My Rival Bragged About Her Don Husband, But He Was My Secret Husband

My Rival Bragged About Her Don Husband, But He Was My Secret Husband I was the heiress of a Mafia family. Since I always kept a low profile, the head cheerleader Selena Hartwell mocked me throughout high school. After graduation, I cut contact with every last classmate and threw myself into family business. Then, just as our family was reestablishing its foothold on the East Coast, an old high school group chat blew up. Selena went crazy tagging me: "Ava Costanzo, I'm getting married — and my husband is a Don! I'm ordering you to come to my wedding!" The wedding photo she posted showed the groom cropped out, but I recognized the cufflinks. The man beside her was Julian Moretti, the second son of the Moretti family, a crew that couldn't even manage two shipping routes without leaning on us. Chapter 1 My father shipped me overseas in high school to toughen me up. I ran into a pack of bullies. After graduation, I went completely dark. Then someone dragged me into a class reunion group chat, and the unread count hit 99+. Half the messages were tagging me. "Ava, Selena's been this warm and you're just ignoring her?" "How rude can one person be." I scrolled back through the thread to figure out what I'd missed. Selena Hartwell had gotten married today. Word was her husband was a Don on the East Coast. Same territory as me, which was apparently why she'd "invited" me. "Typical Ava. She was like this in high school too, shut everyone out." "Not much to look at, but acts like she's better than everyone." I frowned. Some things never change. Back in high school, I enrolled quietly, but years of my father's conditioning had made me too good at every sport the school offered. The administration kept pushing me to take the captain spot on the cheer squad. Selena only got the position after I turned it down ten times. At her inauguration, she showed up with a knockoff Hermès bag. I pulled her aside and quietly told her she should swap it out. She laughed in my face and said I didn't know quality when I saw it. Then the photos went out, and people mocked her for carrying a fake. She came straight at me, threw a hot coffee over my head. "Was that you who leaked it?" I just smiled. The hardware was literally peeling off that bag. Did she really think she needed my help to get caught? I wiped the coffee off, reached into my jacket, and pulled out a pistol. Shot a pellet past her ear. "I'm warning you. Come at me again, and the next one goes through your forehead." She went white and didn't start breathing again until she realized the gun was a prop. After that, the cheer squad won a few competitions and she got herself a following. That's when the bullying really started. "Ava, you can recognize real Hermès — how come you never carry any? Too broke to buy it, or just faking like you don't care?" "Look how bulky your arms are. I bet you wrestle the dogs for your food at home." Ancient history, all of it. So I sent back something polite: "Sorry, I missed the messages. Congratulations." The chat erupted the second I hit send. "It's been a month. You're just seeing this now?" "Playing blind, are we? You haven't posted a single photo in years. If things are going badly, just say so. We won't judge." Selena tagged me: "Ava, remember our bet from high school? I said I'd end up better than you." "I always said it: all muscle, no style, no future." I typed back: "Forgot about it." I'm not wasting brain space on something that stupid. The chat immediately rose to Selena's defense. "She's a Donna now and you're pretending you don't remember?" "Jealous, obviously." "Probably can't afford a gift, more like it." "Ha, if your broke daddy's buried in gambling debts, Selena might ask the Moretti to go easy on him." The name stopped me. Moretti. Was that Julian's family? Someone in their family was getting married, and he hadn't said a word to me. Then Selena dropped a voice message, dripping with satisfaction. "Ava, I really do want you there. You don't have to bring a gift if money's tight. I can find you something to wear. And honestly, you've always been strong. You could help move a few things around, call it even." I wasn't going to dignify Selena's taunting with more than I already had. I'd given her a polite congratulations. That was enough. But then she dropped a photo into the chat. "Me and my husband, waiting for you~" It was technically a wedding photo, except the groom was cropped out. Just Selena, perfect makeup, arm hooked through someone's, smiling like she'd won everything worth winning. My eyes dropped to the arm she was holding. The cufflinks. I'd had those made for Julian by a craftsman. One of a kind in the world. So Selena's "husband" was Julian Moretti, the man I'd been secretly married to for three years. Right on cue, Julian's unread message sat in my phone. "Baby, are you free this week? It's been too long. I learned a new recipe — flew in the best bluefin tuna from Norway just for you." I didn't answer him. Instead I typed into the group chat: "I'll be there. Wouldn't miss it." I told my head of operations, Sandro, I'd be away for a few days and handed him full authority over any documents that needed signing. He looked puzzled. "Has something happened with Julian?" I nodded. "Yes. I'll handle it myself." Sandro pressed a set of sleek matte-black car keys into my hand. "Take this one." I