Deceived Into Marriage By The Mafia King

"Do you think you are worthy to sit on the dining table with us? Who the hell do you think you are? Get the hell away from here. You will only be called by a maid when everyone in this house has eaten." Those were the words spoken by Melinda's grandmother.

Melinda Davids is a twenty four year old lady. She lost her mother when she was ten years old and her life has been a living hell ever since then.

The only thing she is grateful of about her family is that they did not deprive her of her right to education and which has helped her achieve a master's degree in apparel design.

Designing is in her blood, her mother was very good at it but she never got the chance to polish her talent because she got pregnant. She used to tell her that she wanted to be a designer that will be known world wide, but all her dreams were shattered when she got pregnant.

She had to leave school and look for a job so that she will be able to take care of them since her parents also had to resign from their jobs when they vacated the city in fear of being killed by her grandmother, that is her father's mother.

She loves designing outfits and everyone in this house wears what she has designed for them when attending functions. Of course she is not allowed to attend those functions.

Oh yes by the way she is also not allowed to say that she has designed those outfits they have worn but luckily enough none of them have ever thought of taking the praise for her work.

Her grandmother was spitting those words out of anger. You know what she is angry about, you will not believe it if you were told about it.

Her grandmother is angry at the fact that she decided to apply for a job, she was even called for a job interview without any of them knowing this.

She had two interviews that she had taken in this company, the first interview was a written interview and the second one was an oral interview, and it was just a few days after the written interview.

As for how her grandmother found out about this interview, she also wishes to see that person. The only thing she knows right now is that her body hurts so much from the beating she has received from her grandmother.

She stood up from the dinner table and dragged her feet to her bedroom, her body aches all over and she was also dying of hunger.

She only had a slice of bread in the morning. She did not eat all day because they first sent her in the morning to buy a few groceries that had finished from the kitchen. Then she also ran some few errands when she came back from the grocery store.

Her grandmother woke up in a very good mood today, she knows this because every time she wants to bake a chocolate cake it is because she is in a good mood.

When she left this house, everything was fine. They were all in a good mood. Her sisters and cousins were all happy that they will have chocolate cake today.

By the way just so you know her grandmother is the best chocolate cake baker in their society in such a way that every time there is an event, they ask her to prepare a few cakes for them.

She usually uses Melinda to bake the cakes,and she has mastered the recipe although she acts like she is reading the recipe every time they bake.

She has vowed that she will continue to act stupid for as long as she can because once they discover that she can now make it without reading the recipe book then she will be their slave forever.

Her grandmother always calls her an imbecile when she asks what she should add next when they are baking. She uses words like "you are too stupid to even master a simple cake recipe, are you even my son's daughter. My son was so smart that he excelled in everything he did. The only thing he did wrong was to impregnant that stupid mother of yours. You really take after your mother." She would curse her after that.

However, Melinda does not care whether she calls her stupid or not because she has learnt over the years that once they see that she has learnt to do something they always tell the helpers not to do it anymore because she was now able of doing it.

The only reason her grandmother makes her bake the cakes over and over is because they always come up well. They are always well risen, soft and crumble. Which makes people to always drool over the cakes every time they see them.

When she was eleven years old she was stupid enough to run to her grandmother and told her that she has grown up in such a way that she now knows how to do table setting.

From that day onwards the helpers were not allowed to set the table unless she was not around to do it, which hardly happens.

She grew up with her mother, her mother was apparently her father's first love but she was never accepted by her grandmother.

Her parents went to the same schools from kindergarten, they were high school sweethearts. Her mother gave her virginity to her father on their prom night and that was the day Melinda was conceived.

When her mother and her parents came to her father's parents to report that their daughter was pregnant. The Davids couple told her that she should abort the baby because their son was already betrothed to someone else.

Her father was not there on that day, her mother was heart broken. She persuaded her parents to move out of town in fear of her grandmother.

She feared that they might make her abort the baby by force, she knew how dangerous that woman was.

They left the city for the countryside, her mother thought it was a perfect place to hide. However, she had no idea that Mrs Davids had sent people to secretly follow them.

Her mother's mother died of a heart attack when Melinda was five years old because her father's mother had sent people to come take her by force.

Fortunately enough for her, her granny was there. Their intention was to steal her but they couldn't. The moment she fainted those people all left without giving them a hand. She remembers that day as if it was yesterday.

