A week before the wedding, my fiancé, Hadrian, told me to book eight seats on a bus to the Hamptons.
He said it was the last weekend before the wedding, a trip just for his inner circle.
The destination was the Bellini family’s private beachfront estate. He wanted to go with the people closest to him.
I refreshed the booking page for three days before I finally managed to snag eight seats together.
The moment I paid, a poll popped up in a group chat called “Beach Weekend.”
The question was: Should Mireille come?
Seven votes against. One abstention.
Not a single vote in my favor.
Hadrian was the Bellini family’s underboss. Once we were married, I was supposed to sit beside him at the formal family dinner, share his protection, and be bound by their code of silence.
And now, he had put my invitation to that estate up for a vote.
The people voting included my fiancé, my sister, his childhood friend, and my cousin.
I asked Hadrian if the abstention had been his.
He rubbed his temples.
“It was. I didn’t vote no. That was me trying to spare your feelings.”
He sighed. “Everyone thinks if you’re there, they won’t be able to relax.”
“This is the last weekend before my wedding that’s just for me. Can you just give me this?”
I asked, “Then why did you have me book eight seats?”
His answer came easily.
“You’re a travel editor. You’re the best at this stuff. We can use the extra seat for coolers and bags.”
He added, “I’ll transfer you the money in a minute.”
My sister, Sarah, spoke up from the dining table. “The wedding’s just days away. Don’t make a scene over a few tickets and drag the Bellini family into it.”
I looked down at the screen, at those eight connected seats.
I hadn’t spent three days fighting for them just to hand them over and walk away.
I had just booked a trip for the people closest to Hadrian, a trip that didn’t include me.
The app reminded me there were only ten minutes left to cancel.
But by then, whether the tickets were refundable was the last thing on my mind.
What I cared about was that when his inner circle shut me out, the man I was about to marry hadn’t even cast a single vote for me.
The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 27 “Which is why I returned Hadrian’s transfer later.” She paused. “If you don’t want the money, then why hand over the records?” “Because not wanting the money doesn’t mean it never happened.” “Leo didn’t fail on purpose back then. He’s followed Hadrian for
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 26 I stared at the attachment for a long time. I remembered every date on that repayment sheet. When the first payment went through, my mother’s gold bracelet had just been sent to auction. Hadrian had held me and said that once we got
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 25 The statement offered no excuses for himself. *I initiated the poll. Mireille Greco has never used the Bellini family to gain work opportunities. On the contrary, my inner circle and I relied on her skill and care for a long time while publicly
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 24 I wasn’t in the photo. But my name appeared in the comments almost immediately. People dug up *No Return Ticket* and said I had turned a private grudge into a feature, then used my ex-fiancé to secure the New York partnership. Corporate PR
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 23 “Get out.” The smile on Leo’s face faltered. “I’m just here to say hi. We were all family once. Why make this so formal?” He set one of the coffees in front of me. “Mireille, your career’s doing great. You should be over
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 22 Cameron looked at me. “If you don’t want to take it, I can talk to head office.” “Why wouldn’t I?” He paused. “You just got back from there.” “I went to New York for work. Him managing a hotel is work, too.” I
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 21 “It’s that you never meant to choose me in the first place.” His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. When I reached the corner, Cameron called. “Mireille, your return flight was moved up to tonight. Did you see the message?”
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 20 Hadrian stayed in New York. He left all the private group chats and stepped down as the Bellini family’s underboss. The boss gave the ring to another candidate. Hadrian was reassigned to manage a legitimate hotel, a business unrelated to the Family’s core
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 19 Half a year later, the Austin railway feature won an industry award. After the celebration ended, Cameron and I walked back along the old platform. He handed me a plane ticket. “We leave for New Orleans tomorrow for interviews. Seven a.m. Don’t be
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The Underboss Voted No So I Chose A New Life Chapter 18 He stood there, stunned. “Mireille, I know now where those seven no votes came from.” “Mm.” “I kept using you as an excuse. I made the inner circle think you were interfering with them, and I made them believe you would never really
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