All Chapters of MAFIA’S PET: Beg, or worse, Break: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The silence in Pedro’s office was suffocating.Aelia stood frozen, her pulse pounding so violently she could hear it in her ears. He owned the orphanage.Her last refuge. The only place that had ever felt like home.Pedro Montonio had taken that, too.Her throat felt tight, her pride crumbling as the weight of what she had to do pressed against her chest.She hated him. Hated him to her core!But for the children, for Penelope…She swallowed hard, forcing the words out. “Please… don’t do this.”Pedro watched her carefully, his blue eyes glistening. He leaned back against his desk, arms crossing over his chest as he tilted his head.“I’m a reasonable man, Aelia.” His voice was smooth, controlled. “If you want me to leave the orphanage untouched, I need something in return.”Dread curled inside her. “What do you want?”Pedro’s lips quirked at the corner. “Work for me.”Aelia stiffened.“No.”His gaze didn’t waver. “Then the orphanage goes.”Aelia’s stomach plummeted.He wouldn’t.Would

Aelia’s POVThe scent of antiseptic clung to the air. The soft beep of the heart monitor filled the silence, an annoying reminder that my body had betrayed me.I lay stiffly in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, ignoring the man sitting beside me.Pedro hadn’t left since I woke up.Not even once.And he was making himself useful in the most infuriating ways possible.The cool press of a damp towel met my forehead.I flinched.“Stop that,” I snapped, swatting his hand away.Pedro ignored me, dipping the towel back into the bowl of water before wringing it out. His sleeves were rolled up, his broad hands moving with precision.“You’re burning up,” he murmured, placing it back on my forehead with careful fingers.I nearly growled. “I don’t want your help.”“Yet, here you are. Needing it.”My fingers curled into the sheets, my pulse spiking for all the wrong reasons.Pedro Montonio, the same man who had blackmailed me, taunted me, and cornered me against a wall just hours ago was n

Pedro’s POVThe door slammed behind her.I didn’t move. Didn’t react. Didn’t chase after her.I simply stood there, my fingers resting against the edge of my desk, staring at the empty space where she had just been.She was angry.Livid.Conflicted.I had seen the flicker of doubt in her eyes—the moment her hatred for me wavered, just for a second.And for the first time in a long, long time—I felt nothing but emptiness.No satisfaction. No amusement.Just… nothing.I should feel something, shouldn’t I?I had pushed her, cornered her, made her doubt her own emotions.I had won.So why did it feel like I lost?—I tried to shake it off.I went through my daily routine. Attended meetings, calls, business deals.But everything blurred.I caught myself staring into space, thinking of her.Thinking of her fire, her stubbornness.Thinking of how small she looked, curled up in that hospital bed, pale and weak.My fingers curled around the crystal glass of whiskey in front of me.This is ridi

Pedro’s POVThe crystal glass in my hand shattered.Amber liquid spilled over my fingers, mixing with blood from the jagged shards embedded in my palm.I barely felt it.My mind was elsewhere.On her.On what that lunatic of a wife had done.Aelia’s trembling voice still rang in my ears, the way she had stormed into my office just moments ago—pale with rage, shaking with disgust.“Your wife is insane!”I hadn’t even looked up from my paperwork when she arrived. Too consumed with trying to keep myself busy.But the second those words left her lips, everything in me stilled.Then she had told me.Every word.Every sick, humiliating word Valeria had said to her.And now—I was going to kill my wife.The door slammed open before I could even call for Derrick.Speak of the devil.“You heard?” I said coolly, inspecting my bloodstained hand.Derrick exhaled sharply. “Everyone heard.”His voice was controlled. But his eyes? Dark with barely concealed fury.“How long?” I asked, tone deceptivel

Pedro’s POV I knew before Derrick even walked into the room. I felt it, the subtle shift in the air, the crackle of tension that hinted at the storm already gathering outside these walls. I had anticipated every move, every scandal, every desperate whisper in the corridors of power. And now, with the news of Aelia’s humiliation splashed across every media outlet, the world was beginning to understand the narrative I had so carefully crafted. Derrick entered my office with his usual measured pace, his face a mask of controlled disapproval. I didn’t need him to tell me what was happening; I already knew. Still, I held his gaze as I slowly lifted my whiskey glass. “Tell me,” I murmured, the words soft yet laced with an unyielding authority. Derrick’s jaw tightened before he replied, “It’s everywhere. Your name, Aelia’s name—the scandal has exploded beyond control.” His voice was steady, but I could sense the strain beneath it. It was as if he, too, understood that some fires, once i