Her grandfather followed his sweetheart a few months after that. He could not live without his better half. Every day in the morning he would start at the grave yard before eating breakfast. He would also go back in the evening before sleeping. Then one day he just never woke up.

She remembers seeing her mother patting his cheeks and saying "dad wake up, I am sorry I will be a good girl from now on. Dad please do not leave me. Dad I found a good job that will make me take care for you and Melinda. Dad please not now not when I was just planning on how to spoil you as a way of showing my gratitude."

She watched her mother say those words repeatedly as she stood by the door. She knew from that day, that from now onwards it was just her and her mother. Little did she know that very soon she will also leave her too.

Her mother was a very devoted somebody who worked at a diner and was loved by lots of people in the small town.

They all helped out when preparing for the funeral. They never lacked a single cent for the funeral and her grandfather was buried with dignity.

When she was ten years old, thieves got into the diner and shot her mother. She was back at home with a nanny.

She remembers seeing a police car and two policemen coming out of it. They said a hell lot of things and none of them made sense. The only thing that dawned on her was that all the people she has known as her family have left her alone into this world.

The policemen were able to track her father and he came to get her. That was how she got to this house. She could tell that none of them were happy to see her. Only her father and grand father treated her well.

That life was short lived though because her grandfather was diagnosed with bone cancer a few months before she came and refused to receive any treatment.

Which made his cancer advance to the last stage and he died. Her grandmother called her father out of a meeting to tell him to rush to the hospital his father was dying.

Melinda's father never got the chance to see his dying father because he also got a car accident on the way to the hospital.

Melinda's grandmother blamed all of that on her, she still does not understand why she would blame her for that. She was not God, she did not make her grandfather to have cancer neither did she cause her father's accident. But still her grandmother blames all of this on her.

So yes that is the story of her life, some of these events happened so fast that she also could not catch a breath.

Her siblings did not like her because her grandmother used to tell them that their mother killed herself because of them (that is Melinda and her mother) her son used to secretly go to them and leave his wife behind.

Which was not true because the first time she saw her father was the day he picked her up from the police station.

She only knew that he was her father because her mother had a chain on her neck which had pictures of both her parents.

She has seen him on pictures but never in real life so why would her grandmother lie about this, only she knows.

She laid on the bed as she reminisces about her past, tears streaming down her cheeks as she asks God why life was so unfair to her.

Why did God not allow my mom to live until I am old enough to take care of her. Until I am able to sincerely show my gratitude for taking care of me even when the situation was bad. She talked to herself and wished that someone could answer her.

But then she consoled herself as she also looked at the schools she attended after her mom was gone, maybe this was His way of blessing her.

She has attended one of the best universities in the world when it comes to apparel design. She stands better chances of being hired because of the schools she attended, her grades also makes her a perfect candidate.

If it wasn't because her grandmother does not want her to work. She would be working right now. But she doesn't even want her to work in the family company even though it deals with apparel designs.

Nobody knows why she doesn't want her to work. Her grandmother has quarrelled a lot with her brother about this but she has told him over and over again that as long as she is alive, Melinda will never enter her company as an employee.

Her brother always consoles her by saying, "sis, you are one of the best designers. It is her loss if she doesn't want you there. Another company will hire you and you will have an impact in their finances such that she will regret not having you in the company."

Her mother used to tell her that she kept her away from this family for a reason, she wanted to protect her.

Sh did not understand it then because of the humiliation she got back at school for not having a father.

Children back at school used to make fun of her mother and her, some would even call her mom a homewrecker. Some would say the Heavens did well by not allowing her to destroy the man's marriage. They used to call her a bastard and sometimes she would fight back especially when they insult her mom.

Back then she wouldn't mind it if you insulted her but when you insult her mom. Yoh! She would hit you so badly such that one of those boys one day stayed in the hospital for two full weeks. She literally gave that boy a lesson he probably will never forget.

When her father came to get her from the police station, she was very happy and was looking forward into being part of her new family.

However the treatment she has received ever since she got here has made her see that her mother was telling her the truth when she said that she was trying to protect her by keeping her away from this family.

Every time they do something bad to her, she remembers that this is exactly what God and her mom were protecting her from.

