Chapter 9
1515 Words
Chapter 9
Ana Sophia woke up.
She winced as she was hit with a sharp pain in her head . She turned to her side and slowly opened her eyes just to see a drip that was attached to her right arm.
“Oh madam, you are awake." The maid who led her out of the dungeon earlier that day said with a worried look.
"Yes," Ana Sophia croaked; her throat felt as dry as ever. She silently cursed Jose in her mind, he was the cause of all her problems. Her mission was not supposed to be this hard; who knew Elena would take advantage of her and make her marry Jose in her daughter's place? She really wished she could go to Gustav's mansion to kill Elena, that stupid witch.
“Madam, El Jafe Roberto wants to see you." The maid spoke up again with a kind smile as she walked towards Ana Sophia; in a swift, gentle motion, she helped Ana Sophia up and removed the drip needle attached to Sophia’s hands. The sharp pain caused her to curse Jose in her mind once again .
With small steps she made her way downstairs with the help of the maid.
“I don't think you ever told me your name." She looked at the maid with a kind weak smile .
“You can call me Setenta, Madam." Setenta replied, causing Ana Sophia to scrunch her brows.
“Sententa, the number 70?” Ana Sophia asked, and Sententa, seeing the look in Sophia’s face, avoided her gaze. Reading Sententa’s body language, Sophia immediately kept quiet; she immediately remembered that most Mafia families are involved in human trafficking. They don't hire servants; they buy slaves and give them names according to the number of servants they have. A normal person that grew up in the mafia would not be surprised by this.
“I am just surprised; you look like a diez, or viente." Ana Sophia smiled awkwardly. Hearing Ana Sophia, the initial tension around Sententa’s shoulders eased up.
They finally reached the living room where Roberto and Jose were sitting, dressed like cliche young mafia lords. He wore a casual black button-up shirt and rolled up the sleeves, exposing his muscles riddled with dark-themed tattoos. A cigarette rested between his lips as he sat and held onto it lazily; his suit was laid just beside where he sat.
“Oh, Mariana, have your seat," Roberto said with a concerned look on his face as he scanned her weak body, but Ana Sophia caught it, that brief flicker of satisfaction that flashed in his eyes. It was gone in an instant, but she caught it, and it just confirmed her initial suspicions about Roberto. How could someone who was born and raised in the cartel be a good person? He was the one who raised Jose to be so ruthless, so how could he possibly be kind? He liked and approved of how Jose left her in that dungeon; he would probably despise Jose if he went soft on her. A soft chill spread round her bones; she would be glad if she came out of this with every single part of her body intact.
“Thank you, Papa." She sat down, quickly regaining her composure.
“Are you better now?” he asked her, and she nodded quickly. He knew very well that she was still on a drip, yet he still had Sententa call to her over.
“That is good; don't mind Jose, he is just not used to being married. Just give it time, and he will learn to love you better.” Hearing this, Ana Sophia looked up at Jose; he had no change in his expression, he had zero expressions to be exact.
"Oh, you guys take me back to the time I married Jose’s mother." He looked up, looking like he was reminiscing; in just a second, he snapped out of it.
“My dear Mariana, go and sit beside your husband," Roberto instructed with a smile. She wanted to say no so badly, but he was not asking her. Before she could even reply, Sententa helped her up and directed her to where Jose sat.
Jose looked at her, his void expression still the same, but she felt so intimidated; his gaze immediately sent chills down every organ in her body. The closer she was to him, the more every cell in her body protested. He was like those animals that are so beautiful yet so poisonous.
She had no choice, so she took a seat beside him.
Immediately she sat, Roberto’s expression shifted and for the first time in front of her, he disregarded his fake warmth, and his gaze was sharper and more calculating.
“So tell me, Mariana," he said, taking a more intimidating stance.
There it was, the real reason he called her over.
“Where is Gustav?" he asked, and her breath hitched immediately. She then calmed herself down. These people have been dealing with liars for decades; she had to embody her role, she had to be confident, and she had to mix it with a little bit of truth.
“Papa is in hiding," she said, and even Jose turned to look at her.
“My parents have always kept me away from the cartel for years, ever since I was born, because I am their only child. They did not want to lose me, so I was not aware of what was taking place in the cartel. I did not realize that our family was facing a decline," she said, and she was not lying. Gustav’s cartel once upon a time could rival the Fernandez cartel; that was why they made a marriage alliance. However, they declined over the years; that was why the police could easily arrest Gustav and make a deal with him.
"Papa called me back a few months ago; he wanted to start training me to revive our cartel, but in the process the police caught on to us. They tried to arrest us, but we luckily got away. Papa had to go into hiding, to tie up a few loose ends, but he sent me back to Mama to warn her to lay low for some time," she said, looking all torn and sad, streams of tears flowing down her eyes.
“You know I can easily call a few people in that stupid police force and have all of this solved," Roberto offered, but there was no way Ana Sophia would accept.
“You don't have to do that; Papa has his own plan." She looked up, faking a grateful smile.
“Well, I am happy; everything worked out fine in the end," Roberto laughed, acting like he did not hear of the Gustav family decline .
“You are now part of the Fernandez family; you are no longer Mariana Gustav, but Mariana Fernandez. It's not easy, I know. That is why I have decided to let you visit your mother, Elena," Roberto said with a righteous smile. Ana Sophia has never felt so happy to meet her enemy before, saying that she was happy is an understatement.
"Really?" Her entire being lightened up.
“Yes, the chauffeur can drop you there. I would have preferred for Jose to do it, but he is late for work.” Roberto said and then turned to look at Jose.
“You are free to go, and don't lock up your wife again; it's not nice." Hearing this, Jose grabbed his suit beside him, stood up, and walked away, not even sparing a glance at his darling wife.
With Jose gone, she breathed a sigh of relief. In less than a minute she was excused. With Sententa’s help she got ready quickly and was off to the Gustav mansion.
She was so happy to go back there, even though that place was dangerous, but she almost lost her life in less than twenty-four hours while in the Fernandez mansion. At least she could be the bad guy to Elena and act all mean, but to the Fernandez family, she was a powerless little mouse. She was begging never to meet Jose’s brother, Xavier , because from what she heard, he was a total p*****t.
After a few minutes on the road, she arrived at the Gustav mansion with Sententa on her trail.
The gates were opened after the guards saw her face; she was no longer overwhelmed by how big the mansion was, especially after seeing the Fernandez estate.
They finally arrived at the front of the mansion. As she alighted from the car, she saw an excited-looking Elena running towards her; she scoffed internally at her ‘mom’s’ antics.
“My dear Mariana, mi amore, how are you? I hope they are treating you nicely," she asked worriedly as she led Elena into the house.
“Can you not hug me so tight next time, Mama?" Ana Sophia said, making sure to stress the 'mama.' Oh, how she hated calling Elena that.
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