The Mafia Princess They Threw Away Chapter 01
On the day I turned eighteen, I was diagnosed with progressive amnesia.
Little by little, I would forget everyone.
Eventually, I would even forget myself.
When I got home, my parents forced me to hand over the locket my grandmother had left me to Sofia, the daughter they had adopted.
“Elena, you’re the older one,” Mom said. “Let your sister have it. Stop fighting with Sofia over everything. We’re sick of it.”
I nodded.
Then I went back to my room and cried all night.
But when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t remember why my pillow was wet.
That afternoon, I saw my fiancé, Luca Moretti.
I told him about my diagnosis.
Instead of believing me, he looked at me with even greater disgust.
“Progressive amnesia? Seriously, Elena? Are you pretending to be sick just to get my attention?”
His words brought tears to my eyes.
But the next day, when Luca snapped at me across the breakfast table, I only stared at him blankly.
“Who are you?”
I was forgetting things faster and faster.
Until that evening, Luca took me for a drive.
He drove into the Iron District, enemy territory notorious for disappearances and human trafficking, then pulled over.
“Elena, grab something from the trunk.”
I obediently got out.
Luca hit the gas.
As the car sped away, he rolled down the window and sneered.
“Maybe this will teach you to stop acting out. Stay here and think about what you’ve done.”
Then he drove off.
I stood alone in the street, my mind completely blank.
I wanted to go home.
But I couldn’t remember where home was.
By the time the Bellinis realized something was wrong, and by the time Luca tore the city apart looking for me—
I had truly disappeared.
…
Ever since I was diagnosed with progressive amnesia, I’d started keeping a journal.
While I could still remember things, I wrote down what I needed to do the next day.
I opened it and checked yesterday’s entry.
Day Seven of Losing My Memory. I think I’m forgetting things faster now.
- Stop loving Luca Moretti.
- Mom and Dad won’t give me money for college. Remember to be at the restaurant by ten for my summer shift. Address: xxxx.
There were a few more lines underneath, but the ink had run and I couldn’t make them out.
Maybe it had been my tears.
I just couldn’t remember why I’d cried.
I didn’t dwell on it.
No one cared abut me anyway.
I put the journal away and got ready for work.
Downstairs, I heard my parents, Sofia, and a man I didn’t recognize laughing in the sitting room.
I froze for a few seconds before remembering that the man was my fiancé Luca.
The disgust on his face was unmistakable.
“Get over here and apologize to Sofia.”
I looked at him blankly.
Luca’s expression darkened.
“Your parents gave Sofia that locket yesterday, so you burned her with a cigarette over it?”
“Elena, how can you be so vicious?”
I looked at Sofia’s arm.
A small bandage was wrapped around her wrist.
I couldn’t remember burning her.
Mom lost patience and shoved me.
“What is wrong with you? Apologize! Stop pretending you don’t know what you did!”
I stumbled back two steps.
My knee slammed into the coffee table.
Pain shot through me, and I nearly collapsed.
Luca caught me.
But the moment I regained my balance, he let go.
Then he wiped his hand with a handkerchief and looked at me coldly.
“Apologize.”
Before I could say anything, Dad picked up the cigarette from the ashtray and walked toward me.
“If you don’t remember what you did,” he said, “maybe this will jog your memory.”
I stared at him.
“Dad—”
He grabbed my arm and pressed the burning end into my skin.
“Ah!”
I screamed.
The smell of scorched flesh filled the room. Tears burst from my eyes as I struggled, but Dad held me there for another second before letting go.
My skin was already blistering.
“Now you know how your sister felt.”
No one said a word.
Mom didn’t stop him.
Neither did Luca.
Sofia just watched me cry.
I couldn’t remember whether I’d actually hurt her.
And I had no proof that I hadn’t.
So I lowered my head.
“I’m sorry.”
My voice shook.
“I didn’t mean to burn you.”
“I’ll be more careful next time.”
Sofia smiled.
“It’s fine. I’ll forgive you this time. But if it happens again—”
“If it happens again, you’re out,” Mom cut in.
“You can go straight back to wherever you were before we found you. Don’t ever set foot in this house again.”
Then she waved me away.
“That’s enough. Go. Just looking at you is giving me a headache.”
My nose stung, but I forced the tears back.
I told myself that once college started, I could get away from this house.
Maybe things would be better then.
I had barely taken two steps when Sofia called after me.
“Elena. Wait.”
I stopped.
“One more thing.”