Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas) >>
Note: This story is also available on Novel Palace account in Wattpad. See Chapter 1 – Bring It On, My Mafia Life on Wattpad.
After working overnight, Rhea finally completed her painting that had been left unfinished for a week. She took off her headset and muted the music, only to be startled by the sound of crashing items downstairs.
Without time to groan or stretch, she quickly rose to her feet in response to the commotion echoing from below.
Furrowing her brows with a frown, she glanced at the wall clock—it was barely six in the morning. “What is going on…” she called out as she opened the door, concerned about the noises she heard. However, there was no response, leaving her feeling uneasy about the situation unfolding.
Hurriedly descending the stairs, Rhea’s heart raced with each step as the cacophony grew louder. Upon reaching the bottom, she was met with a shocking sight—a group of hooligans wreaking havoc in the living room. Her heart pounded as she wondered how they managed to bypass the security measures.
Puzzled by their presence, Rhea contemplated whether her uncle was involved in some sort of trouble with these gangsters. Seeing her aunt and cousin huddled in fear on the sofa, she knew she had to intervene despite her own apprehension.
Taking a deep breath, Rhea stepped forward, determined to address the chaos unfolding in her home.
“What is going on here?” she demanded, but her question was met with silence, further fueling her frustration. The gangsters continued their destructive spree, seemingly unfazed by her inquiry.
Witnessing their blatant disregard only fueled Rhea’s anger.
Despite her fear, she refused to back down, knowing that she couldn’t ignore the situation unfolding before her. With rage coursing through her veins, she raised her voice, demanding answers in the face of the escalating turmoil.
“Entering property of another for purpose of damaging it: It shall be unlawful for any person to enter the land, dwelling, outhouse, or any other building of another for the purpose of damaging such property or any of the contents thereof or in any manner to interfere with the rights of the owner, user or the occupant thereof to use such property free from interference. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor!” she said in one breath.
This time, she garnered the attention she wanted. The gangsters turned to her, at least half of them – the rest that didn’t look at first followed after the others. Their heated gaze stared at her with probing intensity and Rhea wished the ground would swallow her at this point. What person in their right mind would cause trouble with these delinquents.
They stared at her.
Rhea stared back.
It was awkward.
What was she going to say now? It was not like she prepared an opening speech for this epic moment.
Suddenly, one of the gangsters walked out of their midst, slowly clapping with a mocking smirk tilting his lips.
“Finally, we are having a lawyer here,” he said.
Rhea lifted her head, “I’m not a lawyer but every citizen knows their rights. Now, what’s the meaning of this madness? You can’t just come into someone’s place and exert your dominance just because you can,” she couldn’t even believe she was the one saying those words fearlessly. She means, look at those people, they had weapons -hammers and daggers- in their grasp – and probably guns were hidden in their waistband. One of them could easily shoot her in the head or something.
“Yes, you’re right, I can’t,” the arrogant man said, “But then, the law should have taught your family never to take a loan without paying back,”
“W-what?” Rhea croaked, “A loan?” her face paled. And then it dawned on her that these people weren’t gangsters, to be precise, they were Loan sharks. God, this couldn’t be true.
Reality hit Rhea hard, her uncle had not only taken a loan, but from loan sharks? What the hell was he thinking?
Shock stricken, she turned to her aunt and cousin still shivering in fear, “Is that true?” was her question, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Father put all of his money into the company research which we hoped would have paid off by now, unfortunately, there were some delays and he had to resort to this method,” Costanza was the one who managed to speak.
And God, who knew she had such a meek voice – she was always yelling at her. Costanza was no other than her uncle’s only child and daughter – the princess of the family. Thanks to the fact that she was a spoiled brat, Costanza never takes no for an answer.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You know how delicate this matter is and yet you all kept it from me?” Rhea couldn’t believe it.
“Why?” Costanza snorted, the usual contemptuous look crossing her features, “What could you have done? Give us your trust fund?”
Of course, why wouldn’t they have their eyes on her trust fund? This greedy lot of people!
…..
Before Rhea’s father had died, he set up a trust that she would control once she clocked Twenty-four. Sadly, she was twenty-three, and fortunately for her uncle and his greedy wife, she was just a year away from claiming her fortune.
Rhea’s father had been a business mogul right before he died and those businesses were taken over by his brother, who has been acting as her guardian since she was ten.
But then, living here was equivalent to living in hell. They abused her to the point it was quite a miracle she had lived up to this age under their roof.
Upon the fact that her uncle had reaped huge benefits from her father’s death, they still claimed she owed them.
“You ungrateful bitch! If not for the shelter we provided, you’ll be out there in the streets like a street rat!” her aunt would yell and hit her in the name of discipline.
“No, I only took what belonged to me! Those businesses were my fathers!” She would always retort
“Fine, go and take it up! Let’s see how you manage it! This is why raising someone else’s kid is hard nowadays, because they would grow up rude and unappreciative!” She would say at the top of her voice just so the neighbors could hear and tag her as a “good woman” and she “the bad ungrateful niece”. What a great hypocrite.
But then their greediness grew and currently, they were awaiting her trust money so they could bill her – claim they raised her for years and want compensation. She could already see through their plans.
“What an entertaining family,” remarked the arrogant man from earlier and he seemed to be the collector or something, “As much as this has been interesting, it cannot provide our money,” He said.
“You assholes!” Costanza couldn’t take it anymore and said in an outburst, “The loan would have been paid halfway by now if you guys hadn’t charged us at a ridiculously high-interest rate of forty percent per fortnight. You all are sharks in the ocean that prey on their victims!” She stared at them fiercely.
Why were they called “Loan sharks” in the first place? Pun intended.
The collector simply rubbed the inside of his ear with his finger as if he was bored to death, “Hey,” he called to one of his men, “Shut her up, she talks too much. My ear is beginning to hurt.”
“What?!” The color left Costanza’s face, fear finally setting in. But it was too late.
“Mother!”
“My daughter!”
Mother and daughter both cried and struggled but the man broke them apart, suppressing Costanza until he successfully gagged her mouth with a cloth.