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Chapter Title: Doubts, Ghosts, and Silent Loyalty
Last Updated:
2025-04-28 06:21:55
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Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 39: Poison Invitations
The next day was grey and oppressive.Rain lashed against the windows in long, bony fingers.The house creaked resentfully, the stone walls complaining as if the house itself were aware that something was coming.Leya sat on her window seat, knees drawn up to her chest, eyes empty as she looked out as the mist crept over the lawn, There'd been a piece of paper on the floor when she woke that morning.Thick cardstock.Gold edging.No name—because it hadn't been needed.You are commanded to dinner. Formal dress. 8 PM. East Wing Dining Room. Mandatory.No signatures.No apologies.But one order out of politeness.Leya's fingers folded the invitation until wrinkles nipped into the palm of her hand.> Mandatory.Not invited.Not welcomed.Not offered.Ordered.Shiver down the whole length of her spine, but she willed herself to breathe past it.They were doing something.Vivian. Eleanor. Harrison.All of them, maybe.And this dinner?This was not an invitation.It ought to have been.It wa
Last Updated : 2025-04-28Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 1: Trapped in the Gilded Cage
Leya stood by the edge of her father's study, her fingers trailing along the smooth wood of the desk that had once been his. The room once filled with his presence, his laughter, his unwavering confidence, once alive, now felt like a tomb: cold, hollow, and lifeless. Almost, as if she heard the echo of his voice from the walls, reassuring her that steadiness that she always relied on. But now nothing was stable anymore. Nothing was all right. The memory of his death came crashing upon her like a tide, of which the force threatened to drown her. She remembered the call, how her mom's face had slumped, folding in on itself, as the weight of the news had shattered everything. Leya watched immobile, her world breaking into pieces. The moment before, her father was alive, vibrant, with plans and dreams. The next… he was gone. A car accident: sudden, brutal. Her hands were quivering while she reached for the framed picture lying on the desk, that of her father proudly in front of
Last Updated : 2024-10-18Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 2: Harrison's Fury
The reception had taken place in the great ballroom of the Blackwood estate, a lavish affair of crystal chandeliers casting shimmering light across polished marble floors. Leya swam through the crowd, accepting well-wishes from the guests she didn't know, nodding politely at their empty compliments. But all the while, she had the feeling that she was a ghost wafting through a life that wasn't hers. She caught a glimpse of Harrison across the room, similarly flanked by his family and his business associates, wearing the same detached expression, his smile never quite reaching his eyes. A prisoner in this arrangement too, though his prison was one of power and expectation, not desperation. As the evening wore on, she found herself standing beside the big bay window, looking down into the sprawling gardens below. Laughter and clinking glasses faded through the background as she allowed herself for a moment to breathe in the weight of everything that happened. She felt her mother com
Last Updated : 2024-10-18Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 3: Midnight Warning
Mr. Samuel Blackwood sat back in his dark leather chair. The poor light from the desk lamp cast sharp shadows across his face. His fingers drummed around the edge of the thick file labeled Anderson while his eyes were hard and calculating. He swirled the glass of brandy in his other hand, eyes narrowing while weighing his next move. That wasn't some list of debts and bankruptcies. This dug a little deeper than that. For years, Samuel had been keeping tabs on the Anderson family, way back before Leya's father died in that tragic accident, before their business went belly-up. He knew fully well it would only be a matter of time before the bottom fell out from under them, and he was positioned just right to make the most of it. Yet even more Leya did not know: secrets safely laid to rest, secrets her father had taken to his grave. Samuel's eyes strayed to the picture inside the folder, the same framed smiling family photo that had once hung in the Anderson house. He touched his fing
Last Updated : 2024-10-18Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 4: Harrison's Visit
Leya sat alone in her room, the soft light from the lamp casting enough glow to chase away the shadows that seemed to cling to the walls. The air was thick and suffocating as if the mansion itself were alive, pressing down on her from all sides. She sat down leaning against the headboard, her fingers straying aimlessly across the embroidered patterns of the bedspread while her mind fell back to recollections of the time past. The nights had become her only solace, those scant times when she could be left to her thoughts alone, away from the freezing stare of Harrison, the chain of belittling remarks from Vivian, and the constant prying eyes of Eleanor. It was in this quiet that she remembered what it had been like to be herself, before marriage, before the death of her father, before the walls of this mansion closed in on her as though in a prison. And as it was the case, her thoughts took her back to her father's study. She could almost envision him now, sitting behind the desk, h
Last Updated : 2024-10-20Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 5: The Safe Behind the Portrait
