Daughter of the Mafia's Consigliere

MARIANNE.

"Sophia, it's me," I managed to speak up and tears kept flowing freely out of my eyes.

"Wait, what! Is this Marianne? Oh my goodness, where the heck are you? It's been two days since you disappeared into thin air, I thought you went to spend time with Oliver but I also confirmed from him that you were not his place. I've currently reported you missing to the cops already, you have no idea how much I was worried about you." Sophia spoke up sounding so distressed.

I couldn't stop my tears, I've missed her so much already and the thought that we might not get to be close to each other anymore breaks my heart.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Why are you crying? Did someone touch you? Were you kidnapped?" She kept asking numerous questions at the same time.

I had to get hold of myself and stop the tears so I could have time to talk to her. What do I tell her now? Ricardo warned me not to spill anything to her and that I should also act normal.

"Marianne! Speak up! You're scaring me!" she yelled and I sniffed.

"Nothing happened to me, I'm fine, it's just that some things came up and I had to attend to it." I knew that was a lame thing to say because Sophia would never believe such.

"Nah! You can't tell me that! You disappeared for two days. I couldn't reach you, I tried everything possible but I wasn't able to contact you. I was scared that something must have happened to you because you vanished without a single word. Something obviously happened right? Don't lie to me, if you're being threatened, you should let me know."

I exhaled sharply as I thought of how to give her a convincing lie. Ricardo warned me to be careful when using the phone and if I'm caught, I would bear the consequences alone. It's not going to be like the case of the server who suffered the consequences alone.

"Sophia, I'm currently out of America. I know it's sudden but I want you to calm down and allow me to explain." I revealed and she suddenly went silent, I guess she was shocked "You don't mean that right?"

"I'm serious, I'm currently in Italy and I don't think I'm coming back anytime soon."

"What!!!" She exclaimed and I had to immediately reduce the volume of the phone because she was loud.

"What are you saying? Two days ago, you left the house for an interview so how come you're now in Italy? Are you pranking me or what, because it doesn't just add up? How can you suddenly fly out of America without letting me know? I thought you never wanted to go back to Italy so what are you saying now?" I knew she was very confused, I had no idea where to start my explanation.

"It was a sudden travel, it was my mum who came to pick me up."

"Your mum is involved in this? Why didn't you call me then? It's been two days! You can't tell me it took you two days to travel from Arizona to Italy, I'm not dumb. I want you to calmly explain everything to me before I lose my mind." She requested and I exhaled sharply.

"I'm getting married soon," I first started with that and I could hear her gasp loudly.

"Why are you just telling me all these now? I thought we were close friends. Even Oliver knew about this but still pretended like he didn't know about your whereabouts? Why didn't Oliver travel with you since you're getting married to him? Are you lying to me because I can't just believe this?"

"It's not Oliver, allow me to explain please." I pleaded when she was beginning to ask various questions at the same time.

"Why do you mean it's not Oliver?"

"Calm down Sophia so I can explain. I understand that it's shocking and there are a lot of questions you've got to ask but let me explain first."

I didn't know if I should just tell her the truth because I didn't know how else to explain my forced marriage with Ricardo.

The only problem is that it's going to get complicated if I do that and she might try to involve the cops. Giovanni won't take it easy with me when he finds out and that would also mean putting Sophia in danger.

"I've actually been betrothed to a guy since I was little even before my father died, I was too ashamed to talk about it with you. That's the reason why I ran from Italy to start a new life in Arizona.

I thought no one bothered about my existence until my mother showed up and told me about my upcoming marriage.

I disagreed at first and almost fought with her but she drugged me and then I woke up here in Italy." I lied even though there were still some truths in my explanation.

"What the hell! You shouldn't keep quiet, stand up for yourself! I'm sure you don't want this! You have your life to live, you're an adult, and you can also make decisions on your own. Betrothal is a thing of the past, who does that in this generation we are today?" Sophia yelled at the top of her voice.

"You won't understand, I can't explain everything to you on the phone. I just have to accept it for some important reasons and the guy I'm getting married to is not bad. He is very cool and tries to make things work out between us even though I keep pushing him away and acting rashly to him but he is not ready to give up. He is financially buoyant and is literally the man I prayed for, it's just that the feelings are absent."

I hated myself for having to present Ricardo in a pleasing and reputable way when he is the complete opposite.

"I'm so speechless right now, are you sure you are going to be okay all by yourself? This is not fair at all, what if you don't find true happiness no matter how perfect he is? This is someone you just met for the first time two days ago, getting married to him is a forever thing."

She is telling the truth for real. Am I going to keep dealing with someone like Ricardo for the rest of my life?

"Don't worry, I will be fine, take down the report and tell the cops that I traveled for something urgent.

Anyway, I want you to grace my wedding occasion at least, you're the only one I have so you have to be present on one of the most important days of my life. I want to try to be happy so please help me achieve that. The expenses of your flight to the venue will be taken care of even when returning back. Please try and make time for that day so you can at least cheer me up." I said as I faked a smile and she sighed.

"What about Oliver? Are you just going to push him aside after everything you both went through together?" Sophia suddenly asked and I went mute.