Book 1
Previously named as mafias chubby bride
[𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 ✔️] (rewriting)
Exuvia;
❝Shedding the past, being reborn into something new, even if painful.❞
He's a dangerous mafia boss.
She's a sweet, calm artist with a tender heart.
In a worl...
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★・・・・・・★
A U T H O U R 'S P O V
Ashley hated it when Jungkook turned cold. His silence was sharper than any blade, his distance heavier than any punishment. Every time his eyes slid past her, as if she were nothing but air, it stung—deep, quiet, unbearable.
She couldn’t understand why he kept building walls between them, why he locked his feelings away as though even she wasn’t worthy of them. The cycle had become cruel: he would leave the house for work—a word that always meant blood, danger, secrets—and return injured, silent, shadowed. Each wound etched into his skin carved a deeper wound inside her.
Sometimes she caught it—the flicker. A trace of longing in his gaze, raw and unguarded. But it never stayed. He buried it, smothered it, crushing it under the weight of his own restraint. Ashley wanted more. She wanted him to sit beside her, speak to her, let her inside the cage he kept around his heart. Instead, he stayed cold, untouchable.
And tonight, at another grand celebration, the distance cut sharper than ever.
Her life felt on the stake because Jungkook wasn’t by her side. He stood where he always did—near Lord Jeon, his posture perfect, his attention unwavering, every inch the heir he was being trained to be. He could not look away, not even once. He had to be flawless. Loyal. The perfect son to inherit the empire.
Ashley sat with the Jeon ladies, her back straight, her smile weary. Each polite laugh felt like a dagger against her skull.
"I am so glad you accepted Ashley," her mother’s voice rang sweetly, yet each word tugged at Ashley’s self-respect until it frayed. "Even when she isn’t exactly a perfect score for a Jeon wife."
Ashley’s fists clenched in her lap, fingers digging into the pastel blue of her dress. The fabric was soft, flowing, and it complemented her skin too well—so well it had Jungkook, from across the hall, on the edge of breaking his restraint. His jaw flexed once, but he forced himself still, his gaze never leaving Lord Jeon.
Ji-yeon, Jungkook’s mother, came to her rescue before Ashley’s silence could be mistaken for shame. "No, Mrs. Adams," she said firmly, warmth threading through her words. "We are glad to have Ashley in our family. Ju adores her—he’s wrapped around her little finger. And I am grateful that she loves him so deeply when his own mother did not."
Her voice softened, her gaze finding Ashley with genuine kindness. Ashley smiled, small but sincere, her heart warming. Ji-yeon was a good woman. A gentle one. Ashley was grateful for her.
But her mother didn’t stop. "Still," Mrs. Adams pressed, "how can you accept her just like that?"
Ji-yeon only smiled, unshaken. "It’s not about us accepting her, Mrs. Adams. It’s about her accepting us. She is the one who has to live in this complicated world, and we are thankful—deeply thankful—that she chose to stay." She reached out, patting Ashley’s hand, her touch grounding, her words like a shield.
