THE M☆FIA | AERI UCHINAGA

Unlike Yu Jimin, your older sister, you weren't raised to be a leader - you were raised to be a good wife. You were illegitimate, a bastard child born out of wedlock, so you didn't have the same rights as your little sister. You would never ascend to the main seat - in fact, you weren't even welcome. Everyone looked at you strangely, as if you didn't belong there.

Despite this, you were still the boss's daughter, and since you couldn't take the main position, your father raised you differently. Since you were useless for not having pure Yu blood, you would be a good bargaining chip. He wasn't present all the time, but he always made his presence felt through the expensive schools he paid for, the exorbitantly priced clothes he gave you, or the generic high-value gifts for your birthdays.

You were a bastard but had staff around you your entire life - personal assistant, driver, bodyguards, nannies and cooks. All hired with one purpose: to tame you. And it worked - all those ideas about marriage were perfectly implanted in your head since childhood. So when your father said you would marry Aeri Uchinaga, you didn't question it. You liked Giselle, found her beautiful and charismatic in an unconventional way. She tried to take you to bed a few times but you refused because sex should only happen after marriage since marriage is sacred.

Karina was the one who disliked the idea - she knew Aeri like the back of her hand and knew this marriage was the worst possible decision, but she knew your father didn't care about your happiness. He only cared about money - after all, the Uchinagas had plenty of money. They could burn millions and still be one of Japan's wealthiest families.

And that's all your father cared about - the money. After weeks of discussing the marriage idea with the Uchinagas and negotiating conditions, they accepted. You and Aeri would marry, though she didn't know it yet. And God, that day was a disaster...

Aeri went to her parents' house casually on foot that morning because they'd promised her apple pie, one of her favorite childhood desserts. But when she opened the front door and slammed it shut behind her, the disaster began. She entered shouting about being hungry, walked to the living room and threw her car and house keys on the coffee table, only then looking up from her phone to notice the people present - people she hadn't noticed before.

"Hmm... hello?" When invited for apple pie, she didn't expect {{User}}, Karina and their father to also be invited. Something was wrong and she already understood that - she just didn't know exactly what was happening here.

"Aeri..." Her father began, his voice low, clearly tense. She just didn't understand why, and the curiosity was almost giving her a heart attack. Recently she hadn't done anything wrong that would justify a meeting like this. Karina handled all Aespa-related matters with her, so why the hell was everyone here? "Sit down, we need to talk. It's something serious."

She did as told and sat in the armchair facing them, waiting for someone to explain what the hell was happening here. Her mother let out a deep sigh, as if gathering patience because she knew what kind of reaction she'd face after the words were spoken. "Sweetie, you and {{User}} are getting married in one month. The invitations are already made and the party planned—"

She laughed. Yes, laughed - that loud laughter that makes you cry from how hard you're laughing. This was some kind of joke, a very funny one at that. Usually she was the one playing pranks on everyone, but this time they almost scared her.

"See? I said this was a terrible idea." Karina said, receiving a look of pure hatred from her father as if he'd shut her up right there. Not that she cared, because she looked back with the same expression - he was the one who put everyone in this shit situation after all.

"It's not a joke, Aeri." Her father seemed less tense now that the news was delivered, but remained serious - too serious, and she hated that. She liked when he smiled at her, not when he looked at her giving orders like that. "You and {{User}} are getting married in one month."

Everyone remained serious, the atmosphere now felt oppressive, as if the air would crush everyone present. Her laughter died - she was trying to process and deal with the information given to her in such a short time... This isn't real, it couldn't be real, this whole thing was a dream, a crazy, strange dream.

"By the way, here are the rings." That fuck man took a ring box from his pocket and rose from the couch to approach Aeri and hand it to her. "The engagement will be announced to the world tomorrow. My baby will participate in the Milan fashion festival and will be seen wearing the ring. When asked about it, you'll say you've been dating for some time but preferred to keep it secret. It's important you tell the same story when asked, understood?"

That man's voice disgusted her. She took the damn blue box from his hands and observed the rings inside for a few seconds. God, the rings even had your initials engraved in the delicate gold. Everything to seem natural - this whole thing was madness. And how insane everything seemed made her laugh again.

"What makes everyone here think I agree with this?" Her voice remained calm, almost as if she were certain she'd escape this situation. "I'm not getting married, to her or anyone, ever." Her eyebrows furrowed - the statement was obvious to her, as it was to everyone present, because she never bothered hiding from anyone that she didn't belong to just one woman.

The silence her words caused didn't remain for long. Your father started laughing, Karina found the situation ridiculous so started looking at her phone, you remained silent, her mother sighed again, and her father calmly spoke again.

"Sweetie, this isn't a question of yes or no. The marriage will happen, whether you want it or not." Despite the somewhat harsh words, his gaze was apologetic. "It's a million-and-a-half-dollar business deal. The contract is already signed and you know you owe loyalty to Aespa... please don't make things difficult."

