Taken By The Mafia Lord

"It is so nice to finally meet you," Claudia's mother welcomed Natalie once more, smiling so wide her cheeks were practically aching from the action, not that the smile touched her eyes.

The least the woman wanted to do right now was entertain this slut of a woman that came up out of nowhere after years of abandoning her daughter. However, if the woman finds out that they sold off her daughter - even though it backfired on them - and a whole lot of other abuses, they would be staring at jail time real soon.

Hence, Claudia's mother had to abandon the shopping with her young date and returned home to solve this mess. It was not a secret, she was openly cheating on her husband now. Not that it should be called cheating since she has requested a divorce but her husband wouldn't grant it.

Raymond knew once they were divorced, she would gain a lot from the alimony considering the number of assets his brother Edward had left behind - at least, the rest he had not squandered. So yes, he wasn't letting her go even if they lived miserably and were always at each other's throats.

Moreover, he didn't forget Arianna's wedding in their last encounter. What if the girl has lost her mind and makes good on her threat? But then, divorce would do no good if they were in jail. So they had to keep their differences aside and solve the current issue at hand.

"You've said that over two times already," Natalie was no longer polite because her patience was running out. She needed to see her daughter, but all they had done was show her pictures of Arianna from her time in high school to when she graduated.

Not that she didn't appreciate that, quite the contrary, Natalie was proud of her daughter for surviving without both parents by her side. She made it! However, there was a niggling feeling inside of Natalie that something wasn't right. From their honeyed words to their golden smiles, they were hiding something.

One should see the look on Claudia's mother, she looked like someone had poured shit on her face after she gave her attitude. However, she pushed down her anger and the tension in the room escalated.

Raymond adjusted in his seat, rubbing his palms together nervously. He knew from the look on his wife's face that she was close to bursting nor was Natalie in the mood for more stories; everyone was uncomfortable. The truth had to be let out.

Raymond shut his eyes and took a deep breath before he said, "Arianna is not here with us,"

"What?"

He looked at his wife who slowly nodded her head at him as if urging him to go on.

"She ran away from home,"

Natalie lifted her head, her lips pressed into a thin line, "Are you kidding me right now?" She glared at him.

"It's the truth," Raymond forced himself to say. Honestly, he didn't want to lie, but his wife and daughter decided this was the best option. Arianna was not here to say otherwise nor had they heard from her for weeks. So they were safe.

"And I'm supposed to believe you?"

Claudia's mother took over the conversation from her husband. She said to Natalie, pointedly, "We were hoping to make you comfortable first before releasing the news, however, you are the one who wanted it."

"So my daughter ran away from home?" Natalie tasted the words on her lips, finding them quite lasting.

"Aunty," Claudia called Natalie who raised a brow at that title.

"I'm not your aunty," She said seriously.

"I mean if you're Arianna's mother, then that makes you family," There was so much gentleness and kindness in Claudia's tone that Arianna would throw up if she were to view this scene.

She went on to say before Natalie could respond, "I understand how devastated you must feel right now, however, your daughter was not exactly a disciplined kid and it's all my mother's fault."

"Huh?" Claudia's mother was stunned thinking that her daughter was about to expose her.

"My mother spoiled her rotten because she pitied her, growing up without a father and mother was hard. It had been easier without a mother because she grew up believing you were dead, but when her father died… something broke inside of her. Arianna became distant from her family members and in turn, became a difficult kid to the others. I tried my best but all she did was push me away and I couldn't even stop her from leaving. "

Fresh tears squeezed from Claudia's eyes and they quickly turned to sobs. Her mother, who sat beside her, pulled her into her arms and comforted her while Raymond studied Natalie's reaction, hoping to God that this was enough to convince her.

However, Natalie was oddly silent and that unnerved Raymond. Normally when people are silent, they are usually thinking, but Natalie was a stranger and they had no idea what was going on in her mind.

Claudia's mother stared at her husband and eyed him, what nutjob did he let into the house? She should say something! Claudia did not know what to do either. Her acting was enough to win a Grammy already. What was the woman thinking?

"Take me to her room,"

"W-what?"

Everyone was stunned.

Claudia and her mother looked at each other with shocked eyes. What were they going to do now? They had cleared out Arianna's room weeks ago and packed her stuff in a small space.

However, if Natalie saw that, it would only mean they never hoped she would come back. Neither could they come up with something now because Natalie's visit was unexpected. Heck! They didn't know that she was alive until today. In one word, they didn't have time to prepare.

"I thought as much," Natalie smiled wryly, right before she put her hand into her purse and pulled out a gun and the entire family screamed in fright.

Why does this kind of stuff only happen to them?