TILL D£ATH DO US APART
(The•Devil•I•Loved)
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Copyright © 2025
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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
[Chicago, Dew Hospital~Trauma ICU]
The corridor reeked of antiseptic as Ivanna walked the grounds with her heart barely hanging in her chest.
Quiet hum of machines from different glass-walled wards reminded her that the heart never breaks clean; it shatters in echoes that only silence can hear.
She moved out of the way when emergency nurses ran past her into a ward to attend to one of the patients.
She paused and take a deep breath, inserting her hands in her tight black jean pockets.
This hospital is full of patients from the construction site accident, and doctors are refusing to perform surgery on anyone of them.
They want long money cheques on their tables before they'd save a life, so every single patient condition still critical since they're poor.
Only the kind nurses are struggling to keep them alive.
The Armando family who owns the constuction site showed no concern about the casualties despite the protest going on.
The protest has been ongoing for a week now, but the Armandos aren't moved, which is why Ivanna and her siblings made a grand plan.
Today, they'll get the money and throw it at the doctors faces.
Ivanna made few more strides, her key pendant necklace dangling from her neck till she arrived at the last ward where her parents are.
The double doors hissed open, flooding the hall with bright lights as the couple came to view.
Mr and Mrs. Cooper.
Jugles of wires and pipes passed into their bodies, mouths and ears, both are barely alive on their coma beds.
They got traumatic brain injury and brutal sepsis which needs surgery within two days, or they die in coma.
Ivanna stood between their beds, missing her mum's grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup so much.
She misses stealing her dad's toast, and she missed their once happy family which is now torn between survival and saving their parents.
Christmas is in less than three months, so whatever it takes, the money has to come today.
She lowered her figure, planting deep kisses on their foreheads.
Mother first, then father.
"We'll be right back with the money later today, no matter what" she assured the comatose couples.
She pasted a note on the door before exiting the ward, her short heels pounding the tiled ground as she rushed out of the filled hospital.
Stepping out of the large gate, she bunched her hair up and tied it in a ponytail, the morning breeze doing nothing to calm her burning nerves.
The voices of the protesting people whizzed into her ears, and she momentarily watched the helpless poor people who're fighting for their loved ones in the hospital.
They're holding cardboards with marker writings like...
→WE WANT ATTENTION!!
→THE ARMANDO FAMILY NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CASUALTIES!!
→OUR PEOPLE ARE DYING WITH ZERO HOPE OF SURGERY!!
Ivanna's eyes twitched when she sighted a kid close to the road.
He belongs to one of the protesters judging by his faded clothes. He just stood there, about to pass out.
At the same time, a Ferrari drove into the road from the other side, racing towards the hospital road.
"F+k!" Ivanna gasped, breaking into an unplanned run.
Her adrenaline pumped.
Thanks to her stunts experience, she was able to arrive in time, jumping skillfully to the road where she picked up the child.
The car sped past her like a missile.
By now, the protesting people have stopped their protests, everyone is wide-eyed.
The mother of the child rushed to take the kid from Ivanna.
"Keep an eye on him! There are already enough casualties in the wards!" Ivanna scolded, her breaths coming out in a rushed sequence.
"He has been participating in the protest for his injured father, but he got weak cos the last time we ate something was two days ago. I'll take him home now, thanks for saving him." The mother appreciated.
Ivanna's chest twisted with more pain, more pity, but before she could utter another word, the speeding car reversed, stopping right beside them.
New model, sleek black, and even when the owner hasn't alighted yet, Ivanna could already smell the expensive perfume oozing.
From the backdoor, a lady who looks like a maid came out carrying a black umbrella. She rushed to the front door and opened it, unfolding the umbrella to raise up.
The real owner of the car stepped out, and Ivanna had to take one step back so the car door won't hit her.
The lady is of average height like Ivanna, but her grey eyes are cold, and her poise looks too scary.
Her chin is high, even her shoulders, and her two hands are folded behind.
