A Shotgun Wedding with the Mafia Don-Chapter 47: An asset, not a liability

"Seriously, tell Maria that I’m not drinking this shit again." He put down the cup of tea that the maid served him with a bang.

"That’s awful." He scrunched his nose at the terrible smell and stuck his tongue out from the bitter taste of the boiled dried leaves.

"I’m sorry, Sir, but it was Madam’s order to give you the tea." The maid explained, her voice slightly trembling as she gathered the tray and hurried out of the room.

"That woman would be the death of me." He complained, ranting as he tried to scrub the taste of the disgusting blend from his mouth. "First, she took away my cigar, my whiskey, and now my coffee."

"Sir, I think Madam Dianne just wants to keep you healthy." Taylor calmly said, reasoning with him.

Although he knew his wife meant well, he still didn’t like it. He used to be in complete control of his life and the people around him. "Now, I can’t even control what I put into my body."

"Stop acting like a child if you don’t want me to treat you like a child." The voice of his wife suddenly boomed in the room, forcing him to turn toward the door. "You’re worse than your grandson, throwing tantrums when you don’t get your way."

"Madam Dianne..." Taylor greeted his wife before stepping aside to give her a clear path.

"Stop acting like my mother." He answered back, rolling his eyes at his wife. "How do you expect me to drink that sewage waste?"

"Oh, Maximus Morton. For a former Mafia Don, you’re such a baby." Dianne clapped her hands, and the maid returned carrying a freshly boiled teapot.

"Now, drink your tea and stop complaining." His wife ordered, personally filling a teacup before handing it to him.

His wife stood before him with her arms across her chest and her toes tapping impatiently on the thick carpet.

"Fine!" He finally gave up, knowing he would never win. "I’m drinking the damn thing." Inhaling deeply, he brought the cup to his lips and poured the fucking concoction into his mouth. "That fucking tasted and smelled like boiled socks."

"Well, you’ll thank me later when you live to see your next grandchild," Dianne said before she walked out of the room with a triumphant smile.

"What does she mean by that?" He asked Taylor a rhetorical question once his wife was out of earshot.

Well, he didn’t want her to hear him, come back, and then force him to eat grass next time. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"I think your wife is pushing your son and your new daughter-in-law to produce another heir for her." Taylor voiced out what he thought of his wife’s words.

Of course, he already knew that.

"Sir, are you okay with that?" Taylor boldly asked. "I thought you never liked Miss Sophia for Sir Oliver."

For a minute, he just stared at the portrait that hung on the top of the fireplace, not saying anything. His mind was swirling with his most loyal friend’s question.

"You once asked me why I allowed Oliver to marry Sophia but not Amelia." He responded, focusing his eyes on the painting of him with his lovely wife.

Taylor only nodded but said nothing.

"I know Amelia loved my son. And Oliver would die for that love." He recalled how his son had defied his wishes for that woman. "But their love had been doomed from the very start."

He knew too well what love could do in their world.

"Amelia is weak, and she made Oliver weak."

That weakness exposed Oliver’s vulnerability. It put a dangerous mark on his son’s back.

In the Mafia world, any sign of weakness could be used by his enemies to control his son, and even his allies would not hesitate to exploit his vulnerability for their own ends.

"And Amelia just gave my enemies an easy target."

His heir.

Oliver was the only one he could count on to take over the family business and the Mafia Don’s place. At the time, his other children, Benjamin and Marianne, were still too young to handle the business.

"Only Oliver could take my place, but he could never marry Amelia." His son needed a woman who could stand by his side and support him, a wife who had something to bring to the table.

An asset, not a liability.

"Anyone of my enemies or allies could use Amelia as a means to wipe out this family for good."

At that moment, he could already count the number of people who would want to put him down and take his place. They were only looking for an opportunity, a reason, a weapon to use against him, vying for the right time to strike.

"But how could you be so sure? What if..."

