THEIR DOLL 🔞

PROMISE

Two little kids tiptoed into their grandfather's office to scare him, but the older man was smart enough to recognize who entered his office. He decided to let them have fun, knowing that if he stopped them now, they would keep repeating it until he pretended to be scared and shocked. The twins grinned at each other in victory, thinking they had successfully made it inside the office without their grandfather's attention.

"One, two, three," they both whispered in unison and jumped at the old man with a loud and cute "bow." The old man gasped, holding his hand on his chest, faking fear of the two little monsters, his elder daughter's children.

"Oh mon dieu, you guys scared me," he complained in his gruff voice, trying to sound softer for the children.

"Yeahhhh, we scared you, we scared you," the twins sang, jumping up and down in happiness, and the older man admired every feature of his mischievous grandchildren.

The guards at his office door were always surprised, wondering how a man like Andre François, a French mafia boss, could be so calm around his grandchildren.

Andre chuckled at them, shaking his head, and asked, "Where is your mother?" As he spoke those words, his elder daughter Aurora entered the room tiredly and plopped herself on the couch, making her dad laugh.

"I'm here, dad, I'm alive," she said, making him laugh more. "I see you guys are troubling my daughter a lot," Andre told her, narrowing his eyes at the guilty-looking twins.

"Yes, Dad, they didn't let me rest the whole flight, asking when we will reach every minute, and their father was busy in his mafia stuff," Aurora complained, whining tiredly.

"By the way, where is Dimitri?" Andre asked his daughter.

"Meeting with his new clients, he said he would be back by the time the party starts," she replied tiredly.

There was a knock on the door, making Andre revert to his cold demeanor.

"Master, Princess Odette isn't waking up; she dismissed and threatened to kill if anyone disturbs her sleep," the maid said with her head down.

Andre sighed heavily. Without his wife, it was hard for him to raise his two daughters—one easy to handle, and the other, a rebellious brat. Aurora was always the girly one, behaving like a high-class French lady. To forge alliances with the Russian mafia, Andre married her off to the Russian mafia boss, and now she has two sons with him.

She was well-fitted in the Russian family, where women were hidden as prized possessions. All she had to do was stay at home, please her husband, bear his kids, handle disputes between mafia families' women, and attend parties as a trophy beside her husband.

But Odette was a rebel. Her choice of studying feminism angered Andre, and she adorned herself with piercings and tattoos. Andre groaned, feeling like he was losing his mind.

"Do you want me to take care of her?" Aurora offered sympathetically.

"Please, also take her for shopping; buy her some clothes in which she looks presentable for her engagement. You know how Italian men want their women to be," he sighed, and Aurora nodded, pressing her lips together.

"Don't worry, Dad; I will take care of it," she assured him, kissing his cheek softly, then left the room with her twins following her.

"Aunt Oddy, wake up," a little boy jumped on Odette, making her groan.

"Please wake up; we are bored," another kid whined as he made himself comfortable on her legs.

"What the hell, go to your mama," she groaned, pushing them away and covering her eyes with her arm draped on them.

"Time to wake up; it's your engagement tonight, and we have so many things to do," Odette's elder sister, Aurora, spoke in a chirpy voice as she pulled the blinds away, letting sunshine peek into Oddy's room, making her groan.

"I don't want to do anything today, so please get the hell out of my room with your twins," Odette groaned, covering her face with the pillow.

"Paul, Peter, go and play in the garden; I will tell someone to send you muffins in a few minutes," Aurora said, smiling at her twins, who clapped their hands excitedly, then ran away without a word.

"Oddy, you need to get up; we have so many errands to run before your engagement party starts," Aurora told her, pulling the blanket off her sister, making her kick her legs in the air, trying to attack Aurora.

"Are you mad?" Aurora gasped scolding her sister.

"Yes, I am mad because I don't know why I'm getting forced to get engaged to an Italian mafia boss when I'm just nineteen!" Odette growled angrily, throwing the pillow away and getting up from bed.

"I don't even know his name, nor have I seen him," she screamed at her elder sister.

Odette was mad because every time she tried to adjust to her family environment, they enlarged their expectations, which she had to fulfill. But one day, she snapped, turning off her 'okay dad' card and becoming a bratty individual. Inside, she still cared for every worker in her mansion, every hurt animal, even the plants in her garden, which she grew with love and care.

Tears started slipping from Odette's eyes, and she hugged her sister tightly.

"I'm sorry, Rora; I didn't mean to speak to you like that," she apologized quickly, sobbing on her sister's shoulder.

Aurora bit her cheek to stop crying, trying to be strong for her sister. But deep down, she knew what her little sister was going through. They had no other option but to listen to their father.

"I know, Oddy," Aurora told her, sniffing, embracing her sister tightly in her protective hold.

"Oddy... trust me... if you fight this, it will hurt a lot. Just accept this, baby; I know he will love you and treat you as a queen," she assured her sister with her own experience.

"You know I can't do this," Oddy cried, shaking her head.

"Shhh, stop crying. Last time when I met you, you made your four bodyguards cry, which was more like you," Aurora told her, chuckling sadly.

"They deserved it; they weren't letting me go inside to meet you," she complained, wiping her tears as she snorted.

"I'm afraid..." Odette told her, looking at her sister, whose face was tear-stained.

"Why? Because you don't know him?" Aurora sighed sadly.

"Trust me, Oddy; I didn't know Dimitri too before I got engaged to him. But when we did, he became close and took care of me and loved me," Aurora told her, making Oddy shake her head.

"Dimitri was a kind man; that doesn't mean this Italian guy would be the same. Consider yourself lucky," Oddy told her sister, rolling her eyes.

"He would be happy to hear this," Aurora said, making her chuckle.

"I'm not afraid because of it," Oddy told her sadly, biting her lower lip, tugging her lip ring at the corner of her lower lip to the right side.

"You know how the Russian and Italian mafia hate each other's guts. I'm afraid they will not let us meet anymore," Odette says sadly.

"Don't worry; I will talk to Dimitri about this," Aurora assures her sister, knowing well that Dimitri would never let her get close to the Italian mafia, not even when his sister-in-law is married to the mafia boss.

He is here only because she is his sister-in-law, and Andre requested his presence as he is his elder son-in-law. But when she gets married, she is nothing more than the wife of his enemy.

"Now, let's go and have some girls' time," Aurora tells her, pulling her sister up and pushing her into the washroom, making Oddy chuckle.

Odette strips off her nightdress and stands under the shower, letting warm water fall on her tired body. Last night, she wasn't able to sleep. Who would when their dad tells her she has to marry an Italian mafia boss who is just a stranger to her? She clenches her fists angrily, channeling her pain into rage. She clenches her teeth and seethes.

"All this happened because of you; I will never forgive you. You're not taking a wife but your own destruction home," she growls, fisting her hair madly.

"I promise."