If it was not for the fact that her mom used to say to her, "when I am gone from this world and you happen to be taken by your father's family. Do not be discouraged by their treatment but be grateful for the education you will receive. In this world my child, you can only get to enjoy life once you have a successful career so strive for that and you will reach greater heights. You will achieve things that you never thought you would have."

Those are words from her mom that has kept her going. Those are the words that have made her to be what she is today.

She remembers that one day she told her mother that she hated her when she tried to explain why her father was not part of their lives.

Right now she wishes that she could see her and say, "sorry mama." She was sorry for not believing her when she said that her father's family was very cruel. Her mom made the best decision for her but unfortunately death took her too early.

She stood up and walked towards the mirror, she wanted to see how bad her back was from the whipping. She can see that her shirt was already stained with blood from the whip that her grandmother gave me.

She heard a knock on the door, the door opened before she could respond to it. The old lady who has been a helper since her father was born came in with a basin.

She wondered what was in it, then she said to her "come here baby girl, let me help you with that. We need to apply some medicine so that you won't have any scars. We both want the man you will marry to love your body and not be disgusted by your scars, now don't we?"

She smiled as she said those words. Melinda looked at her and said, "Mrs Simpson who told you I want to marry. I will grow old in my father's house."

"Shh don't say that my darling, don't let these old bones die with a sorrowful heart. It would pain me not to see someone marry you so you can live this hell house. If I had a grand son I would ask him to marry you so you can get out of this house my dear."

"Oh Mrs Simpson, it's a good thing you do not have that grandson because I do not believe in love, I wouldn't want to tie him down to a miserable life."

"What do you know, you are still too young to say you will never marry. Look at how old I am but if given a chance I would marry again. It's stressful to be alone and the thought of dying alone with no one by your side is horrible."

Mrs Simpson washed her back as she was saying that and whatever she had put in the water was like hell. The pain she felt on her back was unbearable but she knew that after a few days. She will be fine, this old woman has always been her doctor.

She is her grandmother's most trusted servant but surprisingly she treats her better than her grandmother and sometimes she wishes that she was her grandmother.

After cleaning her back, she reaches for her left pocket on the overall she was wearing. She takes out something wrapped in a foil and says to me "eat very fast then brush your teeth before your grand mother comes to your room."

She looked at her with teary eyes, Mrs Simpson wipes her tears and says "be fast, don't get me into trouble. I also do not want to get caught I am too old for your grand mother's drama."

She nodded at her and said "thank you" then munched on the sandwich very fast. She was really hungry which was one of the reasons why she was the first one to sit on the dining table today.

After she finished eating, Mrs Simpson took the foil paper and got out of the bedroom. Melinda went straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth, put on a gown and prepared to sleep.

If her grandmother comes, she should find her sleeping. She thought about the interview she had few days back and she began to wonder why they have not called her yet.

Then she suddenly got up, she had literally forgotten that she was hurt. The pain she felt for getting up abruptly reminded her that she was hurt.

What made her get up abruptly was the fact that when she left this house to go to the shop, she accidentally forgot her phone.

Could that be the reason why her grandmother hit her. Did that company call her while she was out of the house and the call just happens to be picked up by her grandmother? She had so many questions but she had no one to answer them.

She hated myself for being so stupid, she should have asked Mrs Simpson some of these questions she has and she might have given her answers.

While she was still blaming herself for being stupid as her grandmother usually says, the door opened. And she knew that it was her grandmother, she always comes to see her after whipping her back. She does not know why but she always does this before she goes to sleep.

She comes in and sits on the bed, she had already tucked herself in the bed and she was really not in the mood to talk to her but she wanted to know about that interview.

She needed something to get out of this house for at least a few hours a day in order to keep her sane.

She has been looking at her for a few seconds without saying a word at her. She wondered what was it that she wanted to say but could not say it.

Then she made a long sighed and said "for the first time since you got into this house I finally see a resemblance of my son in you. I thought people were crazy when they said this but you really do look like my son. Why haven't I noticed this before?"

She did not know how to answer her grandmother but in her she had answered her. In her, she had already said "that is simply because your hatred covered your eyes. You hated my mom so much that you did not even see that God had reasons for bringing me into this world. I am the only child that will make you have a memory of your son. Your beloved grandchildren do not look even a tiny bit like your son."

