Ch. Before My Mafia Husband Returned from the Dead, 1 Rejected the Proposal My Best Friend Arranged 8 Before My Mafia Husband Returned from the Dead, 1 Rejected the Proposal My Best Friend Arranged 8

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Chapter 8 

“I believe you.” 

The moment I heard those three words, I finally stopped worrying that Luca would condemn me based on 

fabricated evidence. 

My legs went weak, and I had to brace myself against the wall just to stay upright. My clothes were already 

soaked through with cold sweat. 

Vanessa closed her eyes while Ethan started looking around for an exit. They both understood that Luca 

was no longer going to listen to any excuses. 

They still tried to say something, but Luca didn’t give them the chance. 

“Remove them from the Family rolls and from every affiliated business. Escort them out of Moretti territory. From now on, no crew is to offer either of them work, housing, or protection.” 

Ethan immediately dropped to his knees in front of Luca, speaking so quickly that the words almost ran together. He stopped defending Vanessa and tried to put all the blame on her. 

“Mr. Moretti, Vanessa came up with the whole plan. She told me to fake the evidence and accuse Serena. I 

only did what she told me!” 

Vanessa screamed and grabbed at him. 

“Shut up! I didn’t do anything!” 

The moment Ethan realized he was about to lose the Family’s protection, his job, and every connection he relied on, all that supposed love vanished. 

He confessed everything–the plan, how they had fabricated the evidence, and every instruction Vanessa had 

given him. 

“Mr. Moretti, please let me go. Please!” 

When Luca refused to withdraw the order banishing him from the territory, Ethan turned and knelt in front of me instead, begging over and over. 

“Serena, please. For the sake of the three months I stayed by your side, ask Mr. Moretti to spare me. I know I was wrong. I swear I’ll never do it again.” 

I watched him beg and said nothing on his behalf. 

If their plan had worked, I would’ve been the one dead today. 

The guards dragged Ethan out of the restricted residential area while the lawyers handled the evidence against him for fabricating records and unlawfully confining me. 

Vanessa was sobbing. Then she tried to use our ten years of friendship to make me change my mind. 

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“Serena, after all these years between us, how can you stand there and watch me…” 

I cut her off. 

“Because we’ve known each other for so long, I want to understand even more why you did this to me. I gave you gifts, covered expenses for you, and helped you and your family get jobs with legitimate Moretti businesses. You were only peripheral employees before that, but through me you gained steady income and Family protection. I never treated you badly. So why did you want me dead?” 

Her mouth opened several times, but she couldn’t explain why she had done this to someone who had helped 

her. 

I didn’t want to argue with her anymore, so I had the guards take her away. 

Luca didn’t have them killed on the spot. 

First, he took back every position, residence, vehicle, and access privilege the Moretti Family had provided them. Then, through the lawyers, he turned over evidence of falsified medical records, unlawful confinement, fraud, and the deliberate use of an unidentified substance to the police. 

After the criminal proceedings ended, both of them were formally expelled from Moretti territory. No affiliated family or partner business was willing to take them in again. 

Once they were outside that system of protection, whether they survived was up to them. 

After everything that had happened, I understood something too. 

I couldn’t keep living my life dependent on other people. 

If I’d been more resilient, Ethan and Vanessa wouldn’t have been able to scheme against me so successfully. 

So I voluntarily gave up personal control over the billions in inherited assets. I kept only what already belonged to me under our marriage agreement and had an independent attorney return the remaining voting rights in the businesses to Luca. 

Then I sold several pieces of my personal jewelry, enrolled in business school to study finance and corporate management, and used legitimate funds to start a consulting company that wasn’t tied to the Moretti supply 

chain. 

By the time I saw Ethan and Vanessa again, whatever respectability they once had was gone. 

After leaving the city, Ethan had wandered from place to place. He was bitten by a wild animal and didn’t get medical treatment in time. By the time an infection sent him to the hospital, his whole body was trembling 

badly. 

“Serena, during those three months I stayed by your side, there were several times I wanted to tell you the truth. When I saw how badly Luca’s death affected you, I really did think about stopping the plan. Back then, you could barely manage life on your own. You always needed someone beside you. I used to wonder… if I’d backed out halfway through and told you everything, would you have actually fallen in love with me?” 

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“No.” 

Luca mattered too much to me. 

What I’d felt for Ethan had been temporary dependence at most. 

He pulled at the corner of his mouth. 

“I get it. Just like I didn’t choose you when it came to Vanessa, you were never going to choose me either.” 

Vanessa was in even worse condition. 

She had lost the child, and her health had deteriorated badly. Volunteers repeatedly urged her to accept 

hospital treatment, but she kept refusing. 

“Serena, I’m sorry. I couldn’t accept that you got everything I wanted without ever having to fight for it. You grew up with a stable life, Family protection, and Luca’s favor. I was always just the daughter of a peripheral employee, with no chance of changing my place in life. If the System had never appeared, maybe I would’ve accepted an ordinary life. But it chose me.” 

I didn’t respond to her excuses. I only told the volunteers to call emergency services immediately and agreed to cover the necessary pain relief and treatment costs. 

In the end, she still didn’t make it. Ethan lasted only three days in the hospital. 

One day, I came home from work to find Luca cooking, something he rarely did. 

The lack of trust had left a distance between us. 

I left early and came home late. He no longer had guards report my movements to him throughout the day. and he stopped constantly asking where I’d been or who I’d seen. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.” 

His eyes were red, and his voice was quiet. 

“When I realized I’d become a spirit, the thing I worried about most was you having to face the other branches of the Moretti Family and that inheritance on your own. That’s why I did everything I could to stay near you. But then I saw Ethan with you. I saw you begin to rely on him. I couldn’t accept another man taking my place. I couldn’t understand why I had suddenly died while he got to stay beside you.” 

“Even now, I’m still afraid you won’t trust me again. You don’t tell me your plans the way you used to, and you don’t want me getting close. You want to live independently now, and you don’t need me making every 

decision for you.” 

“I can’t keep controlling you the way I used to and call it protection or Family security. I know you like your work, so I’ve pulled back the security detail you don’t need. I’ve also had the family lawyers confirm that your company and your assets are entirely yours to manage. Serena, I’ll respect your freedom. Please forgive me.” 

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I looked at the turkey he’d carefully prepared and thought back to when I was sixteen. 

Back then, he’d always used safety as an excuse to decide my schedule, who I could spend time with, and even when I was allowed to go out. At sixteen, I’d gotten so angry that I stopped speaking to him, and every 

time, he’d make turkey to apologize. 

Turkey had always been my favorite. 

“It’s really good.” I took a bite. “I really like it.” 

Tears slipped down Luca’s face as he pulled me into his arms. 

Our life wasn’t over. The Moretti Family still had its power, its rules, and old wounds that hadn’t disappeared, but from that moment on, we would learn to protect each other with trust instead of control. 

As for the past, we would leave it where it belonged