Before My Mafia Husband Returned from the Dead, I Rejected the Proposal My Best Friend Arranged Chapter 03

Before My Mafia Husband Returned from the Dead, I Rejected the Proposal My Best Friend Arranged Chapter 03

I smiled.

Vanessa’s expression softened noticeably.

“Once you and Ethan are married, you’ll be a family. What’s there to argue about if the distributions from your trust help the two of you pay the mortgage?”

Ethan smiled as well. “Exactly. We’ll be family. There’s no need to keep score over every little thing.”

“And as for Luca, you need to stop thinking about him. Weren’t you already fed up with him and all those Family rules? He’s dead now. No one’s going to scrutinize who you spend time with, and no one’s going to stop us from being together.”

[A wife planning to use her own assets to support another man? Luca is going to completely lose it when he sees this.]

[Stop digging your own grave and tell both of them to get lost.]

“Are you finished?”

Ethan blinked, then nodded.

The next second, I slapped him across the face.

Vanessa cried out and opened her mouth to speak, so I slapped her too.

“I’ll admit that you were both there for me after I lost my husband, but that doesn’t give either of you the right to insult him. I’ve always loved Luca, and I never said I hated him. Vanessa, you keep making things up. At this point, it sounds as if you know Luca is here and you’re deliberately trying to make him believe I betrayed both him and the entire Family.”

Vanessa’s eyes flickered, and sweat broke out across her forehead.

“Luca is dead. How could he possibly be here? And you did say those things. You just don’t remember…”

I didn’t bother arguing with her any longer. The more I said, the more likely I was to make things worse.

If Luca really was beside me, those lies could make him believe that everything between us over the years had been a lie from the beginning.

I turned and walked away.

Behind me, Ethan raised his voice, clearly trying to use the invitations he’d already sent out to force me to give in.

“Serena! I’ve already told both our families and friends, as well as the managers of the Moretti businesses. The invitations are out, and the wedding is the day after tomorrow. Go home and calm down. Stop making your mother worry about this.”

I returned to the home Luca and I had shared as newlyweds.

It stood on the quietest side of the Moretti estate, with controlled entry and guards working in shifts. The housekeeper and staff stayed on the first floor, leaving me alone upstairs.

Once I lay down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was standing in the shadows, watching me.

[Luca has been watching you this whole time.]

The moment I saw the comment, I sat bolt upright, my breathing turning uneven.

I immediately found a photograph of Luca, pressed it to my chest, and spoke into the empty room.

“Luca, you’re the only person I’ve ever loved. I never betrayed our marriage.”

At some point, I drifted off and dreamed of Luca.

His dark eyes were fixed on me as one icy hand gripped my chin.

He kept repeating the same words.

“You lied to me.”

My lips trembled as I tried to explain, but his hand suddenly closed around my throat.

“Ah!”

I jolted awake in terror and ran to the mirror, drenched in sweat.

There wasn’t a single mark on my neck, but the lingering sensation of being unable to breathe still felt horribly real.

No.

I hadn’t accepted Ethan’s ring. Luca wouldn’t strangle me.

I splashed cold water over my face and tried to reassure myself.

Ethan hadn’t only sent invitations to our relatives and friends. He’d also invited people from the logistics company and even online followers who knew about Luca and me.

Three months after the Moretti heir’s death, his widow was supposedly moving on with another man.

Someone had deliberately fed the story to gossip accounts. People online decided my marriage to Luca had been a scheme and flooded my account, calling me a fraud who had used marriage to seize the Moretti Family’s assets.

My hands shook with anger.

I posted a video explaining that I would never marry again, but no one believed me.

Just so I could get some sleep, I temporarily left the heavily guarded estate that had begun to feel suffocating and returned to the Bell family’s townhouse.

My mother had prepared a full spread. Just as I lifted my fork to take a bite, the floating comments appeared again.

[Your mother still resents you for refusing to use your trust distributions to cover your brother’s engagement expenses, and she’s already taken something from Ethan in return. The food has been tampered with. Once you can’t fight back, they’re going to take you straight to the wedding.]

[Ethan gave the Bell family 500,000. Officially, it’s an engagement gift. In reality, he bought their cooperation. This time, whether you want to marry him or not, they’re going to force it through. Luca is going to turn completely ruthless.]

My hand froze in midair.

I had refused to pay because the family lawyers had discovered that my brother’s girlfriend might be using the engagement to scam him out of valuables. I didn’t want the entire Bell family dragged into it.

Besides, throughout our marriage, Luca had allowed the Bell family to run two legitimate businesses owned by the Morettis and had covered my parents’ health insurance.

He’d told me he was willing to help take care of my family for my sake, but he would never allow them to use my name to interfere with the Family’s finances or break its rules.

And now my mother had sold me out for 500,000.

“Mom, I’m not marrying Ethan.”

Her expression hardened immediately. Then she pressed a hand to her chest and began breathing rapidly, trying to make me give in because I was worried about her.

My chest tightened. I was just about to speak when she cut in.

“If you don’t marry Ethan, who exactly do you think you’re going to marry? Everyone online is saying you brought bad luck to your husband. Do you really think anyone will want anything to do with you after this? The reception hall is booked, and the invitations have already gone out. If you cancel the wedding now, everyone will think no one wanted the Bell family’s daughter. This family has kept its place in this city through marriage alliances and connections. We’ve already agreed to Ethan’s arrangements on your behalf. You’re going.”

I tightened my grip on my fork and finally understood.

She cared more about the Bell family’s reputation and that 500,000 than she did about my choice.

“I’m going back.”

The moment I stood up, my vision suddenly went black and I collapsed to the floor.

“Good thing I put some in the diffuser too,” my mother said with a sigh of relief.

She took my phone and access card and locked me in the attic for two full days.

The Bell family didn’t dare alert the guards at the Moretti estate, so they told everyone I needed privacy while preparing for the wedding.

Strangely, I didn’t see a single floating comment during those two days.

Not until my mother brought me to the wedding reception.

The room was packed with people, and through the crowd I saw a figure I would never forget for as long as I lived.