Mafia's Reborn Obsession

I was dead.

My corpse, wrapped in a tattered tarp, had been dumped at the edge of the Hudson River.

Perhaps because I died with unfinished business, my soul remained trapped inside my body, experiencing the bone-chilling current as it washed over me.

Just as my consciousness was about to fade completely, a dark figure tore through the blackness before my eyes.

Him? Of all people?

Vincent Corleone—the Don of New York's largest crime family, the Corleones.

What was he doing here? This was Rossi territory. Coming here alone was basically a death wish.

Vincent stumbled toward me like a man possessed, lifting my rigid corpse into his arms. He bent down, trying to breathe life back into me, but my lips had already swollen and distorted from death.

All he could do was press frantically against my chest, over and over, his movements chaotic and desperate—nothing like the cool, commanding presence I'd always known.

"Elena... I'm ordering you, wake up... please..."

He clutched my lifeless body and screamed with a raw desperation I'd never witnessed before.

Tears traced down his jawline and dripped onto my face.

Was he... crying?

That arrogant, ruthless Don was actually crying? Over a woman who had betrayed him?

Antonio, Vincent's right-hand man, came running up and grabbed his arm urgently. "Boss, it's a trap! We need to leave. Now!"

Of course it was a trap.

I knew because I had laid it myself—with my own life as bait. The plan was to lure Vincent here and kill him. My father's murderer.

Except the plan had failed. Someone had tipped him off and intercepted him before he arrived. And I'd paid for it with my life.

What I didn't understand was why he'd come anyway, knowing it was a trap.

Vincent ignored Antonio completely. Instead, he gently untied the ropes binding my ankles and carried me onto the shore.

That's when I noticed—this man who was always impeccably composed was trembling.

"Boss, you need to calm down. Elena... she's gone..." Antonio sounded both anxious and helpless.

"She's not gone..." Vincent lowered his head, his slender fingers brushing the wet hair away from my face as he murmured, "Elena, you wanted revenge, didn't you? You wanted to kill me? I'm right here. Get up. Kill me..."

I had wanted to kill him. Ever since my adoptive father told me Vincent was responsible for my real father's death, not a day had passed without fantasizing about taking my revenge.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached—dozens of them.

We were quickly surrounded by men in black suits. Leading them was Mario, my adoptive father and head of the Rossi Family.

Beside him stood his daughter, Sophia, dressed to the nines as always.

Mario had planted me in Vincent's inner circle. I'd spent three whole years earning his trust, slowly chipping away at his defenses.

The day before I died, Mario told me he'd set a trap at the Hudson. All I had to do was fake a drowning to lure Vincent out, and we could take him down—avenge my father.

I'd agreed. But when the water closed over my head and my desperate cries for help went unanswered, I realized the truth: I was disposable to the Rossi Family.

"Vincent," Mario's voice dripped with mockery. "I never took you for a romantic. Walking into a trap like this."

"I told you, didn't I, Father?" Sophia laughed smugly. "Elena was always the most obedient dog in our kennel. Look at her now—even her death has value."

Dog?

The word cut through me like a knife.

Years of loyalty, and this was all I meant to them? A dog?

"Say that again." Vincent slowly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and radiating a chilling fury.

Mario remained unfazed, looking down at him condescendingly. "Elena? She was just some orphan I picked up from the slums. A tool to use against you. You didn't actually think she was a real therapist from Columbia, did you?"

"And another thing..."

Mario paused, as if savoring the moment. "You still don't know why she hated you so much, do you? I'm the one who told her you killed her father. For revenge, she was willing to do anything."

My consciousness reeled.

My father's death... had nothing to do with Vincent?

Everything I'd sacrificed for revenge was built on a lie?

"Shut up." Vincent's voice came out ice-cold.

He carefully lowered my body to the ground, smoothing out my disheveled dress before removing his jacket and draping it over me.

Then he stood up, pulled a gun from inside his coat, and before anyone could react, fired. One of Mario's men dropped dead.

More gunshots rang out. The thugs rushed forward, only to collapse one by one into pools of blood.

Vincent's expression was terrifyingly calm, blood spattering across his white shirt.

The man who'd always been so pristine and controlled now looked like the angel of death as he pressed his gun barrel against Mario's forehead.

Sophia screamed. Even Mario's face paled. "Vincent! You've lost your mind! Kill me and you'll never leave the Hudson alive!"

More armed men closed in from all sides. Soon Vincent and Antonio were completely surrounded. No matter how skilled Vincent was, he couldn't take on a hundred men.

Antonio tried one more time. "Boss, if we put down the gun now, we might still—"

"My life?" Vincent tilted his head, a vicious smile playing on his lips as he stared at Mario. "That's the last thing I care about. You're all going to hell to keep her company."

BANG!

The bullet went straight through Mario's forehead. He died instantly.

Sophia shrieked and tried to run. Vincent fired at her back. She collapsed face-first and didn't move again.

He dropped the gun, completely ignoring the terrified thugs around him, and turned back to gather me into his arms. He pressed his lips to my frozen forehead.

"Since you won't wake up, I'll just come with you..."

He held me close and walked toward the endless dark water.

I realized what he meant to do and tried desperately to scream, to stop him.

But my soul was fading. I could do nothing except watch helplessly as his figure disappeared beneath the black surface of the river.