The Viper Stepmother’s Mafia Justice Chapter 14
The Perfect Mother
Isabella played the perfect mother after that.
She kept her head low. Spoke softly. Smiled at the staff like she was grateful for everything.
On the second morning, she stood in the kitchen wearing a borrowed apron, flour dusted across her hands.
She pulled golden croissants from the oven.
“Mia grabbed these right after she turned two,” she said, laughing soft and motherly. “Burned her little fingers. Still reached again.”
I stood in the kitchen doorway, arms folded.
Mia stopped chewing, crumbs still on her fingers.
Leo only lowered his eyes to the plate.
She knew real details. Every one of them.
Mia’s first word. Leo’s fear of thunder. The lullaby she hummed over the dough.
Every story cut into the same wound.
I had saved their present. She owned their past.
But pastries were not her point. Leo was. He was the heir. Win him, win the war.
She waited until Leo was alone in the garden with Bullet.
“You had the same frown when you were three,” she said.
Leo said nothing. Bullet’s ears went flat.
“Your father used to laugh at it. Back then, he still knew how.” She paused. “Then he let them take me.”
Leo’s jaw tightened. Still silent.
Isabella leaned closer.
“And that woman he married? She’ll have her own babies soon. Then you and Mia become extra. That’s how stepmothers work, Leo.”
Her hand rested on his shoulder.
Leo looked at her for a long time.
“Are you done?” he said.
Isabella blinked.
Leo stood. Bullet stood with him. They walked inside without looking back.
Isabella stood there alone, fists clenched, glaring at his back.
By the next afternoon, Isabella stopped pretending.
She came for Leo in my training room.
Leo stood on the mats. Barefoot. Hands up. Bullet watched from the wall.
“Again,” I said. “Guard high. Shoulder up.”
Leo struck the pad. Clean. Fast. Better than yesterday.
Mia sat on the bench, swinging her legs. Shadow rested beside her.
Then the doors flew open.
Isabella marched in, face pale with fury.
“What are you doing to my son?”
The room went still. I lowered the pad.
“Training him.”
“No. You’re ruining him.” She pointed at me. “He’s a child, not your weapon. You stole his childhood. You train him like a warrior.”
The guards at the door heard every word.
Leo wiped sweat from his jaw. Said nothing.
Isabella grabbed his arm.
“Come with me. Now.”
Leo looked down at her hand. Then, calmly, he peeled her fingers off one by one.
“Don’t grab me.”
Isabella’s mouth parted. Her hand hung in the air.
Bullet rose first. Shadow followed. They moved fast, teeth bared. One blocked Leo. One guarded Mia.
Isabella stumbled back.
“Get them away from me!”
Bullet drove her back. Shadow barked beside him, bright and furious.
She slipped on the mat and hit the floor. Her borrowed dress twisted under her knees.
Leo stood over her. His voice was flat.
“They only bite enemies.”
Isabella’s mouth opened. Nothing came out. She scrambled up and ran.
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