All Chapters of The Ruthless Mafia’s Contracted Bride : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

We’re on the way to the mountains and I can barely believe that I’ve tagged along. There are times when I seriously doubt my decision. It’s clear that they’ve been doing this for a long time as a family and I feel like I have no place here. It’s hard for me to join in on their conversations and most of the time, I don’t want to. However, every time I look out the window and take in the scenery, I realize I’m glad I’ve come. We’ve only ever been to a trip like this once, and I was much younger at the time. Dad just never had time and my mother didn’t like such trips. I remember her complaining the whole time and I guess he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. I never forgot it, though, and now I’m reminded of that trip. Although it’ll be painfully awkward with the Makárovs, I’ll endure it. There’s no driver today; it’s just the four of us. Igor is on the wheel, Ivan is on the passenger’s seat, and Anastasia is seated beside me. She hasn’t said a word to me since we got in the car a

I’m shocked to see him standing there. “Mason?”“I couldn’t sleep,” he tells me. “I thought I’d come here to check on you and see if you were up for a talk.”I have a terrible feeling about this. I don’t think it would be right to let him into my room this late at night. When he catches my facial expression, he says, “I’m sorry. That was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have come.” He pauses and then adds, “There are just times when I get so sick of not having anyone to talk to. You’re the first person who’s talked to me with genuine interest in a long time.”“Oh,” I say before lowering my eyes. “I should go,” he tells me. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. Good night, Clara.”“You could come in for a few minutes,” I say as he turns his back to me. I regret the words as soon as they leave my lips but there’s no taking them back. “I’d really appreciate that,” he says before walking past me. I close the door and turn around to face him. I haven’t closed the blinds yet—I was planning on sleeping

We start exploring the mountain and things seem to be going alright.Mason has decided to leave me alone, which is a great relief because I’m honestly getting sick and tired of him. The words he uttered are still with me, sticking to my brain like glue. Just when I thought Igor might not…oh, what am I saying? Of course he’s just as bad as I’ve always thought he is. I’m just allowing myself to be fooled by his words. I’m an idiot. But there’s a voice in the back of my mind asking me if I’m even sure that Mason is telling the truth. Why would he lie, though? Why would he make all of this up? Why run the risk of my telling Igor about all this?I have so many questions. I won’t confront him about them, though. I’m convinced that the best thing I can do is let this be; I’ll just act like I never heard a thing and try to enjoy the hike. The weather is lovely and I’m glad to be outside. It makes me feel free. Mason, however, has other plans in mind. I’m mostly by myself, so I’m not bein

Nobody says a word until we’re far away from the house. I’m in a permanent state of disbelief. I can’t believe that happened—not at all. It feels like a nightmare I haven’t woken up from. Those people tried to kill us. They destroyed the whole house doing so. I didn’t think of it before but now I’m wondering if this has anything at all to do with my family. Could it be that this is yet another attempt at setting me free? If so, then they’ve done a poor job of it and if Igor finds out it was them, I don’t think he will let it slide. For the first time ever, I’m hoping this didn’t have anything to do with them. Rain is pouring all around us, making it hard for us to see. I don’t even know how Ivan is driving—it must be a miracle that we didn’t crash into a tree. Anastasia has her shirt up and she’s inspecting a wound on her abdomen. It doesn’t look deep but the weight of it crusted with dried and dark blood makes me queasy. She’s hisses when she tries to flex her muscles there and t

I can hardly believe that we're back, safe and sound. I was so terrified that we would be ambushed in some way. I couldn't stop looking around, heart in my throat. I wasn't the only one who was vigilant; all of them were. They kept looking around and around nonstop until we reached the city center. Even then, I didn't feel safe. Anything could happen. But now we're here and the weekend feels like a nightmare I've finally woken up from. Hubert is happy to see us but he notices that something is amiss. It's only natural; we're all wearing clothes from nearest shop Anastasia could find and we didn't bring any luggage with us. It was all left behind. Who would have thought to pack anything while we were under attack?"Hubert," Igor says as he walks past him. "Run Miss Clara a warm bath, will you?"With that, he disappears upstairs, and both Anastasia and Ivan follow him. Hubert has a little surprised smile on his face as he says, "I'll assume that the weekend went somewhat well.""You