with an easy intimacy.

Two members of an allied Family sat behind them. Anyone who saw that photo would read it as a clear signal: the Ferraro Family valued Bianca, not me.

The last wisp of hope I’d been clinging to dissolved.

I opened my laptop and changed my final college confirmation from the school in Los Angeles—the one we’d agreed on—to one in New York.

I wanted to study data engineering. Over the last two school breaks, I’d saved up my first semester’s tuition by doing code testing for small companies in the city. It was the only skill I had that could make me money without the Moretti name.

Once that was done, I removed myself from the charter flight’s waitlist, took my ticket to New York, and called a car to the airport.

If no one cared enough to keep me, then I would go live a life of my own.

…

The day I returned from New York, my parents and the others had just gotten back from Hawaii.

The moment I walked in the door, my mother glanced at the empty kitchen and started in on me.

“You know Bianca gets airsick, and she can’t just eat anything when she travels.”

“Why didn’t you have the kitchen prepare food for her in advance?”

“You don’t act like a sister at all.”

Words failed me.

I was the older sister, but only by an hour.

All my life, the family had expected me to dote on Bianca, to give in to her. Matteo was allowed to learn how to take over the Family. Bianca was allowed to sit at Father’s side and get to know every ally. The only thing I was allowed to do was clean up her messes.

If I didn’t do it well enough, they called me selfish and said I didn’t deserve the protection of the Moretti Family.

But I had been home for less than ten minutes. I hadn’t even had a chance to get a glass of water.

There had been no Family car and no guards waiting for me at the public airport terminal. I’d even asked in the group chat what time their flight was landing, hoping the convoy could pick me up on the way back.

My message hung in the chat, unanswered.

In the end, I’d had to wait in the unsecured taxi line for two hours before I finally made it back to the mansion.

Just then, Bianca touched my mother’s arm and gestured for her to check her phone.

My mother froze for a second, then opened the group chat and finally saw the message I’d sent hours ago.

A flicker of guilt crossed her eyes, but her tone remained sharp.

“Next time, call directly if you need something.”

“Who has time to stare at this group all day?”

But I knew she hadn’t just missed it.

They had created another group chat for Bianca long ago.

That group had Father, Mother, Matteo, the drivers, and the guards. I was the only one left out.

If I had to guess, that group had existed since I was in middle school.

That was the year a motorcycle hit me on my way home from school, fracturing my wrist. A stranger had used my phone to contact my parents over and over in the family group chat.

No one had responded.

Finally, the school called the mansion’s main office using my emergency contact number. Only then did Father’s men come to pick me up from the clinic.

Meanwhile, Bianca never had to say a word in the public group, yet our parents always seemed to know where she was, who she was with, which car she needed, and how many guards to send.

Back then, I couldn’t bear to admit they didn’t love me, so I never let myself consider the real reason.

Now I understood.

Whether it was that group chat or this Family, I was the one nobody needed.

My head bowed, I said softly, “I understand. There won’t be a next time.”

From now on, I wouldn’t bother them again.

And I wouldn’t keep hoping for the love—or the protection—that was never mine to begin with.