The Mafioso's Corpse Bride

chapter 22

ALTHEA let out a horrendous shriek when her eyes met the man's eyes for the first time. Her heart was pounding hard, and she was catching her breath as she found herself almost trapped in his domain.

She ran towards the gate, her hands sweating and trembling in a panic. When she successfully opened it, what greeted her was the thing she feared the most.

"Hopelessness."

Her eyes watered in desperation as the man came nearer and nearer to her. She sobbed hard as the man lifted her chin a little, staring into those black orbs of hers.

If only she could escape this hell.

* * *

ONLY THE sound of the teacup cluttering above the table engulfed the four corners of the room as the two of them remained silent. Althea, who was dumbfounded by the woman's sharp words, suddenly felt uncomfortable with her, knowing full well that she didn't seem friendly and inviting at all.

"Are you mute?" the woman continued to ask her, which reverted her back to reality. Immediately, she shook her head.

"N-No," she replied. She didn't think that she'd met another woman like Natasha who would blatantly act like this in front of her. She took a deep breath and bit her lip.

"Have you ever thought what it meant to marry an actual mafia boss?" Hiyori suddenly uttered this before putting the teacup on the surface of the table. Althea looked at her with a confused look on her face.

"No," she responded.

"It's like being sewn to death." Those sharp words immediately caught her off guard as the woman looked at her with a dark expression on her face. She couldn't seem to distinguish what Hiyori wanted to tell her straight, although she could get the general idea of it. "And you, lady, you're probably his second wife now," she added, which surprised her.

Out of all the people Althea met ever since she stepped inside the Sibals, she was the only one who would dare utter those words in front of her.

Althea just listened silently on the sidelines. If she were his second wife, it wouldn't really matter to her since she was just forced into this marriage. However, she was indeed curious as to what had happened to his first wife.

"Are you saying I'll die?" Althea responded after composing herself. The woman let out a short chuckle before she poured her a cup of tea.

"Well, what do you think?" the woman question just made her stare blankly. The woman then smiled. "Anyway, I'm sure you were already aware of that fact," Hiyori added. "Would you like some biscuits? These were handmade by one of the best pastry chefs in Japan."

Althea just shook her head. "No, thanks," she replied. "I don't think it's safe to eat, considering that you were the one who put it on my plate," she added, which made the woman stop for a second.

She looked at her with a surprised look on her face before she laughed out loud, enough that it poured through the four corners of the room.

"Marvelous, lady," Hiyori said before she crossed her legs. "Truth be told, out of one hundred prestige women from a long generation of prosperity, I am Lord Sasaki's fifth concubine," she explained, which made her surprised beyond words.

It was obvious that she had no knowledge about Japan's cultures and traditions, which made her even more baffled.

"Then . . . does that mean he has more wives?" she asked innocently, which made the woman chuckle.

"Of course," Hiyori said, and then she poured herself another cup of tea. "However, unlike the others, I am the most recent and favored when it comes to tasks."

Althea nodded her head. She didn't expect to hear something like this from someone she had just met not too long ago. Unlike what she had thought earlier, this woman could be someone she could trust . . . however,

A smirk crossed her lips after Althea remembered what she had noticed earlier. Taking the advice of a woman who is experienced in this kind of field, she could not just let her guard down in front of Hiyori. Despite her honest stature and comments, she could tell that she was no joke.

"I don't know why you're telling me all of this, but that doesn't change the fact that you were lusting over my man," she uttered out of nowhere. She tried her best to act like she was the actual wife of a mafia boss so that she wouldn't look like a pitiful girl in front of her.

The woman smiled mischievously. "And here I thought I could strangle you quietly to your death," Hiyori replied with a dark expression on her face. "I even made sure that the servants would put poison on the rim of your cup, but you're quite alert," she added.

Althea, on the other hand, just smiled back at her. "I'm not as stupid as you think," she responded. "Anyway, I think it would be better if one of us left already since this place is too small for the two of us," she continued before standing up.

She's confident that the woman won't dare do anything to her in this place since Israel is just nearby. If she were to plan her murder, she would be smart enough to do it elsewhere . . . unless she was crazy.

"You know, I envy you, lady," the woman suddenly commented, which made her stop walking. She looked in her direction and saw that she was still seated elegantly while sipping her tea.

"I have a husband who would lust over any woman and will take her to bed in a heartbeat—someone who would abuse her to her death if not given what he wants—someone who is capable of disposing of lives as though it were just a plaything," she added.

"That's the life we have as a wife of a Miyamura." She then lifted her gaze to look at her in the eyes, and immediately, Althea felt a shiver down her spine. There was a hint of rage and bitterness in her eyes, as though she were looking right at her with all the despair and pain she had to endure all along.

"Do you know what it feels like to handle women because you are the hostess?" she asked. "I have to constantly hear women and children begging, kneeling in front of me while they are dragged away by our subordinates. Trained as elites or trained to be the next generation to serve their master with lust and desire . . . you have no idea how much I envy you," she repeated. The woman then smiles again at her, as though she had something up her sleeves.

"How about you? How much can you endure as a mafia boss's wife—to be his dear, beloved wife?"

Althea felt her heart thumping hard when her eyes happened to see her get her teacup from across the table.

"Wait, don't!" she uttered in an attempt to stop her, but it was too late. Hiyori consumed the poison she personally prepared for her as though she had decided to commit suicide in front of her.

But why?

The woman smiled at her. "Don't worry, lady. I didn't do this because I hate you. I did it because I hate myself, . . . more importantly, because I love a wretched man like him." She then started hurling in pain, as though the poison had immediately wrapped itself around her body. She threw up blood, which made Althea open the door desperately and yell as loudly as she could to ask for help.

Those who witnessed the scene were horrified at the revelation, and everything was like a new chapter of trauma in her eyes.

Hiyori killed herself in front of her in desperation to escape her fate.

Will that also happen to her?

Althea blinked her eyes again, reverting back to reality. She found herself lying below the man who was devouring her, ravishing each and every nook of her body. However, unlike usual, when she could feel the unbearable pleasure, she felt all of her fear creep up into her system.

She cried, desperately wanting to get away from him, to the point of even scratching him quite strongly. Her nails dug into his back as the man continued to thrust himself inside and out.

And the moment she felt him embrace her into a tight hug, the man whispered into her ear, "Mi amor, I know your secret," Israel said in a low voice, which made her shriek in horror as she witnessed two bodies drop out of nowhere from the side of the bed—the rotting bodies of the late David and Natasha, who tormented her.

"It's like being sewn to death," a voice uttered in her head, as though the woman who had previously just died was there to whisper close to her ear.