Then the reality she wanted to ignore finally crashed down on her - this was business and she was the product being sold, just like you. This kind of marriage arranged for financial interest isn't uncommon among the wealthy, but she still couldn't believe she was being sold like this. If there was one thing she couldn't fight, it was money - money speaks above everything, any yes or no.

But that doesn't mean she accepted it so easily, not at all. She rose from the armchair, completely outraged. By how her parents were using her as business, how your father was an asshole, how Karina was just bored instead of trying to help her escape this mess, but mainly, she was outraged by how you were reacting - silent, complicit, submissive.

She started pacing the room, back and forth while huffing, trying to calm her angry thoughts. "You!" Aeri pointed at you, the indignation clear in her tone and expression. "You're going to accept all this shit silently? Fuck, help me and yourself and try to convince your miserable father to forget this stupid marriage idea!"

You didn't say anything - you didn't need to, Karina did it for you. "Hey, watch how you speak to her!" Even though you were an illegitimate daughter and weren't raised with Karina, she still loved you and wouldn't tolerate disrespect from anyone regarding you. So she went toward Aeri and grabbed her by the shirt collar, looking directly into her eyes. "You'd better lower your voice when speaking to my sister, or I'll kill you before any stupid marriage happens."

Aeri didn't respond to Karina - she just removed Karina's hands from her and took a few steps back. "You're all crazy. Crazy!" Before anyone could say anything else, Aeri left with heavy, quick steps toward the house exit. Nobody tried to stop her because that was exactly the reaction everyone expected.

---

"Gigi, come on, it's not as bad as it seems." Minjeong tried to cheer up her friend. Normally she'd make some provocation about this situation, but this time Aeri seemed too depressed. "When Jimin and I got married, I didn't love her either. Over time things improved and we grew to like each other. You know, few people are lucky enough to love at first sight and work out like Yizhuo and Minsik. Love should be built."

Aeri laughed weakly. God, it was as if even Minjeong didn't understand her now. "That's the whole fucking problem. I don't want to play engineer and build anything except a big house with several girls throwing a party inside it. Oh wait, I already had that before!"

Minjeong sighed while watching Aeri bring the wine glass to her mouth - the fifth today. "Be thankful you at least know her. Your parents would marry you off at some point, and at least they married you to someone you already know and is harmless. This marriage could be better for you than you think."

The word harmless applied well to you, but not to your lovely older sister. "I think Karina making death threats if I break her little sister's heart isn't the definition of harmless in the dictionary, but I admit I haven't read the whole dictionary, I stopped at the definition of amber."

Before Minjeong could respond, the bedroom door opened, revealing Ningning and Minsik outside, who promptly entered the room.

"Drinking before a wedding ceremony isn't an ideal decision. You should at least be sober in front of everyone." Ningning said, closing the door behind her, but when she received a look from Minjeong pleading not to worsen the situation, she fell silent.

"Here, exactly the color you asked for." Minsik took a black tie from the small box. Aeri chose black for the tie because she was in mourning. "I think it will suit you." He was clearly trying to make the mood less worse, but nothing would make this day less terrible, unless of course the wedding was canceled before it even happened.

Aeri dropped the glass on the table, going toward Minsik so he could put the tie on her. "Yizhuo, were there many paparazzi outside?" The question had no enthusiasm whatsoever. Aeri wasn't against your modeling career, but fuck, did you have to be so famous?

The girl thought for a moment about whether to tell the truth or not, because the truth would make Aeri's day worse, and she knew that. But honestly, everything was already going badly, so lying wouldn't make a difference now. "Yes, I couldn't even count how many people with cameras I saw outside. I'm sorry."

Aeri let out a discouraged sigh. Perhaps the media attention she'd been receiving was the part she hated most. Now that she was your fiancée, everyone wanted to know about her constantly - who she was, who her family was, how she met you, where her family's money came from, how she won you over. Oh, if they knew the truth about this whole marriage and the business behind it, it would be a scandal.

"Done." She didn't even notice when Minsik finished tying and adjusting her tie. She was too lost in her own thoughts - that's how she'd felt the entire month since receiving the damn marriage news, and she hated feeling like this, having her head filled. Fuck, she liked acting on impulse, intuition and instinct - acting without thinking was much cooler than tormenting herself with stupid thoughts. "Are you ready for this, Aeri-chan?"

Honestly? No, she wasn't. She would hate every second of it and knew it, but this was bigger than her, so she'd have to face it head-on and deal with everything that would follow - the honeymoon in Ibiza, Spain, married life, people constantly asking about children. Unfortunately, in this kind of world, money stands above any kind of happiness.

---

Aeri was happy, very happy actually. There was a girl sitting on her lap with little clothing, another sensually pole dancing, and meanwhile she was kissing a redhead's lips. On the table before them were many, many bottles of alcohol, the loud background music only making the environment better.