Leya's breathing ceased at that door. There was a mass that had rested there on her chest. The door had been creeping and reeling on the opposite side, but whatever lay there was bearing against no segment of the door. It's not screaming. It's waiting. She shook with fear. Her head spun. It wasn't Harrison, for he'd have already flung open the door, firing piercing asides like barbs. But this one had a brooding air—brooding as if he survived her confusion. The silence continued. And then— The handle was turned. Leya sat up in bed, her heart pounding so hard she was certain she'd lost hearing. The door groaned, the inch or so of door to frame allowing only the darkness of the hall beyond. Then the whisper. Low. Gentle. Chilling. "You don't belong here." Leya's insides knot. Her fists were wrapped around the blanket, knuckles whitening. The whisper hadn't been Harrison's. Nor Eleanor's, nor Vivian's, nor even Samuel's. It was someone else. A man shot through
Last Updated : 2025-03-13Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 6: She Wasn't Meant to Know
The air had been thick and stagnant out there like a coiled spring, and Leya braked hard, Harrison's last words in the empty room echoing in her head.Goodnight, wife.She bit down hard on her cheek and took a breath. Her flesh was taut underneath where he was pressed atop hers, his pressure digging into her skin. She wasn't sure if the chill on top of her spine was fear or anger.Or both.Harrison was aware of it. Had been strewn about how his eyes had rested on her, imposing defective stubbornness over him. And he'd fought more fought against it—he'd risen up in protest. He had swirled her about like some plaything that revolved within his brain, unaware as to whether or not she would go back to it.Her hands trembled and she hated it. Hated thin, hated being trapped in her own boudoir. She fought just to get herself out of bed, lead legs, shambling into the room to the window. In the mansion window outside, the mansion lawn spreads and stretches, glimmering in dark moonlight. Iron
Last Updated : 2025-04-06Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance CHAPTER 7: A Warning in the Dark
Leya breathed deep, she stamped the spasm of fear beneath her in quiet. The notebook was heavy between her fingers, leather wrinkled under her hand pressed against it. She desired the attic desolate of her before person and beast could encounter its door. She took the journal and floated to the door, hesitant hand around the doorknob so as not to squeak. She jumped at a jump because squeaking back hinges were caught in the quiet of their silent turn. She floated out and closed the door quietly. She floated down creaking wooden stairs silently with no noise whatever through the black mansion halls. She had to find somewhere where she could sit and read the journal—a spot where they'd never think to search. The servants' block? No, too probable. The library? Too probable. Her mind ran in circles until she recalled one spot that might be beyond their reach. The greenhouse. It was towards the house, on the east side of the east wing—unmown and unpicked since Samuel died. Nobody ever we
Last Updated : 2025-04-10
Latest chapter
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 39: Poison Invitations
The next day was grey and oppressive.Rain lashed against the windows in long, bony fingers.The house creaked resentfully, the stone walls complaining as if the house itself were aware that something was coming.Leya sat on her window seat, knees drawn up to her chest, eyes empty as she looked out as the mist crept over the lawn, There'd been a piece of paper on the floor when she woke that morning.Thick cardstock.Gold edging.No name—because it hadn't been needed.You are commanded to dinner. Formal dress. 8 PM. East Wing Dining Room. Mandatory.No signatures.No apologies.But one order out of politeness.Leya's fingers folded the invitation until wrinkles nipped into the palm of her hand.> Mandatory.Not invited.Not welcomed.Not offered.Ordered.Shiver down the whole length of her spine, but she willed herself to breathe past it.They were doing something.Vivian. Eleanor. Harrison.All of them, maybe.And this dinner?This was not an invitation.It ought to have been.It wa
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter Title: Doubts, Ghosts, and Silent Loyalty
The corridors of Blackwood Mansion were never still.When the rest of the world slept, inside the house something breathed.Moved.Watched.Nathaniel leaned against the chill of the stone wall at the rear of the east wing, the mist of his breath foggy in the morning.He hadn't slept.Hadn't even tried.His mind was a war-torn area of old fear and new doubt, each thought colliding with the next.> Leya.Her name resonated off his ribcage like an open sore.---Nathaniel's Study — 3:00 A.M.The room reeked of stale smoke and remorse.Nathaniel was sprawled across his massive oak desk, a whiskey glass nearly full near his elbow. The fire spat, but he'd yet to add another log.Outside, the world slept under a shroud of mist.And here, in this room, so did he.She'd told him she worked nights. She'd told him she did it for her brother. And God have mercy on him—he'd not believed her.Because trust was a risk. Trusting had gotten Harrison killed once—and with him, all of them. Nathaniel t
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 37: Smoke Has Memory
The Morning After — Blackwood Mansion Grounds The sun tried but failed to cut through the clouds that morning, its beam yellow and subdued, as though cautioned not to burn too bright on this planet. Fog curled over the lawn in a pall, low-floating and enigmatic, over statues and fountains set out singly along the paths of the garden like forsaken memories. Leya lay among the roses, elbows resting in the soil. Not digging. Just. Being. Cold earth concentrated her. Silence gave room for thought. She'd fought to stay alive for three weeks—now she could build something out of sparks. She wasn't naive enough to hope to leave this house unscathed right off the bat. No, if she were going to break out of this house alive—really alive—then she must wait. Wait and demonstrate. And fangs. The chill seeped into the sleeves and the ends of her fingers. She did not crash to the floor, though. Not when she heard Eleanor's gentle laughter outside the west windows. Not when she caught H
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 36: Firelight and Fractures
