Forced To Marry The Mafia

The Truth Of The Matter

I stared at them in disbelief. "So it's all true?" Kai approached me, concern etched on his face. "Jennie, what are you doing here?" I instinctively backed away. "I came because Elara got into a car accident, but I guess that was also a lie."

The woman who had scolded Nabi rushed to clean the wine spill while the elegant lady ushered us into the living room. "Please, come inside. Lucia, please take their bags and put them in the rooms upstairs." The lady tidied up the mess and called for assistance with our luggage. Nabi yawned and followed them upstairs.

The woman appeared both shocked and relieved. "Please, take a seat," she said, motioning us to chairs as she settled herself. Kai and the girls hovered around her, with guilt written all over their faces. Glancing around the lavish living room filled with aged photographs, I couldn't help but feel drawn to one in particular. It showed a young girl, radiant and carefree, sitting amidst kitchen chaos.

"You can pick the picture up. She looks familiar, doesn't she?" The lady smiled warmly. I hesitated before lifting the photo. "That's Elara," I murmured, shocked. "She looks different, doesn't she?" Jisoo took the photo from me to take a look. "Elara was eleven in this picture. We were making Arepas, and she got into a food fight with Kai and Azalea, making a mess with flour," she chuckled. Kai met my gaze with guilt-ridden eyes.

The Russian lady interjected, "You're the mystery husband Elara was hiding from us." She smirked mischievously. "What? You knew Elara was married?" the lady asked her. She raised her hands in surrender, "I found out about him yesterday. Don't be angry at me; it's Elara you should be mad at for not telling you she got married." The lady scolded her, "Stop talking." Then, turning to us, she added, "I apologize for her behaviour. She's not from around here." I couldn't help but snicker. "Is something funny?" the Russian lady inquired, prompting the older lady to intervene, "Stop misbehaving and sit down. She's Elara's younger sister, and you will treat her with respect."

The Russian lady's expression shifted. "You're Jennie? As in Elara's younger sister?" I nodded. "Oh my God, you look so much older than the pictures Elara showed me!" she exclaimed. The older lady chimed in, "I know, right?"

"Right, I'm sorry. I'm Sola, Azalea's mother, but I consider Elara my daughter," the elegant lady introduced herself, surprising us. She chuckled at our reaction. "Judging by your faces, I suppose I don't match the description you were given." The Russian lady approached Taehyung, extending her hand. "Hi, I'm Svetlana Zaitsev." Taehyung rose to shake her hand. "Kim Taehyung." Her eyes widened, and she turned to Sola. "It's him! He's the one I was telling you about!" Sola's eyes widened from realization, "Oh my god, yes, I remember! Such an impressive young man!" Taehyung shifted uncomfortably. "Thank you," he murmured as Svetlana continued to express her awe."I'm guessing these are your brothers that you work with?" She came closer to the boys shaking each of their hands. "I'm quite star-struck, I have heard about you guys all the way from Russia." 

Interrupting, I pressed, "You were in the car with Elara. What happened exactly?" Svetlana chuckled, launching into her tale. "You'll never believe this. Elara and I had just arrived from Sicily, and as we were about to enter the car, she insisted we switch vehicles. Moments later, the car we would've been in was hit by a truck!" Sola gasped, relieved. "My god, that was close!" Svetlana agreed, "I know, so Elara makes us drive to this creepy ghost town, but I wasn't even scared. And then Elara kills my guards, right? And she's like they sold us out. I'm still mad about that but yeah, then Elara had this cool car in some old factory and drove us here. Isn't that so crazy?"

"How much do you know about Elara?" Lisa inquired. "Oh, Elara and I go way back. We've been friends since we were thirteen," Svetlana reminisced. "Elara is quite secretive, isn't she?" she added, grinning.