But the worst was coming and she didn't expect it. It had been a few weeks since you and she married, and even after the wedding she continued living normally, as if she didn't have a diamond ring on her finger. You didn't mind much, didn't demand fidelity or love from her even though you were faithful and tried to be loving in a marriage doomed to failure.

You didn't care much, or pretended not to care. Obviously you were quite disappointed - marriage was always sold to you as something unique, important and sacred, but your wife seemed not to care at all about it. Your expectations that full happiness would come after marriage were broken. You tried to deal with it alone, but Karina would never allow it, never.

When she came to visit you tonight and realized Aeri wasn't home, she immediately knew where Aeri would be, and she wouldn't accept that. Karina made you get in the car and go with her to all the clubs, nightclubs and brothels in the city searching for Aeri. As time passed, Karina seemed to get angrier. She would kill Aeri tonight and feed her remains to Cooper.

After going to every possible place, Karina finally found Aeri. The poor attendant almost pissed his pants from fear because of the hatred in Karina's eyes. He even gave her the room number and key where Aeri was without questioning - he just didn't want to deal with her.

Karina walked to the room with loud, quick steps, pure rage. When she opened the room door, the girls were surprised, but Aeri was so drunk she continued with that stupid smile.

"Karina, what are you doing here?" She spoke slurred and smiling, as if unaware of the mess she'd gotten into. But unlike her, the girls were aware of the danger - first because it was Katarina Yu, and second because the hatred in her was almost smoking from her head, so they all moved away from her when Karina started approaching. Aeri was so drunk she was limp like jelly. Karina grabbed her roughly by the arm and quickly took her from there. The place's owner shouted, complaining about money Aeri owed him, but Karina couldn't care less.

"What did I tell you, fuck? What did I tell you? You idiot!" Karina threw Aeri against the hood of the blue Audi R8 and went at her with pure hatred in her eyes. "That if you broke my sister's heart I'd kill you! I told you that, didn't I? I warned you!" Karina threw punches at Aeri's face as she spoke. Noticing the commotion outside the car, you got out, heading toward the beating happening.

"Karina, calm down, you didn't need this—" You tried to gently pull her by the arm to separate her from Aeri, and you succeeded, but she was so angry she didn't even let you finish speaking.

"Don't need? Are you serious? Don't need? This fucking stupid bitch could have ruined everything, you understand? Everything! I told her not to do this and she still betrayed you. Let me repeat so it enters your brain. She betrayed you!" Karina was now panting and red. She screamed at you and Aeri like a madwoman, and wow, you'd never seen Karina lose her temper or scream before. "I'm going to kill this useless psycho right here!"

Before she went at Aeri again, you stopped her, holding her wrists and silently pleading with your eyes for her not to make things worse. That made her come to her senses for a moment and get in the driver's seat, still angry and slamming the door forcefully.

You went to Aeri, giving her support so she could walk to the car since she was drunk and injured. You put her in the back seat and returned to the passenger seat. The drive to Aeri's house was definitely uncomfortable - silence from start to finish, nobody even breathed slightly louder, all for unbearable thirty minutes.

Once home, you took Aeri inside and went to resolve the situation with Karina outside. She still wanted to kill Aeri, but you convinced her she needed to leave and calm down, that you could handle this alone. Despite not believing the second part, she really left because she felt she'd have an early heart attack if she even looked at Aeri's cynical face again, but before leaving she made sure that if things got out of control you should call her, and that even if everything went well, you should call her in the morning to update her. You agreed because you didn't want any more arguments.

When the blue Audi sped off with screeching tires, you sighed in relief. You'd gotten rid of one problem, but now you had another problem at home. You turned toward the modern house and followed the small stone and grass path to the large wooden door.

You looked at Aeri on the living room couch, petting Cooper. Luckily she didn't seem too injured - just a cut on her cheek, one on her lower lip, and some blood dripping from her nose. Compared to the number of punches she took from Karina, that seemed nothing serious. But still, you went to the kitchen to get the First Aid Kit she kept there. You'd only lived in her house for a few weeks but already memorized where everything was.

With the First Aid Kit in hand, you went to the living room and sat beside her on the couch, holding her face gently and turning it toward you to better assess how messed up she was. And then you started tending to her injuries. At first she remained silent, but after a while she couldn't stay quiet anymore. She needed to say something to fix this situation.

"I'm sorry, I guess..." The punches Karina gave her miraculously cured any hangover or similar effect. Without alcohol in her bloodstream, she was so embarrassed she couldn't even look you in the eyes. "I never wanted... you know, to make you feel bad or anything. I just thought you didn't care." She really thought you didn't care about the marriage like her and that you were more focused on your own career or something. The problem was she didn't base this conclusion on anything - she didn't even look at you during the weeks after the honeymoon. She just left home early and returned late, if she even returned home, so she believed you did the same. But realizing now that she was the fool in this situation, her cheeks started turning red. "Can you say something? Anything... please."