frowned. "Too conspicuous." Growing up, I'd understood one thing clearly: as long as I was alive, the money would keep coming, so I always moved like an ordinary person, blended in, stayed invisible, stayed safe. Sandro was firm. "Miss Ava. This car has the highest-grade armor. We just arrived, and things aren't fully settled here." I nodded and opened the door of the black beast. Chapter 2 On the drive to the city, I scrolled back through the group chat. The wedding preparations had apparently started a month ago, roughly when Julian and I had last seen each other. The thread was wall-to-wall flattery and showing off. "Selena, is that gown really from a Milan designer? It's stunning!" "The groom has such a presence. He really does look like a Don." I almost laughed. Julian had a decent face, but his presence was nothing special. He was a second son who'd climbed up on my family's coattails. Three years ago, our family needed to open up a freight corridor. Sandro had looked at a dozen small crews and landed on the Moretti. The eldest son was already married, so they sent their second boy, Julian, as the offering. The first time I met him, he'd shaved clean, wore a faint hint of cedarwood cologne, and had a face that was, genuinely, very good. He'd arranged 999 fresh tulips flown in from Holland, plus a sapphire necklace, the very symbol of a Donna. Not even the eldest brother's Donna had received one. The Moretti family was serious. I accepted the necklace. That meant I accepted him. We'd built real trust over the years, and I'd given him plenty to work with. Recently, family business had reached a critical turning point, and I'd had to step away to handle it personally. That must have been when he started having second thoughts. Someone in the chat asked Selena how their love story started. Her pride practically bled through the screen. "He said he knew I was the one the moment he first saw me. Said I was beautiful, feminine, exactly his type. He's always buying me the most expensive dresses — says he loves seeing me in nice clothes and heels, that it's sexy. He wants me to be his perfect wife." And the most disappointing thing about him was that he'd completely forgotten who he was. Among the photos Selena had shared, there was a skiing shot. Someone gasped: "Is that a private ski slope?" It was. A place Julian couldn't have touched before the alliance. There was another photo, taken at the estate I'd bought after our marriage. Selena was on Pony, my white horse, while Julian led the horse for her, gentle as anything. Everyone in my world knew: no one touched Pony. He was mine. Julian had already crossed every line there was. What I had valued most about Julian when I chose him as a husband was his sense of boundaries. He'd proposed on one knee, eyes steady. "You have a depth to you that I want to spend my life discovering. Your light is unlike anything I've ever seen and you are the person I admire most. I hope I may have the honor to become Miss Costanzo's husband." He'd said he wouldn't insult me with roses, so he flew in black tulips from Holland. Only the rarest, proudest flower was worthy of me. After we married, whenever we couldn't meet in person, he called every night without fail, good morning and good night. He knew I was particular about food, so he'd taught himself to cook and sourced every ingredient personally. None of that was required in an alliance marriage. I'd tried to give something back — that was why I'd gone to the trouble of having those cufflinks made. But a second son is still a second son. He wasted all that effort in exactly the wrong direction. These past weeks while I was occupied, Julian had volunteered to look after Pony for me and had apparently used that time to arrange dates with his woman. Fortunately, we'd never gone public with the marriage, kept it private for operational reasons, so ending it would be just as clean. Julian, apparently anxious at my silence, sent another message. "Ava, hope I'm not bothering you. Maybe I could bring the food to you? I've been missing you." My driver said quietly, "Miss, we've arrived." I typed back to Julian: "No rush. We'll see each other very soon." Chapter 3 The address Selena had posted was already dressed up when I arrived: red carpet rolled out from the door, a pink-and-white balloon arch framing the entrance, flower arrangements lining both sides. I looked up and saw the banner: "Welcome, Don Moretti~" Selena's sidekick Casey was working the door. She spotted me, held my gaze for two seconds, then gave a small contemptuous smile. "Ava? You actually showed." I nodded. "Here I am." She turned to call over the old cheer squad crowd. "Look who it is!" But they were too busy fawning over Selena to hear her. "Selena, how powerful is your husband, really? Is it true all the casinos in the state belong to him?" "Look at those vintage cars — you don't just get your hands on things like that." Casey jumped in loud: "He's a Moretti Don. A single move and you're talking nine figures. None of us are supposed to know the details." Selena smiled like a flower and played modest. "You're all my closest friends — of course you can ask me anything." It sounded warm. It was charity. I stood at the edge of the room and waited for her to finish. Casey suddenly perked up. "Selena, guess who's here?" Selena turned. Her eyes landed on me. "Well. You finally decided to come witness my