Born in the Mud, Crowned the Mafia Queen Chapter 04

Born in the Mud, Crowned the Mafia Queen Chapter 04

I hadn’t even gotten a word out before my mother’s hand cracked across my face.

My head spun, her voice sharp in my ear. “I thought you just held a grudge against Juliet, but how could you be this cruel? Talia’s a child. You’d actually go after a child?”

Around us, people watched with barely-bidden amusement.

At fourteen, when I lost the mother who raised me, I’d cried myself sleepless too, missing her warm arms.

At twenty-eight, finding out I had a birth mother after all, I’d still craved her love, grown as I was.

Now, today, I realized my birth mother wasn’t any different.

I laughed bitterly, tasting iron in my mouth.

“There were plenty of people by that pool, Mrs. Moretti. Plenty of maids watching the kids. Why don’t you

just ask them?”

But when I said that, the maids all stammered, making excuses about being busy with this or that.

Right.

I finally understood.

They worked for the Morettis. They knew exactly how things stood.

Princess Juliet was the family’s pride and joy.

was nothing.

Why would they risk crossing the golden boy for someone like me?

The ballroom turned into a stage overnight.

Juliet sobbed like her heart was breaking. Marco looked at me like he wanted to tear me apart. Dante stood

behind them, unreadable.

I stood there completely alone.

Through the crying, I said coldly, “There are cameras by the pool. If you really want to catch the culprit, pull the footage.”

My brother scoffed. “What’s there to check? There were guests here, their privacy matters too. You don’t just get to watch whatever you want.”

I’d completely given up hope by then.

Reminded, once again, how little my voice counted for here.

“What, scared to pull the footage? Worried it’ll prove Juliet set me up?” I didn’t care anymore. If people could frame me, I could just as easily accuse them right back.

“You!” My brother was furious, looked like he wanted to slap me too.

I could take a hit from my mother. But if my brother tried to hit me, I’d throw him straight into that pool.

His hand never landed, though.

Vivian stepped in and held him back, her voice quiet but firm. “I’d like everyone here to do me a favor and let me pull today’s footage.”

With Vivian’s help, I got the recording.

It showed the two kids playing around. The boy accidentally pushed the girl, and she fell into the pool.

The truth came out.

The boy cried harder, burying his face in Juliet’s arms, too scared to come out, while Juliet tried to calm him

down.

My mother looked deeply guilty.

That night, she brought me medicine.

She hesitated, then apologized.

Then she said, “Clara, if you really don’t feel comfortable here, and you still want that old rental back, Mom

will send you back.”

I looked up at the chandelier overhead and thought the whole thing was almost funny.

The second I opened my mouth, my eyes went red without meaning to.

“In your eyes, I’ve got no education, I spent my whole life scraping by at the bottom, so of course I’d end up

with rotten habits.

“My heart’s dirty, so of course I’d hurt Juliet, hurt Talia. My mind is twisted. Only you people are pure and

clean.

“In your eyes, I fall short of Juliet everywhere. She’s educated, I dropped out of high school. She’s beautiful, I’m nothing special. She’s well-mannered, raised by your own hands into a proper socialite. And me? I don’t

even know how to behave. Best I could do is work as a waitress at some ballroom.”

“You must resent having a daughter like a waitress, right? You probably think I’m not fit to be your

daughter. But did I choose this life?

“You think I don’t want to be beautiful and elegant like Juliet? You think I don’t want to wear pretty gowns?

You think I didn’t want to study abroad?

“You want me to leave? Well, I’m not leaving anymore. I want to finish my education. I want to work at the family company. I don’t want people like you, I don’t want anyone, looking down on me ever again.

“I want to find out if carrying this family’s future is as painful as it is for my brother. Even if it hurts, I’d still rather carry it. I want to see how close I can get to what Vivian built.”