Morning came—but nothing was new. The sun struggled weakly through the curtains, filtering down to stone floors still holding remnants of the shadows cast last night. In a house like the Blackwood mansion, nothing ever really changed. Walls didn't merely hold people—They held silence, secrets, and sins. But deep within those walls, everything changed. Something had broken. Something was going to be born. West Wing Lounge – 7:00 A.M. Harrison stood before the fireplace, arms folded on his chest, watching ashes dance as dying suns. He had not slept. He did not need to. The buzz of breakfast cooking was from far down the halls, but where he sat in silence with worry. The door opened without apology. Nathaniel stood, coat still on, face unyielding. He shut the door, movements too planned, too measured. "You were with her," Harrison accused, not even bothering to turn around. Nathaniel was silent. There was no use for him to do anything else. "She's manipulating you," Harrison
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 35: Between Ambushes and Allies
The mansion fell softly again. Tonight, silence did not frighten Leya. Tonight, permission was the formality. She dressed with purpose—not out of fear, but because she knew details were essential. Black pants. Pullover pushed high. Topcoat light for the part of the night but precisely what the message required. Not hiding. Not running. Walking proudly as if this world belonged to her at her feet. The burner phone rang again. Nathaniel: Back gate to the yard. Ten minutes. Nobody in sight. Leya stuffed the phone into her jacket pocket, smoothed her hair again, and stood before the mirror. "Back" just managed to squeeze out the word. She didn't look like the captive girl Harrison had held. She looked like something born of agony. The bruises remained—the pale yellow and blue smudges across the curve of her ribs, her collarbone, and jaw. No longer embarrassed. They were proof. Proof. She survived. She floated. Down. The. Hall. Bare feet silent. The east wing. Empty. Even
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 34: Whispered Warnings and the Echo of Rage
The whisper had stopped. But the silence that followed wasn't silence. It was charged. With purpose. With intent. Leya did not lie well once the voice had stopped—her body outstretched on the bed, back tense against the headboard, every hair on her arms bristling not due to fear, but due to awareness. Not every step is a threat. But there are warnings. And the one that had named her tonight. It hadn't been trying to scare her. It had been trying to communicate something. That she was still being watched. And perhaps—perhaps—that someone still cared that she was worth at least something. That cut deeper at her chest than splintered ribs. She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, seething an angry glare at where the door had existed once in the darkness. Someone had whispered her name as if it still held meaning. And that was what disturbed her most. Because it meant there was someone in this house who still thought she was worth whispering about. And that? That m
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 33: The Visitor, the Voice, and the Weight of Staying
The voice continued. Soft. Tuned. Familiar—and otherwise. "Leya…" A breath—neither cold nor warm. Did not command, did not scold. Was. Like a stretched bowstring pulled taut behind her at her back. She blinked, sight blurring through fever and weariness, but her backbone firmed—beneath, a little. Her fingers clenched into a blanket on her lap, fine cloth now armor, her foothold in the world. > Who was it? They didn't knock the second time. Didn't stir. I just stood there long enough for her to regain her breath. Long enough for her to realize this hadn't been a mistake. And then, nothing. A withdrawal in silence. The steps light. Stealthy. Commanding. No squeak of the door. No sound of retreating feet. But the tension beyond had changed. As if something had looked at her. Listened to her. Comprehended her. And that had scared her. Not because it had threatened. But because it hadn't. Because for the first time in what had seemed like forever… Someone had said her
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 32: Trust Is a Loaded Gun
Nathaniel was awake. Not that night. After he'd left Leya at the mansion, her silence armor, he'd headed to the east wing. Where the paintings were, where the button-down-bloke blokes with dead eyes in frames—false gods in frames. He didn't switch on the hall light. Didn't switch it on. The weight of her words fell behind him like footprints. I don't need saving, Nathaniel. I need respect. He stood beside the bed, suit jacket still buttoned, tie open but not yet undone. He gazed at the floor for what had to be minutes or maybe hours. He imagined Leya's bruised cheek. Imagine her shaking hands from exhaustion. Recall her eyes—not wide with terror, but level with fire. If she was a fake, then she was the family's finest work. But in a part of him, he knew she wasn't. Still… in the Blackwood house, believing wasn’t enough. You had to be certain. --- The Next Morning – Nathaniel’s Study The morning sun didn’t warm him. He made the call anyway. “St. Delacroix University,
Scarred Hearts: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Chapter 31: What Shadows Know
The alley reeked of desperation and stale beer. Leya's shift had run past closing time—again. The night had crawled, but Reed had stayed with her an hour past closing to clean up a spilled drink and split tips. She didn't mind. The more hours she worked, the less she was herself. As if she were somebody else. Somebody free. Somebody who didn't owe the Blackwoods. And then the bar door slammed shut behind her and she was alone in the dark. Zipper up as far as it would go around her neck, purse on her shoulder, and still buzzing hands against sock lining—where tip envelope folded back warm along her ankle. One block down. Just one. Then— A scrape. Heavy feet, too heavy to be mistaken. She shook her head over it, looking back over her shoulder. Two black figures. Too close. Too close by design. Her heartbeat came a little quicker. Muttered voice in the distance. "Hey now… what's a fine-looking girl like you doing way out here by herself?" She stood for military attenti