She had those words but she certainly did not want to be whipped again. So her silence made her ask her next question "did you see the owner of the company when they were interviewing you?"

"Unfortunately grandma I can not give you the right answer because I do not know the owner, is it a male or female?"

"He is a man."

"Oh then I guess I really did not see him because the people that interviewed me were all females."

"How many were they?"

"There were three females."

"How old do you think they are?"

"I am not too sure about that but one of them was old and seems to know about designing clothes a lot better than the two."

She received a hot slap for saying that, she does not know what she has said to trigger her anger.

Today definitely seems to be a bad day for her, she slapped her before whipping her and now she was slapping her again.

Can't her day get any worser than this, God why was she living in this earth, why can't God take her life so she can join her loved ones.

She said those words silently then said to her grandmother, "grand mother if there is ever something I have said or done wrong today I am so sorry. I know you were happy when you woke up and I am sorry to be the one to ruin your day."

"Oh you should have thought of that before you applied for a job at that company. Since they have accepted you then who am I to stop you from achieving your dreams. I should warn you though, if you dare ever say a single word about us to one of them. I will remove your fingers one by one before I chop that stupid head of yours. Did they ask anything about your family?"

"Yes, the old lady asked if I am in any way related to the famous chocolate cake baker because it seems as if our last names are the same."

She saw rage in her grandmother's eyes, and she asked, "what was your response?"

"I said you are my grandmother."

She got another slap, yoh! She felt her cheeks burning, it was almost like they were on fire.

She threw the phone to her face and if she was not fast enough in grabbing the phone, it would have hit her face so hard.

She left immediately after that and her coming in here made her have more questions that really stressed her out such that her head hurts so badly.

Leonardo Valentino was in the secret room in one of their houses, they had a man tied up in a chair. The man was naked and they had only covered his manhood. He had open wounds on his body which was dripping blood.

Sometimes they would pour salt on the man's wounds when he refuses to speak. This method worked as it made him to start talking.

"Who sent you to come into the company to spy on us?"

"I do not know what you are talking about sir."

He slapped him so hard, he was not a man to be messed with at the same time he was not a man that likes to be disturbed from his work.

Right now he had lots of documents to read but he has been disturbed by this man and he was fuming. It ignited his anger when he did not want to tell them the truth.

Yesterday they lost a truck full of stuff that could amount to two million. The driver was a very loyal servant to him.

Two million is not a huge amount to them but he hated the fact that he usually does not mix these two businesses.

He has never done anything in the company that could jeopardize his mafia business.

So how did his employee find out about his other secret businesses and what was the motive behind it because he knew they didn't want the stuff inside the truck.

That was just a diversion, he was well aware of that. Which was why he wanted to be the one that interrogates this man himself.

The thieves left the driver when he was at a brink of death but he still managed to call him. The last words he spoke was,"boss, someone from the Apparel design company knew about our route."

He died before he could even get the chance to ask him how he knows about this. He has been asking himself what did they say or do that has made him think that the traitor is in the company.

What has made his anger worsen was that he has lost a very loyal servant. He didn't mind losing the truck and the stuff in it. But this driver is not replaceable.

He has a problem with two things: one, losing his driver, a very kind down to earth man that was too loyal to him. Two, having someone from the design company, know vital information about his underworld businesses.

They have not slept, they have been searching for information all night until they found this new guy.

He has been working for three weeks in the company, he is too new for him to have known anything about our side business.

The only way he could have known is if he got here with the intention of spying on us. He got here having a little bit of information and wanted to get more information.

So the question they had now is who sent him, we have given him a few punches but he does not want to talk.

He will not kill him, he will not get his hands dirty for such a simple thing. He will simple drain all the information he has on the people he is working with then release him.

They will do the job for him, he knows that whoever sent him will kill him the moment they see him like this.

Even if he doesn't get the information now, once he bugs his apartment, his phone and also have his men follow him. He will get all the information he needs.

"Get me a bucket of water, it seems as if our guy here, want to tell us the whole truth after he has seen the gates of hell."

His men rushed to put water in a bucket then they came back with it. He did not give him the heads up. He just took his head and put it in the bucket, removed his head and placed it again.

After removing it for the second time, he still asked, "who sent you?"

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Oh, and here I am, feeling a little sorry for you yet here you are being stubborn. All the evidence I have point at you, now are you saying my man are lying or what? Please give me the bucket with chillies."

