Forbidden Affair with My Mafia Stepbrother R18-Chapter 148: Her Strategy

My mother had no idea what was going on, and instead of being able to tell her the truth one after another, it seemed like I had built up another secret that I was keeping from her. All the lies and all the misunderstandings between my mother and I kept on piling up until it felt like there was this big mountain between us.

My interactions with my mother seemed friendly and close enough, but inside I didn’t feel the same way as I did before anymore, and it felt like it was killing me inside slowly. We appeared close, but I felt that the distance between us was slowly growing. The fact that I kept so many secrets from her without being able to tell her the truth made me feel like I was betraying my mother’s trust. On top of that, I also knew that time was running out.

Whenever I was alone, I found myself staring at the ring that Raphael had given me while I wondered about its real significance. Needless to say, I was over-the-moon happy that he proposed to me. I wanted more than anything to marry him and spend the rest of our lives together until death do us part. However, I would be lying if I said that I felt like anything had changed between us since then. The ring that sat snugly at the base of my ring finger only when there was no one else around to see it gave me a false sense of hope.

Nothing had changed. Raphael was still engaged to Rosabella, and their wedding was drawing near. No one except for Rosabella knew about my relationship with Raphael, and I didn’t see things changing in my favor anytime soon. Despite his promises, there was no concrete action from Raphael to correct the situation for us.

"I don’t know what I should do or what I should believe in anymore," I mumbled softly as if confessing my true feelings to the lifeless ring.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my bedroom door. Since Raphael was out with Bennett, I felt slightly relieved that the person on the other side of the door wasn’t him. I quickly wiped away my tears and ignored the fact that I had started crying again before heading to the door.

"Oh, hi Mum..." I greeted my mother with a polite smile.

I hated how tense I felt around her these days because it only made me feel like my life had gotten so sad. Once again, my mother had a bright and cheerful smile on her lips, and I knew that she had some good news to tell me.

However, since we were not exactly on the same page, I also knew that her definition of good news didn’t exactly match up with mine.

"Let’s go out shopping together!" my mother invited me cheerfully.

"Sure. Is there something that you need to get?" I asked before showing her a smile.

"No, I don’t. Oh, but your future sister-in-law has a long list of things that she would like us to help pick out for their wedding celebration! Isn’t it just so exciting!" my mother announced before clapping her hands.

"Oh...right..." I mumbled before faking a smile.

If there was something that had changed ever since Raphael proposed to me, it would be the fact that Rosabella was coming on full force in sticking to my mother’s side and ramping up the efforts for her wedding preparations.

"She’s waiting in the living room. Don’t you think that it’s so nice of her to invite us? I love how she’s making sure that we feel involved in her big day," my mother said as she practically dragged me out of my bedroom and down the stairs.

"Yes, how nice of her..." I replied blankly.

Even though I knew that Rosabella cared greatly about her upcoming wedding to Raphael, I also knew that the main purpose of her coming here and inviting me out wasn’t to make me feel involved as part of the family. It was an outright threat and warning coming from her. She wanted to tell me that time was running out, and that she could rat out my secret to my mother whenever she wanted. The longer I stayed within this family, the longer I would be a baby chick in the palm of her hand.

"I’m so glad that you two can help me pick out some decorations and some thank-you gifts for the guests for my upcoming wedding. It means so much to me," Rosabella said excitedly when she spotted us enter the living room.

Her words made me sick and made my skin crawl, but all I could do was stand next to my mother with a stupid fake smile on my face. Here she was gloating in front of me about her upcoming wedding to Raphael, while all I could do was take her abuse. The ring that sat in my pocket was the only thing that gave me some comfort, even if it wasn’t so much.

Now, hours later, I was walking beside them as we browsed through elegant and expensive boutiques filled with crystal vases and silk flowers. The smell of aromatherapy filled the air and made me feel slightly dizzy. My mother’s eyes sparkled as she admired everything around her while chatting with Rosabella. They both seemed to be enjoying themselves while I tried my best to appear to be engaged.

"Abigail, which one do you think matches Raphael’s tastes more? This one, or perhaps this one here?" Rosabella suddenly asked me a question.

"I’m...not sure..." I mumbled.

"Really? I thought you two are actually pretty close. You seem to spend a lot of time with him, so I thought that you would know something about his preferences," Rosabella said before showing me a look of slight disappointment.

"We just work together. We’re...not that close..." I denied softly.

"Is that so? Well, since we are family, I hope that you’ll get closer to him soon. Of course, I’d love to get to know you better too," Rosabella said before flashing me a smile.