happiness." I smiled. "I did. A bet's a bet — I came to see just how well you married." Linda, standing beside her, sniffed. "Ava, what are you wearing? Were you actually planning to borrow one of Selena's dresses?" Dylan snickered. "I know you've always been all brawn — but are you actually doing manual labor now? Still, you could've made an effort." I straightened my charcoal blazer. "Dressed for work." In our world, the people in evening gowns were the ones without power. Selena let them have their say, then put on a warm expression as though reuniting with an old friend. "I did say I'd find her something to wear. Even if she'd dressed up, she still couldn't touch what I'd have given her. You don't have to pretend you don't care anymore, Ava. Although, God, have you put on weight? I'm not sure my dress would even fit." I looked at her with mild amusement. "I'll stay in this. It's practical." I didn't wear dresses to anything. When I walked into a room, I was the rule, and this blazer was cut to move. At that point, a man walked over with a drink in hand: Mr. Gray, our old teacher. He had half the hair I remembered and twice the gut. He made straight for Selena and clapped her on the shoulder. "Selena, I always knew you'd land here. Half the boys in our class were half in love with you back then." Selena looked down with a modest smile. Mr. Gray kept going. "And that's the truth — a woman's greatest weapon is exactly what you have. Take care of your looks and everything else follows. Look at you now. Who could say they've done better?" He flicked a glance at me. The classmates around us caught it and started smirking. Selena just looked at me, satisfied. She didn't say another word. Then her expression shifted, subtle but there, as her eyes moved to the window and landed on my car parked under the trees. Chapter 4 Dylan caught the direction of Selena's gaze and elbowed Sara. "Whose car is that?" Sara squinted. A black matte-finish sedan sat in the shade. Casey went over, peered at the hood ornament, and made a dismissive sound. "What off-brand piece of junk is this? Pulling up to Selena's wedding in that?" Annie laughed. "The paint's so faded — did someone pick it up secondhand?" That was my father's Lancia Thema, his signature car. It looked its age, but the armor underneath was the latest and the best. It was what the Costanzo name meant: strength that didn't need to announce itself. Any mafia member would take one look at that car and think twice about who was sitting inside. Selena stared at it a long time. Then she pushed through the people in front of her and walked toward me on her heels. She stopped directly in front of me, raised her hand, and slapped me across the face. The sound cut through the room. My head jerked to one side and my cheek burned. Has this woman lost her mind? She went to swing again. My expression went cold and I caught her wrist without much effort. "Selena, what are you doing?" I applied pressure. No mercy. "You—!" The sound she forced out was strangled. She yanked her arm back with everything she had. "That car belongs to Julian! I've been in it! What the hell are you to him?" She spun around, grabbed her clutch from a bridesmaid, pulled out her phone, swiped a few times, and shoved it in everyone's faces. "I knew he had a mistress on the side! And it's you! You had the nerve to drive this car here and rub it in my face!" The photo showed her leaning against Julian's shoulder in the back seat of that same car. Another had her posing at the hood. Same plates, same car. Julian had borrowed it a few times and said he was running an errand, needed the security. Right. He'd wanted to show off in front of his woman. Too bad Selena had no idea what she was looking at. Casey was first to shriek: "Oh my God, Ava, have you no shame?" Sara looked me over like I was something dirty. "No wonder she's never posted photos all these years and never comes to reunions. She was hiding something." Selena pressed her lips together, chin lifted slightly, eyes going red. Dylan made a show of pulling out his phone and pointing it at me. "I'm posting this everywhere. Let everyone see exactly what kind of trash you are." I took a slow breath. "That car—" Before I could finish, someone pushed through from the back of the crowd, unassuming and out of place. He walked straight to the car, looked at the emblem, then knocked once on the window. His expression subtly shifted. "This car — I don't think it belongs to the Moretti family." So someone did recognize it. Sara looked at him sideways. "Who are you?" Selena's expression turned sharp. "He's my uncle from out of town. Doesn't know much." She shot him a look. "Even if it's not a Moretti family car, can't Julian own his own car? Don't make things up." She turned her glare back to me. "Or are you taking her side?" The man's voice got urgent. "No — this car is—" He stopped himself. His eyes shot to me, wide and suddenly sweating, and the conviction drained right out of his voice. "I — I must have been wrong." He'd recognized the car. But I hadn't spoken, so he didn't dare say the rest. Mr. Gray cleared his throat at Selena's shoulder. "Ava, I've taught all kinds of students. But you genuinely disappoint me." "I'll be calling the principal to have your photo taken down from the alumni wall." "I'm not anyone's mistress." I knew how weak that sounded, but I couldn't expose the marriage, not here, not