Rejected 99 Times, Chosen By The Mafia Don

Eliana Gill's POV:

Over the six years Lucas Morgan and I had been together, he had canceled our wedding an unbelievable ninety-nine times.

The first time, his former flame, Bella Smith, came back to town. The moment he heard the news, he left and abandoned me on a sun-scorched lawn for a whole day.

The second time, during the wedding ceremony, Lucas learned that Bella had been admitted to the hospital with a stomach bug, so he left without a second thought. I stood there clutching my bouquet while the guests snickered and whispered around me.

The third time, Lucas was about to slip the ring onto my finger when Bella called him, saying she wanted the freshest cherries. Lucas flung the ring aside and left without hesitation.

From then on, whenever Lucas and I were about to get married, Bella would somehow manufacture another emergency-and apparently, Lucas was the only man who could handle it.

Every time, Lucas would summon his most earnest expression and say to me, "I'll make this right. Next time, I'll take care of everything and give you a wedding more spectacular than you could ever imagine."

But I knew, deep down, that we would never be able to get married successfully.

After ninety-nine chances, I was finally ready to step aside and let Lucas and Bella be together.

***

Today marked our ninety-ninth attempt to get married.

The church was utterly deserted. No flowers adorned the aisles, no applause echoed, and not one guest had been invited.

That was because a grim suspicion had already settled in my bones.

The wedding this time probably still wouldn't be completed.

Even with a fever scorching through me, I stood before the altar and listened as the elderly priest began the vows in a solemn voice.

Then, right on cue, Lucas' phone rang, shattering the sacred moment.

After ending the call, he turned to me with blunt urgency. "Eliana, I need to leave. Something happened with Bella, and I need to go to her right now. I swear I'll make this up to you. Next time, I'll handle every detail myself and give you a wedding more spectacular than you ever imagined. Oh, and I'll pick up that mango mousse you love on the way home."

The words had just left his mouth before he bolted from the church, never once looking back.

I watched him disappear, my lips twisting into a smile edged with bitter ridicule.

Mango mousse-seriously?

I had stood beside him since I was nineteen, helping him claw his way up until he became the Morgan family's second-in-command.

Yet somehow, he had forgotten that I was dangerously allergic to mangoes-that a single bite could send me into anaphylactic shock.

Mango mousse had always been Bella's favorite.

Just then, my phone lit up with an incoming call.

The moment I answered, Bella's syrupy voice slid through the speaker, every word dripping with mock innocence.

"Eliana, I feel absolutely awful. I didn't ruin your wedding again, did I? But honestly, Lucas wouldn't take no for an answer. I kept telling him that I was fine, yet he came rushing over anyway and carried me straight to the hospital. He held me so close-"

I ended the call before she could drag out the rest of her little performance.

No tears came. I didn't break down.

After ninety-nine crushing disappointments, my mind had never been clearer.

Whatever Lucas and I had shared over the past six years was finally, irrevocably over.

I changed out of the heavy bridal gown, left it behind, and walked out of the church by myself.

Before I made it far, the sky split open without warning, unleashing a violent downpour.

With no umbrella to shield me, I was soaked through in seconds, as miserable as a stray cat abandoned in the storm.

Once I made it back to my apartment, I dragged myself through a shower, slipped into clean clothes, took a fever reducer, and fell onto the bed, quickly falling asleep.

I didn't know how long I had been asleep before the bedroom door burst open and someone pulled my blanket away.

"Eliana! Get up!" Lucas roared.

A violent chill shook me awake. I pried my eyes open and found Lucas standing beside the bed, his face twisted with fury.

"You've gone too far this time!" His voice crashed through the room. "You know how delicate Bella's health is, so why the hell did you insult her over the phone? She went into cardiac arrhythmia because of that. She's still in the ER now!"

Fever throbbed through every bone in my body, but a bitter laugh still escaped me. "I insulted her? Lucas, I didn't say anything to her."

"Enough with the lies!" Lucas dragged his tie loose with an angry jerk, looking at me as though I disgusted him. "She cried and told me that you wished her dead. How could you say something like that? I bailed on our wedding, but that didn't give you the right to attack a woman who's already sick."

I pushed myself upright and stared at him. "Today marked the ninety-ninth time you bailed on our wedding. Tell me, Lucas-after six years together, can you name even one time you actually made it through the entire ceremony?"

"So what? I said we'd hold the wedding again, didn't I? The church isn't going anywhere, so why the hell are you so desperate to rush this?"

