Stuck in a Mafia Romance

No One’s Pov

The moment the box opened, Vivien’s eyes widened.

‎"This..." she muttered, her breath hitching.

‎The box contained tons of of pictures. They were all of the original Viella, but she looked much younger in these photos- some from when she was barely a teenager.

Vivien went through them with trembling fingers. There was Viella at a restaurant, Viella at a family gathering, and even a picture of her sleeping in her own room.

These weren’t just some random pictures, they were taken from somewhere close. Someone had been watching her for years. Stalking her... collecting her pictures.

‎"Why does Dante have these?" Vivien muttered, her confusion growing.

‎As she dug deeper, she found more than just photos. The box held delicate, cute jewelry and a handkerchief, it had a faint sweet smell.

The handkerchief had the name Viella embroidered in thread, and the jewelry had a tiny ’V’ curved into the metal.

‎"Don’t tell me these are the original Viella’s things..." She paused, staring at a small silver bracelet. "But wait... why would the villainess Viella use such cute, simple things? Everyone knows she loved dark, glittery, overdone cloths...And oddly, they look exactly like the style I used to wear back in my original world."

Infact she sniffed the handcheif and realized it was like the same perfume she used to use.

‎Vivien sat silently in the oversized chair, the cold air of the office biting at her skin. "Am I missing something...?" She felt chill all over her.

‎She smacked her forehead in frustration, cursing her past self for being too broke to finish the story. "I should have worked more overtime! I only remember reading up to the part where Dante kills Viella and then takes Alina to the mansion to... well, do terrible, naughty obsessive things. There were special Chapters coming out, the ’Hidden Truth’ arc

but I didn’t have the money to unlock the second part of the book!"

‎She closed her eyes tight, trying to squeeze her brain for any tiny information. Think, Vivien, think!

‎

‎Vivien kept going through the pictures, looking at each one with wide eyes. Suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind, a tiny detail from a post she had read back then.

‎That’s right! she thought. There was a small plot point mentioning that Viella and Dante had actually met six or seven years before the main story even started. They were both young back then. Looking at these photos, Viella appeared to be exactly that age.

She didn’t know exactly why the girl had turned into a villainess, but she remembered seeing comments from readers saying Viella was forced into that role by the world itself.

‎Vivien rose from the chair, her heart racing so fast it felt like it would burst.

If the post was accurate then Dante indeed met Viella before.... She looked down at the pictures....that only means....

‎Dante was originally obsessed with Viella!

‎"What if she was sweet and innocent back then and he fell for her?" Vivien whispered to the empty room. "But then the plot forced her to become a cruel villainess, and Dante stopped liking her because she wasn’t the girl he remembered? She became someone he hated the most.. forcing him to forget her?"

‎It made too much sense. If Alina entered the story later, acting sweet and kind, she would have represented the old, innocent Viella.

That’s why he shifted his attention to her.

But again...it was not only love but obsession

there’s no way Dante would just let the obsession of six years ago that easily all because she acted recklessly.

‎Then, another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Vivien remembered something.....the first time she discovered about Alina’s realty, she saw her talking to Elias about Love potions..

‎"Wait... if she used a potion in this timeline, does that mean she did the same thing in the original novel?" Vivien started walking in circles, her mind working at light speed. "Was that why Viella hated her so much? Because Alina didn’t just ’win’ his heart, she snatched it away using potions? What if Viella was never the villain? What if Alina was the true villainess all along and that was the secret plot twist?!"

‎Vivien stopped dead in her tracks, the realization hitting her.

The Heroine was the manipulator, and the Villainess was just a girl trying to get back the man she loved from a magic using snake.

‎"Holy shit, that has to be it!" Vivien gripped the edge of the desk, a manic grin spreading across her face. "If I’m right, then I am a freaking genius!" She proudly patted her back.

‎

‎No longer after, a realization washed over Vivien, replacing her excitement with pure dread.

"Actually... I am doomed if that’s the case!" she hissed.

‎It wasn’t just a coincidence anymore. She was the perfect replacement. Because she and the young Viella shared the same aesthetic, the same taste, and even the same clothing style, she was effectively a replacement of the girl Dante first fell in love with. She was his second chance.

‎But the bigger questions were burning in her mind. Does Dante know about the love potion?

Dante had already somehow figured out about Viviens identity, infact he even knows where she lived and where she worked....there’s no way he wouldn’t know the whole ending of this book. And specially when the love potions stopped working on him after I came to this world.