Those last words were directed at his men, they did just that. He loves these men, they work well together.

He looked at the man in front of him, whom he was interrogating and he saw fear in his eyes. However the most annoying part was that even though he feared for his life, he still did not want to talk. This was one stubborn little fellow.

"One last time, who sent you?" He was now very pissed off and a part of him made him feel like killing this annoying man.

"I have told you before and I will tell you again, I do not know what you are talking about "

"Good, if you are willing to die for them then I will grant you, your wish. I hope your loyalty pays off, let us hope that they will also be loyal to you in terms of taking care of your family when you are gone. By the way, how old is your last born?"

He poured the bucket full of chillies on the wounds that were made from the whipping he received earlier.

The man screamed, Leonardo closed his ears and allowed him to scream as much as he wanted.

"I am not a man who is full of patience, so I will ask again, who sent you?"

"Mr Leonardo, I have been sent by the Rodriguez family, they did not intend to take the stuff away. This was their way of diverting your attention from the big project you are all bidding on."

"Ah, you don't say, how lowly of them. This is the reason why I will always be the one to get big projects. They use their emotions more than their brains when doing things."

He looked at him then said, "I will give you a reward for speaking the truth. I will let you live and I will not even fire you from your job. Marco, cover his eyes and take him back to his apartment. I will let him live as a reward."

When they were gone, one of his man said, "boss, why did you allow him to leave? We should kill him so we teach all the traitors a lesson."

"I want you guys to follow him, he might be lying to us. If we follow him and listen to his conversations, we will get the truth. Do it fast, the moment they discover that we released him, they will kill him. Once they get close to him, we will know who they are. Do not always believe people that are being interrogated. He might have said this so that we release him."

"Yes boss, only my boss is smart."

They all ran out and Leonardo's right hand man, Mateo, came in with a file on his hand.

Leonardo frowned and wondered what couldn't wait for him to be in a more relaxed environment.

The right hand man must have seen his boss' facial expression so he said, "sir, this is the information about the interviews the old lady had conducted."

Leonardo took the file then started looking at the overall review of the interviews that his grandmother had done.

When looking at this girl's performance, he was intrigued. He was looking forward into getting to know the person who had obtained these scores. These scores made him have an idea of making this woman his wife.

He has always wanted to have a wife who was smart and he does not wish to marry a housewife.

"I am impressed, I know very well how tough my grandmother's interviews are. This time it looks like she made it tougher than usual. Was she trying to test how good this girl is? Did they tell her when she should start to work? I mean I know very well that this interviews were just for face, she already knew that she will hire this girl."

His right hand man was a bit shaky for he knew very well that his boss did not want to add any staff member at this point but his grandmother insisted. "Yes boss, they told her to start after two days which is tomorrow."

"So fast, what's the rush? Did we really need someone in the design department or this girl has a way of touching my grandmother's soft spot? Did you do any research about her? What is the design department manager saying about this, did they need an extra hand?

These questions were a lot for one to answer and his right hand man was already sweating, he said, "Yes boss, my men are still collecting enough information, it will be on your desk before the end of the day. As for why the old lady hired her, only the old lady knows sir. That department did not need anyone in such a way that the manager does not have any clue."

"That's good, I would love to know what she has said to my grandmother or done for her that has made my grandmother go to such lengths just to hire her. This had made us quarrel but she still insisted that she will hire this girl whether I like it or not."

He made a long sigh then said, "enough about my grandmother, how is the business that side. Did you get hold of any of our people there."

"Yes sir, but two of our men are injured and it looks like I may need to go there and help them out."

"No, there is no need, it's might be our enemies plans to try to separate us. It will not be a good plan for us to separate now that we have found a traitor in the company. We should rather add more men there, I have a feeling that our rivals may be planning to attack right in this city."

"We will find out sooner or later boss. Boss, there is something else about the woman on that file."

"What could that be?" He was very annoyed about this even though he does not know what Mateo wanted to say but his facial expression tells it all.

"The old lady says she will not fully hand over everything to you unless you marry this woman. Once she is fully your wife and she has a marriage certificate on her hand then she will sign everything that states that she is handing over everything to you."

Leonardo did not respond to this he only just kicked the chair that was in front of him just to show how angry he was.