The mouths of the poor protesters widened, cos everyone in Chicago recognizes this cold ruthless bî+ch.
Lissa Armando, the only daughter of the Armando family. The heiress.
There's no rain or sun, but her umbrella maid made sure to cover her head properly with the umbrella.
When her gaze finally settled on Ivanna's, it didn't change. She remained expressionless.
"Nice jumping skills you've got, but the next time you jump in front of my car like that to save someone, I'll crush your brains," she muttered.
"Are you insane?" Ivanna replied, her eyes turning as cold as Lissa's. "Your family construction site collapsed, putting so many workers including my parents in a life-and-death condition in this hospital,"
"Doctors refused to attend to them, and so far, ten workers are dead cos they didn't get surgery! Your family refused to take responsibility, and the patients family have been protesting for a week, the government did nothing cos your family is above the law anyways,"
"Now you nearly crushed a child with your car, and the next thing you do is threaten me? Human lives aren't paper!"
Lissa stayed unaffected for a second, as if she didn't hear her.
But then—suddenly, she took a step closer. Ivann didn't move.
"Only ten people are dead? That's a disappointingly low number," she replied emotionlessly.
Her voice wasn't unnecessarily loud, but it still carried the needed toxicity.
"What!" Ivanna's eyes widened a bit.
"If you feel it's unfair, then get rich like me, I'll give you my time, might even sign you an autograph. And for your first question, am I insane? The answer is obvious, poor thing" Lissa addressed arrogantly.
"Let's go, we have a wedding to attend," she told the umbrella maid, then she got back in her car.
The maid folded the umbrella and ran back into the car with her.
They zoomed off.
Half of the protesting people dropped their cardboards.
Some sat on the ground and started crying, losing hope completely.
Ivanna didn't watch for another wasteful minute, she hopped on a taxi which took her to the small apartment where she lives with her siblings, and she barged in.
House Of Esposito blueprint map was spread on the table when she arrived.
Ginny is already carrying a small backpack containing her small tablet, it matched her petite figure.
Robert is wearing his gloves, his biceps bulging hugely under his t-shirt. A backpack containing their hired guns lay beside his legs.
"Let me take a obvious guess, you went to see mum and dad in the ICU?" He cast Ivanna a quick glance.
"Needed to say goodbye," Ivanna replied dryly, picking her gloves.
"Goodbye? We're not dying, Iva." Ginny raised her lids, drinking from a bottle of cheap mimosa.
"Let's get more than one bag from the slush fund. We can pay for the surgery of everyone in the hospital with it." Ivanna said, wearing a blonde wig to cover her black hair.
She wore spectacles too, and her looks changed completely.
"Someone pissed you off, I can feel it," Robert patted her before picking the weapon backpack.
"I'll tell you both about it after we come back. For now, let's go get the bags and save mum and dad." Ivanna gave him a small smile.
"But...is your blonde wig necessary? You already have a overly pale skin so you look like a doll right now. And the glasses are old-fashioned." Ginny commented.
"Are you gonna write a poem about my disguise?" Ivanna sighed.
"Sawrry!" Ginny grinned, but there's sadness under that grin.
They left the house in their rented car, driving to the Obscure Roses Shop in street 136.
According to the Intel they received, the bosslady of the clan—Donna Felicia Esposito, is a lover of rare roses who gets her roses replacements from this shop yearly.
This year's replacement happens to be today, and it works in their favor.
When they arrived, they could already see special florists in blue vests, face caps and and nose masks, packing roses into a white truck for early delivery to the clan.
There are seven florists in sight, both male and female.
The siblings came out of the car and marched as nonchalantly as possible to the gigantic shop like they're there to buy roses, but the moment they stepped the threshold, Ginny pulled out her tablet, clicking few icons to disconnect the cameras by that door.
They've been prepping for this day since four days ago, so it was easy.
The threshold cameras went off, and Robert followed up when two of the florists showed up.
He got a short handgun out, firing the two on their necks.