‎"If my theory is right," Vivien whispered, "Alina shouldn’t be roaming freely right now."

‎

‎I have to go and check the basement... where Dante loved to torture his victims. That’s the only place where I will get my answers.

‎Taking a deep breath, Viella peeked out of the office.

In the distance, she could see the maids returning with the food and the hot water bag she had ordered. When they looked around and didn’t find her, their faces turned pale with horror.

They had been strictly told to keep an eye on her,if they didn’t find her before their lord returned, they would likely be beheaded.

‎Because of that, Viella could see the maids running around in a panic, checking every room and calling out in hushed whispers.

‎Shit... I need to hurry up. She slipped out of the office and moved in the opposite direction.

She knew the maids weren’t brave enough to inform the guards or Dante yet, they would try to find her themselves first to avoid his wrath.

She had a small window of time before he returned and realized she was gone.

Following her memories of the novel’s layout, she walked straight toward the back of the estate where the basement was supposed to be.

‎"Hmm... this should be here..." she whispered, her instincts guiding her toward a hidden service elevator. Surprisingly there was no guards in that area.

‎Finally, she came to stand in front of a massive, cold metal door. Suddenly, she caught a faint whiff of something in the air. It was a disgusting, sweet, and metallic scent- the smell of something rotting, mixed with the sharp tang of chemicals.

‎The moment she pulled the heavy door open, the smell hit her more strongly. It was overwhelming. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and quickly pulled out her handkerchief, pressing it over her face to block the smell.

‎"Ugh... how can it be this strong?" she muttered into the cloth.

‎The space inside was enormous, filled with darkness, long path and huge cells. The fact that the smell reached all the way to the door told her that whatever& or whoever- was down here had been here for a long time. Stepping into the darkness, she felt the temperature drop significantly.

‎As she walked deeper into the basement, her eyes adjusted to the dim flickering lights. She saw a row of cells, but most were empty or filled with humans bones....She gulped and tried to ignore it.

‎

‎Suddenly, she came face to face with another door. This one was slightly ajar, as if someone had left in a hurry or was waiting for her.

She pushed it open to reveal a narrow stone staircase leading even deeper. The smell here was way stronger, a suffocating stench of decay that made it nearly impossible to stay any further.

Her stomach twisted, but she forced herself to breathe through the handkerchief. She had to see what was inside.

‎She calmed her racing heart and stepped into the darkness.

‎Click. Click. Click.

‎The sound of her shoes on the stone steps echoed in the dark basement. As she reached the bottom floor, she felt something sticky beneath her feet. It was pitch black.

She fumbled along the cold damp wall until her fingers brushed against a light switch. She flipped it on.

‎The moment the light flickered to life, her eyes widened with pure horror. A shiver raced down her spine, freezing her where she stood.

The hair of her body standing up giving her goosebumps

In front of her was a scene straight from a nightmare.

‎The room was filled with pools of rotting blood and a mountain of dead bodies, guards and servants she didn’t recognize, piled like discarded trash.

But the most horrifying sight was in the very center of the room.

‎There sat a chair, and pinned to it was a body.....the body already started to rot..

Viella got bit close to identify the corpse... the moment she did.....her eyes widened once again with horror....

It was....Alina

‎She was dressed in a beautiful white wedding gown which she remembered Dante choosing for Alina. It was now stained with blood and with filth.

Her hands were brutally pinned to the wooden armrests with thick metal spikes. Her body had already started to rot, the skin turning a sickly pale green, but the marks of unspeakable torture were still visible across her face and neck.

‎

Viella gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The sight was even more stomach turning up close, she watched in sheer terror as maggots crawled through Alina’s rotting flesh, devouring her fingers and the skin of her neck.

Viella wanted to vomit so bad, her throat burning with the effort to hold it back, but she remained frozen in shock.

There’s no way Alina is dead... it can’t be possible! she screamed in her head.

She knew the rules of this world better than anyone. The Main Leads were protected by the plot. The only way a lead like Alina could truly die was with a specific dagger- and Viella was sure she was the one who had it! Dante shouldn’t have been able to kill her with such brutal torture.

As she stumbled back, her heels slipping in the sticky bloody pools on the floor, a horrifying realization hit her.

"Don’t tell me..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "The dagger... the dagger I

had... was it a fake?"

The thought made her blood run cold....

"There’s no way, right...?" she whimpered

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TO BE CONTINUED