My Ex Told Me to Get Married? Too Bad I Had Married His Uncle! Chapter 04

My Ex Told Me to Get Married? Too Bad I Had Married His Uncle! Chapter 04

The two of them were practically crawling over each other to get closer to the camera.

“Mommy, why aren’t you picking up?”

“Mom, he took my strawberries!”

Every ounce of rage I’d been holding on to evaporated the second I saw their faces.

My voice went gentle without me even trying.

“I’ll be home soon, okay?”

Dante lunged for my phone. “Let me see.”

I pulled back out of reach and ended the call.

“You don’t get to see them.”

His face darkened.

Sienna’s eyes were already brimming. “So it’s true — you actually have children.” Her voice cracked in exactly the right place. “Dante waited five years for you. How could you do this to him?”

I looked at her. “Save it.”

“Your little show is for Dante, not me. Don’t waste my time with it.”

Sienna went white. Her eyes flooded on command.

Dante opened his mouth to defend her, but I was already walking away.

His voice followed me out.

“You’d better show up for the wedding, Vivian.”

“I want you to watch. Every flower, every detail I planned for you — I’m giving it all to Sienna.”

I had babies to call and zero interest in listening to his pack of mindless lapdogs.

A black-and-gold invitation had been wedged into my door the next morning.

Groom — Dante. Bride — Sienna.

I almost laughed. He really wanted me there that badly?

Fine. I’d go.

Vincent had texted me the night before — he’d be attending his nephew’s wedding in person.

How could the groom’s aunt possibly miss the occasion?

Hill Estate was no ordinary property.

It sat along the most expensive stretch of private shoreline on Chicago’s North Shore — hills on three sides, lake on the fourth. The underground garage could fit an entire motorcade, and the east wine cellar connected directly to the old Lucchesi safe house.

Twenty years ago, this was where the Lucchesis brokered deals, sealed alliances, and buried enemies.

When Vincent took over the family, he turned it into the most coveted wedding venue in Chicago’s elite circles.

The day he married me, he slid the deed across the table in front of the entire Commission.

“A wedding gift for the donna.”

Hill Estate had been mine ever since.

I kept the estate open for weddings — one slot a month. No exceptions.

Dante and Sienna’s wedding wasn’t on my list.

I had someone look into it. Just as I’d suspected — someone on the estate staff had taken Sienna’s money and slipped her the slot off the books.

My estate manager asked if I wanted to shut it down.

I told her one thing.

“Let it happen.”

“I want this wedding as grand as they can dream.”

Two days later, I arrived at Hill Estate with a full team of soldiers.

The lakeside auditorium had already been dressed for the ceremony — black roses lining the aisle, crystal chandeliers spilling light over a champagne tower.

Every name that mattered in Chicago’s underworld was in the room.

This was never about a wedding. Dante wanted an audience for my humiliation — proof that Sienna had won.

Too bad he picked my house to do it in.

Sienna spotted me the second I walked in.

Haute couture wedding dress, a veil long enough to sweep the steps behind her. The smile on her face was soft, practiced — but the smugness in her eyes bled right through.

“Vivian — you’re already inside?”

“I had someone set up a seat for you outside.”

“Once Dante and I exchange rings, you’re welcome to come in and congratulate us. That way nobody has to be embarrassed.”

I looked her up and down. “Who told you this was yours to run?”

Sienna blinked, then recovered with a laugh.

“Your place?” She almost looked amused. “Vivian, wake up.”

“The Morettis have been fading for years. The only reason you’re standing here at all is because Dante still has a soft spot for you.”

Two guards approached. One look at my face, and they stopped dead, dipping their heads.

Two guards approached. One look at my face, and they stopped dead, bowing their heads.

“Donna.”

The room went silent.

The smile died on Sienna’s face.

“What did you just call her?”

Dante reached my side in three steps. His jaw was clenched tight.

“Sienna. Not now.”

She clutched at his sleeve, eyes wide and wounded. “She started it, Dante. She walked in here to provoke me.”

Dante dropped his voice. “Vincent is coming today.”

Sienna’s mouth snapped shut.

In Chicago, Vincent wasn’t just a man. He was the law.

He’d purged the disloyal capos at nineteen, seized control of the Lucchesi casinos and docks at twenty-three, and claimed the seat of don by thirty.

He was the undisputed king of Chicago.

Dante could play games with me all day. In front of Vincent, he didn’t dare breathe wrong.

That was when two small voices rang out behind me.

“Mom!”

Two little boys in matching suits came barreling toward me.

My mother trailed behind them, out of breath.

“Slow down, you two! This isn’t a playground.”

I dropped to my knees and pulled them both into my arms.

“Who brought you here?”

“Nonna!” they chorused.

Dante stared at the two boys. Shock and fury warred across his face.

“You actually brought these two bastards to my wedding.”

My palm cracked across his face before I even thought about it.

His head snapped to the side. When he turned back, his eyes were murderous.

“You hit me?”

I stepped in front of the boys and looked him dead in the face.

“Call my children that again, and I’ll have someone cut your tongue out.”

His jaw flexed. “You’re threatening me over two kids nobody’s ever heard of?”

I smiled — slow, deliberate.

“Listen carefully, Dante. These boys aren’t nobodies.”

“Their last name is Lucchesi.”

I held his stare and let each word drop like a stone.

“They are Vincent’s sons.”

“And I am your aunt.”

Sienna’s gasp melted into a sharp, disbelieving laugh.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“What — Dante wasn’t enough, so you decided to drag Vincent into your little fantasy?”

Dante recovered, and the look on his face could have curdled blood.

“You married my uncle?”

“Watch your mouth before you lie to my face, Vivian.”

He closed the distance between us, step by slow step.

“Vincent could have anyone. You think he’d choose you?”

“Nobody in this room is buying that.”

The crowd at the auditorium entrance parted.

A voice cut through the room — deep, cold, absolute.

“You don’t believe her?”

A beat.

“Then let me make it clear myself.”