I Took Mafia Don’s Empire Chapter 02

I Took Mafia Don’s Empire Chapter 02

Bianca Serra stood at the entrance of the ballroom.

She had been Matteo’s college classmate.

For years, she had appeared in our lives as a business partner. Every family banquet, every holiday dinner, she showed up with gifts and called me Donna with a smile.

Now, she wasn’t smiling.

She only looked at me with cold eyes.

“Celeste.”

“The Rinaldi Family needs a male heir to inherit the seat.”

“Enzo is Matteo’s biological son.”

“That fact doesn’t change just because you refuse to accept it.”

I looked at her.

“And who the hell are you?”

Disdain flashed through Bianca’s eyes.

“I’m the second-largest shareholder of Rinaldi Group.”

The Serra Family had always managed book shares for the Rinaldis. The shares in Bianca’s hands were also the hidden cards Matteo had kept tucked away all these years.

“And I’m Enzo’s mother.”

“Whether it’s in the boardroom or on the Rinaldi estate, I have a say.”

She stepped closer, lowering her voice.

“You’re still sitting in the Donna’s seat because you’re useful for now.”

“If you can’t even handle something this small, get out of the Rinaldi Family.”

She said it with such confidence, as if hiding in Matteo’s shadow for six years had somehow earned her the right to shove the rightful Donna away from the table.

Unbelievable.

A mistress who had been kept hidden for years now dared to stand in my house and give me orders.

I was about to speak when Ivy suddenly wriggled out of my arms.

Her tiny body stepped in front of me.

She looked up with red eyes, but she refused to back down.

“This is Daddy and Mommy’s home.”

“Mommy isn’t going anywhere.”

“You’re a bad woman.”

Bianca froze.

Enzo shoved his way forward.

“My mommy is not a bad woman!”

“Daddy loves my mom, not yours.”

“Your mommy is poor and fake. Daddy hates you and your mom.”

His face was flushed, his chin lifted in that ugly, entitled way only adults could teach a child.

“My dad said so too.”

“The Whitmores are broke now.”

“This whole house is going to be mine.”

As he spoke, he reached out to shove Ivy.

I yanked Ivy behind me and blocked him with my arm.

Enzo’s fist glanced off me. He lost his balance, stumbled backward, and hit the floor with a heavy thud.

A second later, he started wailing.

Matteo rushed over almost instantly.

He helped Enzo up, his eyes turning terrifyingly cold.

“Celeste.”

“You dared to touch my son?”

Lucia rushed over too and grabbed my arm.

“You insane woman!”

“How could you lay hands on a child?”

“I’ve said it for years. A woman like you was never fit to be the Donna of the Rinaldi Family.”

“Compared to Bianca, you’re nothing.”

Bianca glared at me too.

“Celeste, do you even have a heart?”

“Enzo is just a child.”

“How could you hurt a child?”

The three of them closed in around me, their accusations piling up fast.

Every word landed exactly where they wanted it to. They weren’t trying to find out what happened. They were trying to make me the villain.

That was when Ivy finally broke.

She looked up at them through her tears, her small voice shaking.

“Don’t talk about my mommy like that!”

I bent down and picked her up.

Her small body trembled in my arms.

I patted her back gently, then looked coldly at Matteo.

“Matteo.”

“Are you really going to make this this ugly?”

“You want to tear everything apart in front of every family guest?”

Matteo stood there, completely righteous.

“I’m not the one making it ugly. You’re the one who doesn’t know your place.”

“Celeste, you’d better understand where things stand now.”

“With my position on the East Coast, I could divorce you today and leave you with nothing.”

“But I’m still letting you keep the Donna title.”

“I’m still letting you stay on this estate.”

“Still letting you enjoy the protection, the money, and the status that come with my name.”

He paused, as if granting me some enormous mercy.

“You should be grateful.”

I looked at him and suddenly found it almost funny.

He had swallowed his resentment for all these years. Now he was tearing off the mask because he thought the Whitmore Family had fallen and no one was left to stand behind me.

I tightened my arms around Ivy and smiled slowly.

“Matteo.”

“Do you really think I didn’t keep anything in reserve?”

His brows drew together slightly.

But soon, he relaxed again.

“What reserve could you possibly have?”

“The Whitmore Family’s core assets in New York were auctioned off years ago.”

“Your parents have been hiding out in Europe these past few years because they were trying to find a way out, weren’t they?”

He smiled smugly.

“Did they find one?”

“No, right?”

Lucia grew impatient beside him.

“Matteo, why are you wasting your breath on her? I don’t even want my grandson calling her his mother.”

“If you ask me, divorce her right now.”

“Let her take that girl and get out of the Rinaldi estate.”

“Bianca is sensible and capable. That’s the kind of daughter-in-law I want.”

“Enzo will have his mother, Matteo will have the woman he actually wants, and this family can finally look the way it should.”

Bianca lowered her head at just the right moment. But she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from rising.

That was the smugness of a mistress about to take the wife’s place.

I looked at her and let out a soft laugh.

“Bianca Serra.”

“You want my place?”

The smile on her face stiffened.

I looked at her and said each word clearly.

“Keep dreaming.”

“As long as I don’t sign the divorce papers, you’ll always be the mistress he had to hide.”

“And your son will never stop being his bastard.”