No Longer the Chairman’s Wife
# Hetero# 30s# cold# marriage of convenience
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Story

After my younger sister went abroad, I took her place and married the mafia gang leader. For five years of marriage, we were the two people who hated each other most. He hated me because he thought I was the one who forced my sister to leave, then used underhanded tricks to become his wife. I hated him because from beginning to end, he always treated me as nothing more than a substitute, and never even announced my identity to the public. Because I was never acknowledged, my parents, too proud to bear the humiliation, took every insult on my behalf—and from then on, they hated me to the bone. At the end of my previous life, he and my parents, in order to celebrate Christmas for my sister, left me behind in the snowy mountains. In the freezing cold, my unborn child and I died together. Meanwhile, my sister enjoyed all the love and attention, spending the happiest Christmas of her life. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my sister first came back to the country. In this life, I would no longer beg for love from Adriano or from my parents. Chapter 1 "Miss Yuanita, congratulations, you're three months pregnant." I sat in front of the family doctor, my face utterly still, not a trace of joy on it. The doctor excitedly wanted to call Adriano, but I snatched his phone away at once. "No need!" The medical staff exchanged glances, not understanding what I meant. They didn't understand why, as the wife of a powerful mafia gang leader, this child would be the honor of the whole family, and yet I wanted to hide it. But they didn't know that if this news got out, this child would die with me that winter. On Christmas in my previous life, Adriano and the whole family took my newly returned younger sister to the snowy mountains for a holiday. I followed behind them, silently watching them celebrate. In the end, because the weather turned bad, Adriano called a helicopter to take us home, but by the time it landed, not one of them remembered me. My unborn child and I froze to death in the ice and snow. Thankfully, I had been reborn, back to the day I learned I was pregnant—the same day my sister returned to the country. My sister, the one every member of the family sided with and the one my husband loved more, had come back. I walked home, ignoring the stunned looks from everyone around me. As usual, I entered the door code, but no matter how many times I tried, the system kept saying the password was wrong. Suddenly I remembered that on this same day in my previous life, the exact same thing had happened. Ever since my sister came back, everything in the house had been rewritten under her name. For example, the door code had been changed back to her birthday. I thought for a moment, then entered the four digits 0604. The door opened smoothly. I gave a bitter smile. Just as I was about to go in, a stack of thick documents slammed into my face. "Sign this divorce agreement!" my mother said coldly. Calmly, I wiped the blood from the corner of my forehead, then held out my hand. "Give me a pen." Those three words left everyone there stunned. The first to react was my sister. She snorted, "So fast? Yuanita, let me warn you, don't pull anything funny." Father sneered, "I think she understands it herself. If it hadn't been for Clarissa going abroad back then, how could the position of Mrs. Gang Leader have fallen into her lap? The moment she heard Clarissa was coming home, our son-in-law immediately sent a private jet and more than a dozen bodyguards to escort her all the way .... Now that she's being so obedient, it looks like she's trying to leave herself a way out. After all, compared to being kicked out, a voluntary divorce is obviously better." As soon as she heard that, Clarissa quickly covered her mouth as if she had just realized something, then moved closer to Father. "Dad, you're so smart! How did I not think of that?" Father and Mother pulled her into their arms, pinching her nose affectionately, their eyes full of indulgence. I stood off to the side, like a complete outsider who didn't belong. Clarissa shot me a triumphant look. I ignored her, simply picked up the documents from the floor, and quickly signed my name. The smile at the corner of Clarissa's mouth stiffened for a moment. In the end, she snatched the documents away. "You're really decisive." Of course I wouldn't repeat the mistakes of my past life. I didn't respond. As I turned to go upstairs, Clarissa blocked me, pointing to the blank section on the document, "You still need Adriano's signature." "I don't want to submit it myself. He'll think I'm fighting and snatching it away, which would be too humiliating." "Within three days, finish the divorce procedures, then get out of this house, and get out of Adriano's sight." She stared hard at my face, trying to find even the smallest crack in my expression. But I only smiled and said, "Okay." "That's exactly what I want." For a long time, I had wanted to leave this family that didn't love me, and for a long time, I had wanted to leave Adriano, who made me suffer. I took the documents and turned to go upstairs. They no longer paid me any attention. Father and Mother started dressing Clarissa up. After all, her homecoming reception was about to begin. It was hosted personally by Adriano. Even after being reborn, I still couldn't forget the serious look on that man's face when he prepared the event. From the venue to every flower in every vase, Adriano