Forced To Marry The Mafia

It All Starts From Here

The familiar ringtone of my phone echoed through the hushed ambiance of our dimly lit house. I eyed the caller ID with a mix of dread and curiosity. The screen displayed the name "Unknown," but I recognized the number instantly. It was a number I had spent years trying to erase from my life – the number associated with my parents, Lee Ji un and Hee Ae, heads of one of the most notorious mafia families in the city.

Taking a deep breath, I reluctantly answered the call. "Hello?"

A smooth, calculated voice cut through the line. "Is this Elara?" The voice belonged to my father, a man whose presence commanded fear and respect within the shadows of the city.

I hesitated for a moment, my throat dry. "Yes, it's me, Father. Is everything fine?"

"We're having a family dinner tonight. Your mother and I expect you and your sister to be there. It's important," He declared, his words carrying a weight that tightened the knot in my stomach.

"Tonight? Why all of a sudden?" I asked, my skepticism showing.

"There are matters that need to be discussed, Elara. It's time you showed some respect for your family," he replied, his tone unwavering.

I glanced around the living room looking around for any traces of my sister Jennie being in the house, the remnants of a life I had built far away from the influence of the Lee legacy. The call was unexpected, and the sudden summons for a family dinner felt like a trap, a web woven to entangle me into the life I've always dreaded.

"Fine, we will be there," I muttered, reluctantly agreeing to the dinner. The line went silent, but the tension lingered. As I hung up, I couldn't shake the feeling that this seemingly innocent dinner invitation concealed an agenda.

Shortly after ending the call, I called out for my younger sister Jennie, who shared the same feeling of dread that I felt. "Jennie, are you still sleeping?" I got up from the couch climbing up the stairs to her room. There I found my sister lying in bed fast asleep. I shook her, "Wake up, it's a school day." She stirred in her sleep before finally waking up. "I don't feel like going to school today." she groaned.

"You don't have to, we're going to the house for dinner," I replied, my fingers tapping on my phone screen as I tried to mask my unease. Her eyes shot open, "What do you mean we're going for dinner at the house?" I chuckled at her reaction, "Father called, he said something about discussing important matters and paying respect to the family." She groaned running her hand through her hair out of frustration, "What do you think their agenda is?"

"I have no idea, but it can't be anything good. Take a shower and do something productive with your day." I walked out of the room leaving her as she started groaning and mumbling incoherent words.

As we got ready to leave and sat in the car, Jennie spoke,

"What do you think they're up to?" she asked, her brown eyes searching mine for answers.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "I don't know, Jennie. But it can't be anything good. They never do anything without a motive, and a sudden family dinner just reeks of manipulation."

She nodded in agreement, her fingers tapping rhythmically on her phone. "We need to be careful. This could be some kind of power play or a way for them to tighten their control over us."

Our parents had always been good at using familial bonds as leverage, a tool to manipulate us into compliance. Jennie and I had distanced ourselves from the Lee legacy, choosing paths that veered away from the criminal empire our parents had built after a series of death threats we received from our family rivals. But the call, the dinner invitation, felt like a forceful pull back into the dangerous web of our family's influence.

"We'll play along for now, but we need to stay vigilant," I said, a bland resolve settling in my voice.

The city lights blurred outside the car window, we found ourselves grappling with the choices that lay ahead. The dinner, the agenda that had unfolded within the confines of the Lee mansion, was a stark reminder that the ties that bound us to our family were both a source of strength and a chain that threatened to drag us into the abyss.

The grand gates of the Lee mansion swung open as we approached, and the imposing facade greeted us. The air inside the mansion carried the scent of wealth, power, and a history that we, as the Lee sisters, were both a part of and yet alienated from.