But he cut him off, knowing exactly what Taylor was about to say. "In this world, there are no what-ifs." That was the rule. "Either you act, or you don’t. Then, you live with the consequence."

His eyes gazed again at the portrait, but this time, it was not his wife he saw. It was another woman during another time.

Vivian Jones was his classmate in high school. She was intelligent, talented, beautiful, and kind, but what made her unforgettable was her sharp wit and restless curiosity.

Vivian spent most of her breaks either reading a book at the library or sketching in her notebook by the school fountain.

But don’t be fooled by her silence. Once, she challenged the principal regarding a new school rule, fearlessly arguing its fairness until he relented.

To him, she was the kind of girl who could light up a room with a smile as easily as she could put someone in their place with a clever remark.

"Vivian Jones, I love you." And he could not stop himself from falling for her. She was the ray of sunshine in his dark world.

For him, she was perfect. He wanted her to be his wife. To love her and stand by her side forever.

But he learned it the hard way that what he wanted was different from what he needed.

In the ruthless and unforgiving world that he lived in, a woman like Vivian Jones didn’t have the chance.

Her innocence, naivety, and kindness had become her downfall.

When his enemies took her and used her to make him submit. He had no choice but to give in, giving up almost everything that his family had and even his life.

But still, his sacrifice was never enough, as the trauma of what his enemies had done to her consumed her until she couldn’t handle it anymore and took her life.

The guilt of failing to protect her. To save her from what she had gone through nagged at him to this day. He had sworn that if he could prevent something like that again, he would.

"As you can see, Taylor. Amelia was no different from Vivian." He explained, reminding his friend of what happened in his past. "Amelia would not have survived as Oliver’s wife."

He knew that many would not agree with his method, but he did what was necessary to protect his family.

"Amelia didn’t belong in this world. She had no place in my son’s life." He said, without hesitation. Without remorse. He believed that he had done the right thing.

In his mind, he had done what was good for everyone. "I had provided her with an opportunity to start over again." He had given Amelia a way out.

"But what about the child? Why did you demand to take her son?" Taylor asked a question that had probably been brewing in his mind all these years.

"That child is the only remaining link between his son and that woman. As long as she has the child, that connection will continue to haunt them." He told his loyal butler as he finally stood and walked over to the large window.

"Do you think Oliver and Amelia’s son is still alive?" Taylor asked again, a little hesitant, but his curiosity won him over.

Instead of answering, he just kept his gaze concentrated on the world outside. To the overgrown branches that swung gently with the wind. To the guards patrolling the grounds. To the image of his son, playing with his grandson in the garden.

"Then, what about Sophia?" Taylor’s eyes were like a clock. It was ticking with questions.

For years, Taylor had served his family with loyalty, hard work, and a tight-lipped. He answered when asked and kept his mouth shut when his opinion didn’t matter.

But for today, he didn’t mind indulging Taylor’s curiosity. After all, he had always considered him not just an employee or a friend, but a member of his family.

"Sophia is different. I don’t think she’s anything like Amelia." An observation that he hadn’t taken lightly.

"What do you mean, Sir?" Taylor asked, seemingly intrigued by his statement.

"She might not have been born in our world, but she had shown that she had what it takes to belong in this cutthroat business."

At first, he initially thought that Sophia would be no different from Vivian and Amelia, but so far, she had proven him wrong. She appeared more resilient and fearless than he had expected.

"Aren’t you afraid that she might have an ulterior motive in marrying your son?" Taylor continued voicing his growing curiosity.

"Who doesn’t?" In this world, everybody had an endgame, a hidden agenda. "So far, Oliver told me that she had been very vocal about her demands. But in fairness, she had been good at her end of the bargain." Thinking of the bright smile on his grandson’s lips.

Now, seeing the changes in his son, as his eyes followed the two identical figures laughing and arguing in the garden.

"I guess, Miss Sophia has really brightened up this place." Taylor seemed to agree with him.

No objections about that.

However, he had another reason for allowing Sophia to stay.

"Caleb needs his mother."