Duke’s Heiress Married Mafia Prince

My mother is the Royal duchy and I am her sole heir.

My mother was once deceived by my father, which nearly bankrupted our family. That bastard father of mine disappeared without a trace, taking the fortune he'd stolen from my mother and running off with his mistress.

To prevent me from falling for the same kind of man in the future—to keep me from being fooled and robbed blind—my mother adopted two war orphans.

She planned to raise them as potential husband candidates for me.

But mother never knew the truth.

These two men appeared respectful and obedient to her arrangements on the surface. But privately, they were both infatuated with my maid Josie. They constantly neglected me and made my life difficult, all to win her favor.

My favorite, Marcus Reed, even gave up his own last name. He changed it to Josie's—Marcus Thompson.

The betrayal cut deeper than I'd expected.

Before mother died, she asked me the question I'd been dreading.

"Which one do you want to choose as your husband?"

But I had heard something interesting lately.

There was a mafia heir—Vincent Rossi—who was notorious for his violence. He'd killed innocent people. Years of brutal fighting had left him severely injured. The doctors said he had less than six months to live.

The mafia Rossi family wanted to marry him to a noblewoman before he died.

I didn't hesitate to reach out to him. I offered an alliance through marriage.

To my surprise, the Rossi family agreed.

But on my wedding day, Marcus and the other candidate burst into the ceremony.

They begged me to reconsider.

"Please, don't do this!" Marcus shouted, his face desperate. "You can't marry him!"

I stood there in my wedding dress, looking at the two men who had spent years ignoring me for my maid.

Now they wanted me back?

How interesting.

1

"What? You want to marry Vincent Rossi, heir to America's biggest mafia family? Absolutely not!" Mother's voice was weak but fierce. "Everyone knows he's been severely injured from years of violent conflicts. The doctors say he has less than six months to live. If you marry him, your life will be ruined!"

"I've raised two husband candidates for you since childhood. Pick either one of them—they're both better than that Rossi scum."

Mother's already pale complexion turned ashen.

I took her frail hand gently.

"Mama, it's precisely because he's dying and doesn't even have the strength to sleep with me that I must marry him."

"The orphans you raised have no family backing. There's no guarantee they won't develop ulterior motives later. But the Rossi family controls all the underground casinos, port trade, and arms dealing in Southern Europe. They won't covet our family wealth. This marriage will quickly consolidate our family's position. And when Vincent dies soon, I'll inherit part of the mafia resources as his widow, without having to fulfill any actual marital duties. There's no better candidate than him."

The ducal title was mother's lifelong