had chosen everything with great care. A mafia gang leader with such immense power could actually be so meticulous for a woman. And because of that, everyone in the family understood why he had never announced my identity. Because the woman he loved was someone else. Now that woman had returned, and the real mistress of the house had come back. Knowing my place, I went upstairs to pack my things. When I pushed open the door, I found most of my belongings had already been thrown out. I pulled at the corner of my mouth bitterly and dragged an empty suitcase toward the door. I never expected that as soon as I opened it, I would run straight into Adriano. He was wearing a black hat and a neat purple suit, clearly dressed with great seriousness. He lowered his head to glance at my plain dress and the suitcase in my hand, his voice icy, "Where are you going?" Before I could answer, Clarissa had already run down the stairs and grabbed my hand with a wronged expression. "Sis, do you really hate me that much? I only wanted to come home and visit Dad and Mom, but you got so angry you ran away from home." "Ran away from home?" Adriano sneered. "Yuanita, since when did I not know your temper was this bad?" With a single glance from him, his men promptly tossed my suitcase aside, and his order came from behind. "Today's Clarissa's homecoming event. As her sister, you aren't allowed to go anywhere." "Go change. Don't embarrass Clarissa by showing up looking like that." I stood there, my fingers unconsciously clenching into my palm. Before Clarissa came back, Adriano really wasn't warm, but he was very respectful toward me. Sometimes when I was bullied because he hadn't announced my identity, he would even hold me, call me by my nickname, and comfort me, "Nita, don't be sad. What other people think doesn't matter. As long as I love you, that's enough." Love? The man who had said he loved me so many times forgot me the very moment my sister returned. Seeing that I still wasn't moving, Clarissa hurriedly said, "Adri, don't be too hard on Sis. After all, she's your wife ...." Adriano froze for a moment. When he came back to himself, he glanced at me. Seeing my expressionless face, his own turned cold again. "What are you spacing out for? Do you need me to help you change?" I lowered my head. A thousand words stuck in my throat, and in the end I took out the documents and handed them to him. Clarissa's face changed instantly; she clearly hadn't expected me to take them out at this moment. She was about to speak, but I beat her to it. "This is today's hospital bill. Please sign it." Adriano frowned. "What's wrong with you?" I answered calmly, "Just a routine checkup." He gave a short hum in response, took the document, and signed it without even looking. I slipped the signed divorce agreement into my bag, then turned and went upstairs without hesitation. From behind me, Clarissa deliberately raised her voice. "Adri, why are you being so cold to Sis? After all, she's your wife." Adriano lowered his voice, but in the quiet house it still carried clearly. He said, "She's not worthy." Those three words stopped me in my tracks, and all the strength in my body seemed to vanish at once. I had asked him countless times before why he wouldn't publicize my identity. Back then, his reason was: "I don't want you to get hurt. You know, there are so many people in this world who want to kill me. Being my wife is like having a gun pointed at your head every day." Back then I believed him, even felt grateful for his protection. I never imagined that now it would become: I wasn't worthy. It felt as if my heart was being trampled on, and every breath was like needles stabbing into me. I raised a hand to wipe away my tears, looked down at my belly, which had just started to show, and suddenly smiled. If I wasn't worthy, then I wouldn't bother him anymore. After all, from now on, we really wouldn't be seeing each other again. Chapter 2 After changing clothes, I went downstairs. By then, the guests were already gathered around Clarissa. She was wearing a limited-edition white dress, looking like an innocent little white flower among all those mafia men. Adriano swirled a glass of red wine, leaning by the window as he looked at her tenderly. I didn't care much either, just enjoying the food in a corner. "Who is this lady?" A man approached me. "You're very beautiful. May I ask you to dance?" Before I could answer, Clarissa cut in between us. "She's my sister, Yuanita." The man nodded and held out his hand to me. "Hello, I'm Zevan." The moment those words were spoken, Clarissa's face immediately darkened. Zevan was a well-known nobleman, and his status was no less impressive than Adriano's. A flash of envy and resentment crossed Clarissa's eyes, and she deliberately turned toward Adriano. "Oh my, Sis is really lucky. She's only been here a little while and already attracted such an amazing man. I'm so jealous." Adriano looked at me, frowning slightly, his voice cold as ice. "This is Clarissa's party, not a place for you to flirt with men." Flirt with men? At that moment, I felt incredibly ridiculous. I hadn't done anything at all, yet because of one sentence from Clarissa, I was immediately slapped with that accusation. Zevan frowned. "Mr. Adriano, isn't that a bit much? This lady hasn't done anything to me at all." The moment those words fell, the temperature in the banquet hall seemed to drop sharply. The guests fell silent without realizing it, waiting for a showdown between the two powerful families. Adriano curved his lips