Sedating needles hit them instead of bullets, and they went down sleepily like dead weights.
Ivanna removed their vests, caps and masks, she then dragged their bodies to the a huge trashcan by that same door, stacked with rotten roses.
She dumped them inside and covered them up.
When the third florist appeared and saw them, the woman nearly screamed out, but Ivanna was faster.
Stretching on a toe, she spun an extra needle into her neck.
She fell asleep like the other two. Her body was thrown into the trashcan after her vest was equally stolen.
Swiftly, the siblings dressed up in the vests, caps and nose masks, then they entered the inner shop with the others, acting like real florists.
--
[Pulaski Road]
Among the cars driving on the smooth road that cold morning, there's a matte black McLaren that's speeding more than the others.
The smell of opium cigarette wafted out of the car tinted windows despite being closed, and the tyres seemed to be grinding the tar.
Inside the car, Bobby sat on the driver's seat, driving with a long stick of cigarette hanging between his lips.
He's moving his head to a music that's not even playing.
Beside him, there's Leonardo who sat smugly, his mullet hair falling over his neck at the back, and a large bunch of strands fell over his narrowed right eye, pink lips so devilishly irresistible, dark tattoos peeking out of his neck and spreading to his chest and back.
Four set of small earrings dangled from his right ear.
There's a crested silver lighter in his hand, and he's flipping the cover open and close everytime as if learning control with it.
Dangerously handsome? That's the right word.
Leonardo is the first son of the Esposito family, and Bobby is the second. They're the Esposito brothers.
Leonardo has a phone to his ear, but he lowered it, ending his call.
"Your wife is almost done dressing up, Bob." He said, his voice baritone and unintentionally seductive.
He's got an accent.
"I should probably get you a snack for breaking that news" Bobby laughed, screeching the car to a rough stop in front of a snack store.
"Marrying your cheating whore of a wife is a huge flex," Leonardo stated, taking the cigarette from Bobby's lips.
He had a drag, sweeping his hair back intentionally with his palm.
"Killing her means giving her a free ticket to hell which isn't happening. She cheated on me, she has to pay the price by marrying me. I'll become her worse nightmare" Bobby said energetically, getting out of the car.
He took Leonardo's jacket from the backseat and threw it on.
"I'll personally kill anyone who tries to kill her, bro. She doesn't deserve death. Now let's get you some wasabi peas!" He grinned.
"Stronza" Leonardo cussed, sitting on the car trunk and blowing clouds of smokes as Bobby entered the well-stocked store.
He easily spotted wasabi shelf.
He picked two packs and a pack of opium then walked over to the counter and dropped the items.
"Never knew snack stores sold cigarettes,." He said.
The only attendant on the counter looked up, and Bobby smiled at her, his overly white teeth so attractive.
"Your ID?" She asked.
"Save the stress, I'm 26. Ignore the overly young features"
"Your ID," the attendant repeated.
Sighing, Bobby slipped his ID onto the table. The attendant picked it up, checking his age.
"Really 26? Cool" she muttered.
"That's not the most interesting thing on that ID," Bobby whispered darkly, leaning on the counter, so much the attendant could smell his musk.
"I don't understand," the attendant frowned at him.
"Check again, the name part," Bobby replied, his smile wiping off.
The attendant eyes went to the ID again, checking the name...
"Bobby Esposi.... damnit!!!"
She screamed, the ID fell from her, and she followed, landing on the ground and falling back, panic and fear surging as her chest ripped.
"There... the fear of us has always been feasibly entertaining," Bobby's dark smile returned, darker than before. "Imagine being the most notorious crime family in this country, our names appear in every news, but not our pictures cos even the government are scared of us." He chuckled, jumping over the counter.
He landed beside the poor attendant, and the lady started gasping for breaths, shifting back.
She couldn't even form a word.
"Another interesting news? My biggie Leonardo is outside, he'd have gouged out your eyes if you asked him for an ID" Bobby squatted.