"I'm rushing this?" The words slipped out under my breath as the final trace of warmth in my heart froze solid.

Lucas looked at my pale face. His voice lost a sliver of its bite, but the patronizing arrogance remained. "That's enough sulking. As soon as Bella leaves the hospital, I'll give you the most extravagant wedding you could ever want. Now, go tell her that you're sorry."

I looked at the man I had loved for six years, and suddenly, he felt utterly foreign.

"Don't bother," I said. Not a trace of emotion entered my voice.

Lucas' brows drew together. "What?"

I raised my chin and held his gaze without wavering. "There won't be another wedding. We're done."

Eliana's POV:

The moment I finished speaking, Lucas froze with surprise in his eyes.

But he recovered almost immediately, and his frown deepened. He snapped defensively, "Eliana, what the hell are you even talking about? You're nothing more than a nobody who owns a small clinic. Do you honestly think you can live a good life without me?"

His mockery didn't faze me. "I meant every word," I said calmly. "I truly hope you and Bella are happy together. You deserve each other."

They were both trash, and they deserved to stay chained together for life. At least that way, they couldn't ruin anyone else's life.

Lucas' face darkened as he looked at me with cold eyes.

He seemed ready to explode when his phone suddenly rang.

It was the special ringtone he had set for Bella's call.

I had no idea what kind of victim act Bella was putting on over the phone, but Lucas' expression softened immediately. Even his voice became gentle and concerned.

"Bella, don't cry. Everything's fine. I'm on my way."

Lucas ended the call and headed for the door without so much as looking at me.

"You'd better hurry," I said lightly. "Don't make her wait. If she cries too hard and gets sick, you'll have to start worrying about her all over again."

Lucas slipped his phone into his pocket and frowned. Then, he studied me with a sharp, searching look I'd never seen from him before.

I knew exactly what had made him look at me that way.

The old me would've thrown away every ounce of dignity at such a time. I would've grabbed his sleeve and sobbed as I begged him not to leave.

I would've screamed like I'd lost my mind and demanded to know why Bella was so special to him. I would've fallen at his feet if it meant getting one more minute of his time.

This time, however, I was the one urging him to leave and acting like I couldn't bear to be around him.

Maybe he felt a brief pang of guilt. Or perhaps my sudden change had thrown him off.

For once, he actually returned to my side. He took a small velvet box from his suit pocket and tossed it onto the table beside me.

"We'll get married some other time. This is for you. Consider it my way of making up for the delay."

I didn't bother looking at the box. "I don't want a gift," I said softly. "Make me dinner instead. I want soup."

"Why can't you let the housekeeper handle it?" Lucas asked.

"Because I want you to make it." I gave him a moment to absorb my words, then added, "You can consider it our breakup dinner."

"That's enough!" he snarled. "Stop saying something like that."

He looked at me with disgust. "You're being pathetic."

He then stormed out without looking back. His footsteps echoed through the hallway.

As soon as the door slammed shut, I smiled bitterly. I hadn't expected anything else.

Any care he had to give was reserved for Bella and no one else.

For six years, I had convinced myself that if I stayed beside him long enough, I could earn even the smallest piece of his affection. What a fool I'd been.

Soon after Lucas left, my phone rang. Bella sounded smug over the line and clearly wanted to provoke me.

"Well, Eliana," she said. "Looks like you lost again. Oh, about that gift Lucas gave you? You should thank me for it. He spent the entire day shopping with me, so he didn't have time to buy you anything. I'd gotten tired of that necklace, so I gave it to him. I never thought he'd actually turn around and offer it to you."

So, even Lucas' apology gift was nothing more than one of Bella's unwanted items.

"That explains it," I said flatly. "I was wondering why the box smelled like cheap perfume and desperation. Now, I understand. Garbage like that might be valuable to you, Bella, but it's worthless to me. I already tossed it in the trash."

Before Bella could reply, I ended the call and blocked her number. Then, I threw the velvet box into the trash.

At that moment, a sudden wave of dizziness hit me.

I grabbed the nightstand for support. A buzz filled my ears, and cold sweat ran down my spine.

My doctor's instincts took over, and I recognized what was happening. The rain, the cold, and the fever had combined to trigger a severe physical stress response in me.

This was bad. My fingers shook as I searched through my contacts, found the number of the one person I could still trust, and tapped the call button.