into a faint smile, then pulled a pistol from his pocket. The next second, the muzzle was pressed straight against Zevan's head. Hiss .... Everyone drew a sharp breath in unison. Everyone knew Adriano had clawed his way up from the bottom by killing his way to the top; he was ruthless and vicious. "It's been a long time since anyone dared to speak to me like that." There wasn't the slightest trace of fear in Zevan's eyes. He only looked at Adriano coldly. Angry at Adriano's outrageous behavior, I stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "Adri, don't ...." Before I could finish, the cold muzzle had already shifted to the center of my forehead. Clarissa immediately cried out, "Adri, don't! She's my biological sister!" Though she sounded like she was defending me, her tone was full of delight and mockery toward me. As if she were laughing at me—the wife who had slept beside her husband for five years—now being held at gunpoint by that very man. My whole body trembled violently. Adriano gave a contemptuous smile and put the gun back at his waist. He stepped closer, lowered his head, and said in a low voice, "We'll settle today's business when we get home." After that, he and Clarissa went into the crowd, and the banquet hall became lively again. Seeing their tightly clasped hands, people couldn't help asking about their relationship. "Clarissa, what's your relationship with the gang leader? He seems to love you very much." "They used to say the gang leader didn't get close to women, but it turns out his heart had already been taken long ago." "Looks like she's going to be the future Mrs. Gang Leader. From now on, we'd better know how to curry favor." ... Father and Mother stood proudly in the crowd, increasingly satisfied with their youngest daughter. They had once also boasted about me as the Mrs. Gang Leader, but in the end they were warned by Adriano. Because of that, they lost face again and again, and hated me even more. But now Adriano was smiling instead, as if enjoying every whisper around him. I looked at them surrounded by that star-like glow, and suddenly my stomach lurched; my legs went weak and my body swayed to the side. The fork in my hand fell to the floor. Zevan quickly caught me. "Are you okay?" I clutched my aching stomach, sweat dripping down, and grabbed his hand. "Sorry ... could you take me to the hospital?" I thought it was just a minor problem with the baby, but I never expected to faint as soon as I got into the car. When I woke up again, the only person I saw was Zevan, someone I'd only just met. My phone screen lit up, and a message from Adriano came in. [Who gave you permission to leave?] [Don't you know Clarissa has been looking for you anxiously? Yuanita, you're being too childish.] [Come back here in one hour. If you don't, I'll have them tie you up and bring you home. You know how I do things.] ... After I turned off the screen, my stomach started hurting a little again. Seeing me frown, Zevan was about to call a doctor, but I stopped him immediately. I pulled back the blanket and got out of bed. "Thanks for today, I'll head home now." He held my arm. "No, the doctor said you need to rest." "It's fine ...." "Yuanita!" Adriano's furious voice rang out from the end of the hallway. Adriano's eyes were red, his hand gripping my chin tightly, his voice cold, "Who gave you permission to leave? If anything happens to Clarissa, you're dead!" "What are you talking about?" I looked straight into his eyes. "Clarissa? What's wrong with her?" Zevan was about to step forward to help me, but more than a dozen of Adriano's men blocked him tightly. Impatiently, Adriano said, "She just had a massive hemorrhage, and you can't treat her like this!" "Massive hemorrhage?" Adriano froze for a moment. His gaze moved to Zevan's face, then he sneered, "I think you're dating him!" As soon as he said that, his grip tightened even more, nearly crushing my chin. Zevan immediately rushed over, but there were too many of them. I struggled to get up and help, but Adriano forced me hard against the floor. The intense pain made it hard to breathe, and my stomach burned with another wave of agony. "Doctor ... I need a doctor ...." Weakly leaning against Adriano, I suddenly saw my parents running toward us from a distance. Father shouted, "You beast! Clarissa already told me—she said you called her and said you were at the hospital. She was so worried about you that she didn't even go to the welcome event. To look for you, she then ... then suddenly got into a car accident ...." Mother covered her face as she sobbed, her trembling hand pointing at me and Zevan. "Clarissa is such a good girl, and you still toy with her! What hospital? You're obviously here secretly meeting your lover!" I stood frozen in place, staring at them in disbelief. "What are you talking about?" Chapter 3 "What do you mean?" Mother wiped away her tears and looked at me with disgust. "Isn't it because you saw Adri being so good to Clarissa that you got jealous and deliberately took revenge?" "Have you ever thought about it? She's your own sister—same father, same mother!" Father also chimed in, "How could we possibly have a child like you! So cruel!" Adriano suddenly let go of me. "Lock her in the basement. Before Clarissa wakes up, let her reflect there." "I didn't ... I'm really sick ... I wasn't secretly meeting a lover ...." My voice trembled violently. "Of course I know you didn't," Adriano looked down at me. "Yuanita, you're the kind of woman who'd die for me. How could you possibly cheat?" He turned to