before I'd cleared the board. "Then explain to everyone how you're driving another man's car." "That's what a side piece does — lies without even blinking." Selena's eyes were hard. "You're not walking out of here until you explain yourself." The crowd picked it up immediately. "That's right — she doesn't get to just leave." She stood there in her white dress, playing the wronged saint. And somehow she'd managed to make me, the actual wife, look like the villain. Chapter 5 Selena moved toward the car. "Since you've touched this car, it's contaminated as far as I'm concerned. I'll deal with every piece of garbage Julian keeps around him." She grabbed a crystal vase from a side table and swung it hard at the windshield. The vase shattered. The car didn't have a scratch. Top-grade armored glass. Selena stood frozen, staring at the pieces on the ground. Dylan spotted an iron pipe somewhere, swung it with everything he had at the body panel. The recoil sent him stumbling, but the car was still flawless. He stood there panting, wiping his forehead. "What the hell? This thing is built like a tank." The car hadn't suffered much, but nobody had ever dared to smash it like these before. I kept my voice cold. "Stop. This car is not something you get to touch." Selena almost laughed out of sheer irritation. "God, I can't stand how superior you act. Think you can threaten me? Julian loves me. Even if I wrecked his car, he wouldn't say a word." Casey tried the door handle. It opened. Damn. I'd forgotten that proximity to me unlocks it automatically. Casey spun around, electric with excitement. "Come on, we'll smash it from the inside!" My hand clenched and I stepped forward to drag them out, but something caught my foot. I lurched forward. I looked back. Sara's foot was still out and she was watching me with that same little challenge in her eyes. By the time I steadied myself, Casey was already inside the car. Selena took off her heel and raked it across the seat. The black leather split open and yellow foam pushed through the tear. These stupid, reckless idiots. I was about to move when Dylan locked both arms around me from behind, one after another, just like rats swarming out of a drain. No shooting in a civilian neighborhood. Damn it! I drove my elbow back hard, broke his grip, and put my heel into his stomach. "Aaah! You're insane!" He doubled over on the ground, moaning, but in those few seconds they'd already gone through the dashboard and center console. Selena laughed behind me. "That's what you get! Everyone see what happens when you destroy someone else's relationship!" In that moment, I went still. There was no point stopping them now. The damage was done. I pulled out my phone and dialed. "Sandro, come down here with—" Selena slapped the phone out of my hand. It hit the concrete and the screen went black. "Calling who? Your other man? God, Ava. What a shameless bitch you are!" I looked at her. "You'll answer for everything you've done today." "Will I? Let's see who answers first." Selena reached into her pocket and dangled something in my face: an amber pendant. She'd taken it from the car and I hadn't even noticed. My voice went flat. "Give that back." She turned it in her fingers. "This wound you up — did my husband give it to you too?" I clenched my jaw. "It has nothing to do with him. It was my mother's." I'd found it with her at a park when I was a child. My mother had been gone a long time, and that pendant was all I had left of her. Dylan, still curled on the ground, clapped. "She's finally scared, Selena. Don't let up!" Selena smiled and raised the pendant. Her other hand clicked open a lighter. I moved. "Don't—" The flame hit before I could close the distance. The amber caught, hissed, and started to change. The fire was so red it hurt to look at, like the day my mother died. I walked forward in a daze and took it out of her hand. The residual heat seared my palm. I held it gently, afraid to press any harder, but it would never go back to what it was. I realized my face was wet. I hadn't cried since I was ten, and my mother had left when I was ten. I sat there trembling, trying uselessly to press the amber back into shape, like some clumsy, ridiculous child. Selena was laughing. "Look at you, Ava. Like a beggar scraping scraps off the floor and too scared to eat them. This is where you belong. Isn't that right?" When I looked up, everything was red. I stared at her and said it once, slowly: "Selena. I gave you a chance. You chose to waste it." I would make these rats pay for what they had done. My hand had already closed around the grip of the pistol on my hip when Selena's uncle came shoving through the crowd in a panic. "Selena, apologize to her! Now! You don't know who she has behind her!" I almost smiled. “An apology now? Too late.” But Selena still hadn't had enough. She snapped at him, impatient: "So what? Does her other man outrank the Moretti family?" The alliance with my family had given the Moretti years of very visible success. Selena doubled down, pulling out her phone to show around the photo she'd taken: me on my knees, cradling the broken pendant. "Look at her — her mommy's little trinket melted away. That's what you get for breaking up a real relationship..." She never finished the sentence. From somewhere outside came the deep, steady rumble of engines: a convoy. Selena's uncle looked through the window and went white.