The call was answered almost immediately. A man's deep, magnetic voice came through the speaker.

"Eliana?"

I froze for a moment.

Since when had my best friend, Jenny Jones, sounded like a man?

But there was no time to make sense of it.

Drops of sweat fell from my face and splashed across the screen. I couldn't see clearly.

"Help me..." I tried to say more, but all that came from my throat was a broken gasp.

The next second, everything went black, and I fainted.

Eliana's POV:

When I woke up, a harsh white light made me squint instinctively.

The sharp smell of antiseptic filled the air, leaving no doubt that I was in a hospital.

I lowered the hand I had raised to shield my eyes. My gaze swept across the room, taking in my surroundings until it landed on the man standing by the window.

The light from the window cast his figure in stark silhouette, the immaculate black suit outlining the commanding breadth of his shoulders and the restrained strength hidden beneath his frame.

A sudden tightness gripped my chest. I thought he was Lucas.

"Lucas..." I rasped, my voice rough and weak.

The man slowly turned at the sound of my voice.

The instant his face came into view, whatever I had been about to say died on my tongue. My eyes widened in surprise, my heart stopping for a beat.

It wasn't Lucas.

The man standing before me carried an icy presence.

His features were striking-piercing eyes beneath sharply defined brows, a nose with a high, sculpted bridge, and thin lips set in a firm line. He was tall.

He hadn't spoken a single word, yet the air around him felt heavy with authority-the kind of presence that came only from someone who had spent years standing at the top.

Recognition slammed into me so suddenly that my breath stalled in my chest.

He was Aidan Morgan-the older half-brother of Lucas, the man who now led the Morgan family, and the new Don whose name alone was enough to make others tremble.

I had only crossed paths with him twice in the past. And both encounters had been complete disasters.

The first time came at the request of his grandfather, Edwin Morgan. Following the old man's orders, Aidan had personally arrived to bring Lucas-the illegitimate grandson-back into the Morgan family.

Lucas had resisted with everything he had.

Aidan had brought dozens of armed men dressed in black, ready to take Lucas back by force if necessary. Desperate to protect Lucas, I had thrown myself at Aidan and sunk my teeth into his hand until I drew blood.

The second time was during the Morgan family's banquet, which was held to celebrate Lucas' return.

That night, I had gotten myself completely drunk while taking every drink that had been meant for Lucas. Later, barely aware of where I was, I had wandered into Aidan's private lounge, mistaking him for Lucas. I climbed straight onto his lap, wrapped my arms around his neck, and even tried to kiss him...

The memories rushed back all at once, and the embarrassment that tore through me felt almost more unbearable than the fever burning through my body.

Then, without warning, a glass of water appeared in front of me.

For a moment, I could only look at Aidan in confusion.

One of his eyebrows arched slightly. He held the glass in one hand while his other hand rested against my back, carefully supporting me as he helped me sit upright.

The warmth of his broad palm seeped through the thin hospital gown, spreading across my back.

Before I could even react, he brought the glass to my lips and let me drink.

"Thank you," I said after I finished.

The fog in my mind finally began to clear. The water eased the dryness in my throat, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him for long. After a brief hesitation, I asked, "Why are you here?"

"You called me," Aidan answered, his deep voice steady.

"I-I called you?" The words stumbled out of my mouth. I felt confused.

That couldn't be right. The last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was reaching for my phone and dialing Jenny's number.

I immediately grabbed my phone from the nightstand and opened my call history. The most recent number on the screen made my heart stop; it was indeed Aidan's.

My entire body stiffened for a second.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan," I said quickly. Heat rushed to my face as embarrassment washed over me. My fingers clenched anxiously around the phone as I lowered my gaze. "I had a high fever and wasn't thinking clearly at that time. I must have accidentally called you. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

Aidan nodded, his unreadable eyes never leaving me. "It's alright. Your health comes first."

I hesitated for a long moment before speaking again. "You came to my rescue, and I owe you for that. I'll find a way to repay you. Whatever you want, just tell me. If I can do it, I will."

"Really?" Aidan asked.

"Yeah." I raised my chin, holding his stare with every ounce of courage I could gather.

With one hand tucked into his pocket, Aidan leaned closer, and the space between us was suddenly filled with his scent.

For the briefest moment, I caught the faint trace of amusement hidden beneath the coldness in his eyes.

His tone dropped, each syllable carrying a weight that left no room for hesitation. "In that case, I want you to marry me."