Zevan, the contempt in his eyes growing even clearer. "You approached her just to provoke my anger. Going after me is your business, but what you absolutely shouldn't have done ... was deceive Clarissa." Hearing that, Father and Mother cried even harder, as if Clarissa were truly on the verge of death. Adriano's fist tightened. He looked at his men. "What are you standing there for? Lock her up!" His men immediately moved toward me. Suddenly his deputy spoke up, "Boss, that accident was only an incident. Besides, we just checked—Madam really did have a massive hemorrhage ...." Bang! A bullet grazed the deputy's ear and shot straight into the wall behind him. He clutched his bleeding ear and dropped to his knees in pain, the floor stained red. Adriano's gaze was icy. He lowered the gun. "Deputy Ferran, remember who your master is." "I could tolerate you secretly siding with her before, but now you're actually conspiring to lie to me ... massive hemorrhage? Do you think I'm stupid?" "This bullet is your warning. If it happens again, the next one goes through your heart." Adriano stood tall and snapped his fingers; several men came in. I was thrown into the car like trash. ... When I woke again, all I could see was thick darkness. My stomach still ached faintly. I touched my belly and gave a bitter smile, not knowing whether there was still a heartbeat inside it or not. No one knew how long had passed before a voice came from outside—it was Clarissa. Her voice was choked with sobs. "Adri, how could you lock up Sis? This is all my fault, I was too panicked and ran a red light, that's why I got hit ... I'm fine ...." "It's not your fault," Adriano's voice was unbelievably gentle. "She deliberately tricked you." "Ah, Sis was just panicking for a moment, feeling like I was threatening her position," she said through even more tears. "But I really didn't mean it. She's my biological sister—how could I ever fight over a man with her?" "Even if that man ... is the most extraordinary man in the world ...." Clarissa's voice grew softer and softer, and outside, everything suddenly went quiet. Through the crack under the door, I saw Adriano only holding her, his hand gently patting the top of her head. With a faint smile, the man lowered his head and whispered softly, "Don't say that." "I've never forgotten you." "If you hadn't left, how could I have married her." "Everything she enjoys now is only because she looks a little like you." My fingertips dug deep into my palm. Even though I had already understood Adriano's heart in my previous life, hearing it with my own ears now still made my eyes turn red without me realizing it. At first, Adriano wasn't the gang leader who now made people tremble; he was just an innocent young man. He often came to our house to play with me and my sister. Back then I could see that he liked my sister, but my sister didn't like him at all. In private, she always told me he was poor and powerless, and couldn't give her the life Clarissa wanted. So when she grew up, Clarissa firmly chose to go abroad to study, wanting to see more wealthy people. After Clarissa left, Adriano was depressed for a while, but afterward he still ate with me as usual. I thought he had forgotten my sister. I thought that in the end, I was the one in his heart. So when he became the most respected gang leader and my parents forced me to find a way to marry him, I was overjoyed. The process went even more smoothly than I expected. Before I could even make a move, he had already come after me first and married me. I thought we would have a happy future. In reality, what awaited me was five years of a secret marriage. A flood of bitter memories surged up, and I covered my face and cried uncontrollably. It seemed Adriano heard something; just as he was about to let go of her, Clarissa quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Adriano froze for a moment, then held her tightly. That kiss was so gentle. After a long while, he slowly let Clarissa go. Leaning against Adriano's chest, she said with hidden meaning, "Then, Adri, when Sis wakes up, how are you going to explain our relationship? What if we just get a divo ...." Adriano was clearly startled. He fell silent for a moment, then slowly pushed Clarissa away. "No need to rush." "Yuanita loves me too much. If I bring up the divorce too quickly, she might go crazy." "What if she accepts it quickly? Isn't that what you don't want ...." Clarissa subconsciously objected. But Adriano immediately cut her off. "Enough. I'll decide this." "She's your sister after all, and you wouldn't want her to break down and make a scene, would you?" Clarissa was still about to say something when one of the men hurried over and whispered into Adriano's ear. The man muttered something about how troublesome it was, then hurried away. Clarissa looked at Adriano's retreating back, the smile on her lips disappearing completely, turning into me

Character essence

This character was born from these tastes.”

Appearance

30stallslimhandsomebusiness suit

Personality

coldindifferentdominantcommandingstrategicmerciless

Relationship

marriage of convenienceromantic partner

Characters

Player Setting

fine

Opening Scene

(Third-person point of view) "The groom?" "Do you take the young lady before you as your wife?" The priest repeated the question once more. Adriano only snapped back to attention then, and answered carelessly, "Mm, I do." Clarissa froze for a moment, clearly realizing that Adriano wasn't paying attention.
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