Filed to story: Second Chance Mafia Bride Drama Novel
He didn’t bother asking which room Mary had arranged. He’d made the decision for Serena himself.
Mary’s face tightened. She wanted to protest-it was the room her own daughter, Alice, had wanted-but she swallowed the words.
“… Yes, sir.”
Serena looked even happier.
“I’m heading up, Hubby!” she called, her cheerful footsteps echoing up the stairs.
Nicholas watched her go, unconsciously brushing the spot on his arm where she’d hugged him. He could still feel her lingering warmth.
“There won’t be a next time for mistakes like assigning the wrong room,” he said icily.
May went pale. “Yes, Mr. Salerno…”
Upstairs, Serena realized she hadn’t explained herself. But thinking back, Nicholas hadn’t seemed angry at all-hopefully, Rubina’s earlier accusations hadn’t left an impression.
Relieved, she exhaled softly.
With Nicholas’s instructions, May swiftly brought up several sets of new clothes. “The guest room will take a little time to prepare, ma’am. Sorry for the wait.”
Serena smiled, unbothered. “That’s fine. I’m in no rush.”
May grit her teeth and left.
“Is she giving you trouble already?”
“First day here and already acting like she owns the place…”
A few maids clustered together, muttering complaints and sneers.
“Mr. Salerno said there’s no need to honor the marriage contract, but she still showed up-like we don’t know what her family’s after.”
“Exactly. Word is, her family contacted Mr. Salerno the moment she got here, trying to wrangle some kind of benefit…”
A clear voice cut them off.
“Seems you all know quite a bit, don’t you?”
The maids jumped, turning to see Serena standing quietly at the corner, her expression unreadable.
“Ma’am…” They scrambled to bow their heads, sweat prickling on their brows. Serena’s tone was calm as she addressed May. “You forgot to bring my shoes.” May stammered. “Sorry, ma’am, that was my mistake. I’ll get them right away…” “We should get back to work,” the other maids blurted, scattering in all directions. Serena’s gaze darkened.
Trying to wrangle benefits? Her father-the kind of man who’d sell out his own daughter for status-would absolutely do something like that. She’d have to warn Nicholas later: if anyone was bargaining for favors, it ought to be her, not Gabriel Greco.
She turned back into her room. Within minutes, May arrived with the shoes. Serena barely looked up. “Leave them there. You can go.”
May hesitated by the guest room door as she left, then pulled out her phone and sent a message:
[Alice, when are you coming back?]
Alice Mary’s daughter.
Serena hadn’t been in the room long before a maid arrived to call her down for dinner.
It would be her first meal with Nicholas since her rebirth. She was actually looking forward to it, hurrying downstairs-only to find the dining room empty.
“…Where’s Mr. Salerno?”
“He’s out, ma’am.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flickered across Serena’s face.
With Nicholas’s injury, he hardly went out unless it was truly important. She knew better than to pry.
She ate alone in silence, then returned to her room upstairs.
There was so much to think about, so much to organize coming back to life wasn’t something she could take lightly.
Around nine that night, Nicholas returned. Before Serena could step out, she heard a loud crash from the next room, followed by Nicholas’s furious shout.
“Get out-!”
Her heart clenched. She rushed to the door.
She had many things to set right in this new life, but nothing was more important than Nicholas’s illness.
The suffocating despair of fighting a doomed fate, forced step by step toward death-it was enough to drive anyone mad. Nicholas always kept his pain locked away, but she knew all too well how close he was to breaking.
Serena hurried down the hall to his room.
If there was anything she’d gained during those wasted years being used by
Damien, it was a set of medical skills that just might save Nicholas now.
She hurried to the doorway next door and nearly collided with Logan, who had just been thrown out, and a servant clutching a first-aid kit.
The servant looked pale and wouldn’t even consider going back in.
Serena sighed and reached out her hand. “Give it to me.”
Logan looked surprised, gently reminding her, “Ma’am, Mr. Salerno… he’s not in the best mood right now.”
“I know,” Serena replied.
Precisely because she knew, she felt anxious-she needed to go in. She was deeply worried about him.
Logan hesitated for a moment, then, recalling how Nicholas treated her differently, turned to the servant. “Give it to her.”
Serena pushed open the door and slipped inside. The room was dark.
“Get out!” The man’s voice, sharp and simmering with anger, came from somewhere ahead.
By the faint light spilling through the window, she could just make out a tall figure sitting in a wheelchair, his back to her. He looked utterly exhausted, cloaked in a kind of heavy, hopeless gloom-like an old man on the brink of the grave.
Her heart clenched painfully in her chest.
He was only twenty-seven.
Was this what he was like in her previous life, too? Drowning in hopelessness day after day? But back then, all she’d cared about was escaping him-she’d never spared a single thought for how he felt. Not even once.
Slowly, she walked toward him.
As her footsteps drew near, Nicholas lashed out without warning.
“I said get-!”
His grip on her wrist was so tight she thought he’d snap the bone. Serena gasped in pain.
But the moment he realized it was her, his hold loosened abruptly.