Her Accidental Mafia Husband

Starting a business 1

That evening, after waiting for her younger sister to finally fall asleep, Anna Marrin slipped into her parents’ bedroom.

She moved quietly to the wooden cabinet in the corner, knelt down, and gently pulled open the bottom drawer. Inside lay a collection of her mother’s personal treasures: gold and silver earrings, delicate necklaces, elegant bracelets, and various other accessories.

These were the only things her father’s greedy relatives had not been able to take from her.

Once, her family had been quite well-off. Edward Marrin was a wealthy yet humble merchant in town, and her mother, a renowned culinarian from the big city, had left her old life behind to marry him and build a peaceful home here.

Their life together had been happy, peaceful, and seemingly perfect.

But everything changed the day they died.

With no son to inherit, Anna and her sister had no legal claim to their father’s estate under the customs of their town. That was likely one of the reasons she had been betrothed to Sean; her family must have seen the inevitable coming.

Just a day after the burial, the Marrin relatives had descended like vultures, seizing the land deeds, the shop, and almost everything of value that had belonged to her father.

Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had warned her in advance. Anna had managed to hide her mother’s jewelry and the deed to their small house. Without that, she and Lily would have been left homeless.

Though the relatives had never dared demand the house itself, perhaps fearing public backlash if they went too far.

Anna opened another drawer and pulled out a small, wooden box. Inside were neatly folded bills ranging from one to fifty and hundred-dollar notes.

She counted them carefully: one thousand dollars in total, all saved from her baking work after covering daily expenses.

Even without the prince coming into their lives, her family would soon be unable to survive.

Relying solely on supplying cakes at the market was never going to be a sustainable solution. She had always dreamed of taking it further, of opening a small shop where she could sell all kinds of cooked food and baked goods.

She did some quick mental calculations: how much a decent shop would cost, buying supplies, plus the equipment and initial stock she would need.

The idea was solid, but the lack of capital made it feel impossible.

With a soft sigh, Anna slipped all her savings into her pocket.

“Pawning at least one of these pieces should be enough,” she whispered to herself.

These pieces were precious to her mother, especially the gold bracelet which was a family heirloom passed down through generations.

She held it up, turning it slowly in her hands, studying it with a heavy heart.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” she murmured, voice barely above a whisper. “I really don’t have a choice right now. But I promise… once the business succeeds, I’ll get it back.”

Early the next morning, Anna left her younger sister Lily in the care of Madame Thompson and set out with one thousand dollars and her mother’s golden bracelet tucked safely in her pocket.

Just the bracelet alone, she hoped, would be enough to rent a small shop she could turn into a modest restaurant.

When she entered the pawnshop, however, the shopkeeper, old Mr. Carver, examined the bracelet with narrowed eyes for a long time before holding up five fingers.

“Five hundred dollars,” he said.

Anna nearly choked on her breath. Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? This is pure gold, and you’re offering only five hundred dollars?”

Mr. Carver shrugged, his expression unchanging. “It may be gold, but the style is old and outdated. I know your family is in a difficult situation, so how about this: I’ll give you… 700 dollars. I can't offer more.”

Anna’s expression hardened, her eyebrow arching sharply. “Mr. Carver, I may not have gone to school, but I’m not a fool. No one in this life is going to cheat me. Nobody. This bracelet is worth far more than that. I won’t accept anything less than three thousand dollars.”

The shopkeeper placed the bracelet back on the counter with a dull clink. “Then you’d better take it back.”

Anna stood there, stunned. She had been counting on this bracelet to help her start her business, but she never expected the shopkeeper to lowball her so shamelessly.

It’s always the people you know who try to cheat you the most.

Without further argument, she snatched the bracelet off the counter, turned on her heel, and headed for the door.

The shopkeeper hadn’t expected the girl to be so stubborn, refusing to yield. “Hey… come back, Anna. Come back.”

Anna paused at the doorway and turned around, one eyebrow raised. “What? Changed your mind already?”

Mr. Carver let out a heavy sigh. “Three thousand is too much, I’d be robbing myself. How about we meet in the middle at… twenty-five hundred?”

Anna gave a short, humorless laugh. “So you finally admit the bracelet is actually worth that much?”

“I’m only offering this because I feel sorry for you, Anna,” the shopkeeper said, trying to sound generous. “It’s still early morning, and you’d be my first customer of the day…”

Before he could finish, Anna slammed the bracelet back onto the counter with a sharp clink. “Enough with the excuses. It’s three thousand dollars or nothing. If you won’t pay it, I’ll take it somewhere else and find a better offer.”

Mr. Carver studied her hardened expression for a long moment. He could tell she wasn’t bluffing.

With obvious reluctance, he scratched the back of his head, then slowly reached out and took the bracelet from her hand.

“Fine,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “I… I can see you really need the money, so out of pity, I’ll do it your way. Just know I’m losing money on this deal.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “How kind of you. Thanks for your pity.”

Leaving the pawnshop, Anna now had four thousand dollars.

With a bright smile on her face, Anna made her way to the market. Her eyes suddenly lit up when she spotted a woman ahead.