The Viper Donna：Stepmother’s Mafia Justice Chapter 10
The Liar’s Execution
Leo stepped forward.
Elena tried to cut him off.
“Dominic, thank God you’re home.” Her voice cracked perfectly. “That woman destroyed everything. She terrorized me, she stole my jewelry, she turned the children against me—”
Dominic did not touch her. He let her cling to his shirt and watched her.
“She’s unstable,” Elena sobbed. “She pulled alarms in the middle of the night, she fired staff without permission, she froze my accounts—MY accounts, Dominic—”
“Elena.”
One word. Enough.
“She’s spending your money recklessly, she gave Leo a KNIFE, she threatened your grandmother—”
“Elena.” Quieter this time.
She finally stopped. Looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
Dominic removed her hands from his shirt.
Then he turned to Leo.
“Come here.”
Leo walked forward with his shoulders back and chin level.
Three months ago, this boy couldn’t hold eye contact with an adult.
Now he stood in front of the most dangerous man in New York without flinching.
Dominic studied him for a long moment.
“Tell me everything.”
Leo didn’t hesitate. His voice was steady, clear, plain. No drama. No begging.
He told his father about the empty trust fund. About Marco’s cigarette burns. About the thin blankets and the bare rooms and the staff who answered only to Elena. About the nights Mia cried herself to sleep hungry.
Then he pulled up his sleeve.
The scars were still there. Round, old, and clear.
Dominic looked at them.
His face did not change. But his hand curled into a fist so tight his knuckles cracked.
Elena saw it. Her tears dried up fast.
“He’s lying,” she said. “She coached him. She’s been brainwashing them for months—”
“Mia,” Dominic said.
Mia looked up from my lap. She’d been quiet through all of it, fingers twisted in my sleeve.
“Baby. Is what Leo said true?”
Mia nodded. Small but certain.
“Mommy fixed it,” she whispered. “Mommy made Elena stop.”
Elena’s face crumbled. “Dominic, you can’t believe a five-year-old over—”
Dominic reached behind his back, pulled a black gun, and set it on the dining table.
No one moved.
“I trusted you,” he said.
His voice was low and controlled. That was worse than shouting.
“I sent money every month. I called every week. I asked you—directly—are my children okay. And every single time, you said yes.”
“They WERE okay—”
“Three million dollars, Elena.” He tapped the table once. “You think I don’t check my own accounts? You think I wouldn’t notice after Sloane froze half your life?”
Elena’s mouth opened. Nothing came out.
He had already known before he walked in.
He had come home ready.
“My wife didn’t kill you,” Dominic said. “That was her mercy.” He looked at me. Then back at Elena. “It won’t be mine.”
Elena nearly fell. She grabbed the edge of a chair to stay upright.
“You have until sunrise,” he said. “Take nothing. Not a ring, not a coat, not a dollar. If I see your face after dawn, I will not ask you to leave again.”
“Dominic—please—where am I supposed to—”
“That is no longer my problem.”
She looked around the room. At the guards, who would not meet her eyes. At Nonna, who said nothing. At me.
I sipped my wine.
Elena turned and walked out. Her heels clicked down the marble hall. Then she started running.
The front door slammed.
No one moved.
Then Mia tugged Dominic’s hand. “Is she really gone, Daddy?”
He lifted her up. Pressed his forehead against hers.
“Yeah, sweetheart. She’s really gone.”
Over Mia’s shoulder, he looked at me again. It was not just gratitude.
“We still need to talk,” he said. “Tonight.”
I set down my glass. “I’ll be waiting.”
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