Forced To Marry The Mafia

Defiance

Sola barged into the mansion, her anger radiating as the household staff scrambled to assist her, swiftly removing her jewellery. "This is just great!" she exclaimed furiously. "I introduce Elara to the commission after eight years, and she goes and kills one of the members, starting a damn war in just one night!"

Azalea followed, trying to calm her mother. "Mama, please, try to relax. It's going to be okay," she urged, her voice strained with tension. Kai entered, dropping his gun on the coffee table and running his hands through his hair in deep thought. "Azalea's right. We'll figure it out," Ciara came in after, silently handing her belongings to the housekeepers.

Sola turned to them, her frustration boiling over. "You might as well just chop off my head and serve it on a platter. Because that's exactly what they will do to all of us!" Kai attempted to reassure her, "Nobody's chopping off anyone's heads. Elara had her reasons, and now we need to focus on what to do next." Sola whirled around, pointing accusingly at them. "No! You're not about to do this. None of you are going to make excuses for Elara this time!"

Tensions continued to rise as they settled in the living room. "No one's making excuses for Elara. What Kai said is true. It's time we stood up to the commission." Sola confronted Azalea, her voice rising in anger. "Do you even hear yourself? Going against the commission? Are you out of your mind?!" she yelled, the room falling silent in response. Azalea's retort was sharp. "Yes, I hear myself! The commission is full of bloodthirsty, power-hungry, lazy motherfuckers! We put them where they are now, and we'll take them down if we have to!"

Sola warned Azalea pointing a finger at her face. "They'd cut out your tongue for saying those words," she cautioned. But Azalea remained defiant. "Let them try!" she shot back. Suddenly, the room's atmosphere shifted, thick with tension. Sola's voice lowered dangerously as she confronted her daughter. "Did you just talk back to me?" Her demeanour transformed, no longer the funny and annoying aunt we all knew, but the woman they had been warned about on that bus. Azalea stood her ground. "Yes, I did," she asserted, the air crackling with their confrontation.

"You may be older now, Azalea, but I am still your mother and the head of our cartel." Azalea didn't back down. "Don't flatter yourself. I only regard you as the head of our cartel. I only call you mama out of respect." The room fell silent, Sola visibly wounded by her daughter's words. "Tell me, where did I go wrong as your mother? What could I have done differently to make you, my only child, refuse to see me for eight years?" Azalea's response was cold, devoid of emotion. "The only mistake you made was giving birth to me when you couldn't be a parent."

Sola defended her actions. "I was young, widowed, with a child to raise and a cartel to run. I did what I had to do to keep us alive. What was so terrible about the training centre? It made you who you are today, didn't it?" Azalea snapped, her composure slipping. "Do you know what they did to me there? Do you know what Elara went through? You should have aborted me when you had the chance!" Sola slapped her daughter in response. "Don't talk to your mother like that!" Kai intervened, pulling Sola away as Azalea laughed bitterly. "You finally did it. Are you satisfied now?" she challenged, staring her mother down. 

Sola, overwhelmed, demanded to know where her daughter's loyalty lay. "What's wrong with you? Where's the daughter I raised, disrespecting me like this? Where's the Elara you are disrespecting me for? I made you both who you are, and this is how you repay me?"

Azalea declared her allegiance. "This is who I am! The daughter of the head of the Colombian cartel and one of the founding mothers of gli Stranieri. I stand with Elara, and I'll fight this war with her!" With that, she stormed out, leaving Sola shocked.

 "She's lost her mind!" Sola screamed before retreating to her study, the weight of her family's divisions heavy on her shoulders.

"Azalea, wait!" Nabi's voice cut through the tense atmosphere, halting Azalea in her tracks just before she stormed out the door. "I'm coming with you." The room fell silent, everyone stunned by Nabi's unexpected declaration.