The lady coughed nervously, saliva clogged in her throat. Her back met the wall, she coughed again.
"Tell you what? I'm in a big mood. My fiancee Wendy cheated, and I'm getting married to her to sign her into a lifetime of misery. I'm happy today, so you're safe," Bobby continued, picking the payment machine.
He swiped his card by himself, paying for the wasabi peas and cigarettes.
"Live longer, honey," his smile returned, and he jumped over the counter again, leaving the store.
The attendant ran out through the backdoor, and Bobby grinned menacingly as he stepped out, throwing the wasabi pea packs at Leonardo who caught only one, letting the second one fall.
"I'm guessing you killed the attendant?" He said casually as they hopped back in the car.
"She got lucky, alive even after seeing my ID. It's my generous wedding gift" Bobby replied, gassing up the car.
"Tell me Lissa is coming to my miserable wedding, she promised!" He suddenly said.
"She loves chaos, no way she'd miss it," Leonardo flatly said, pushing a pea into his mouth.
He got a low buzz on his phone, indicating an important alert.
He swiped up the screen.
--
[House Of Esposito]
The clan is a fortress draped in luxury where marbles meet menace, and every hallway feels like it's communicating a secret.
The estate sprawled over acres of private land, bordered by wrought-iron bulletproof gate which bore the clan's crest; a dragon curled on a dagger, carved into black stone.
Inside, the air is thick with old money and silent authority. Walls are paneled and polished until they gleam, and outside grounds are cobblestones.
Order is the protocol here.
Everything is so in order that it feels too procedural.
Specially trained male and female guards moved with controlled steps and timetable around the estate, communicating and switching duties with their attached buds.
Professional maids in uniform moved in a straight line of twos and threes, carrying trays and serving the legends around the clan.
Even the maids here are trained, no one's a weakling. No one's useless.
Drivers are exchanging shifts just like guards, and they moved with practiced professionalism around the wide-ass park.
The clan mob gang are everywhere, heavily built men and smart powerful women who'd die for the clan without blinking.
Here, loyalty is power.
Most of them are in suit though, prepared for the wedding of madness that'd be happening at the ballroom.
Bobby Weds Wendy.
A white truck entered the clan under heavy guards attention, and the moment it stopped at the park, vested florists jumped out of it, bringing roses crates out of the trunk and transporting them into the roses sanctuary under supervision.
The crates are over hundred, and it's gonna take exactly fifteen minutes for them to finish transporting, so the siblings took the opportunity.
From under her nose mask, Ivanna signalled at Ginny and Robert.
According to the blueprint they studied, there's a thin vent leeway beside the sanctuary, so after they transported their second crates of roses, they entered the vent.
The other four real florists continued transporting the roses.
Their masks and caps didn't even make the guards suspect that they've decreased by three.
Bobby's car stopped at the park, and as he got out with Leonardo, Leonardo smirked sharply.
"I know that smirk, what's going on?" Bobby asked, sidelining the bowing guards by the terrace.
"Your wedding will experience a crash, so big you'd never forget," Leonardo replied meaningfully, giving the flower truck a wicked glance before proceeding.
"I really hate when you speak in parables, man!" Bobby went after him with a grunt.
--
[Bacardi's Planet]
The building is one of the largest residential suites, called Bacardi's planet cos it's owned by Bacardi—the third child of the crime family.
She's currently in front of her mirror with a scissors to her hair.
She's cutting the strands irregularly, that's how she likes it to be today.
Bacardi is a freak who does the most abnormal things, but she's the sunshine—the golden retriever among the siblings.
She's bubbly and lively.
She jumped on her heels and threw on a very ripped jean, wearing a transparent singlet on top, showcasing her black bra.
She'd be leaving for the wedding like this, free as a bird.
As she walked out of her bedroom to her neon room, chewing gum loudly, she was smiling.
Neon lights showered her face, and disco music pumped her ears.
Multiple male strippers are in the neon room, dancing nakedly on silver poles, all for her.
They're always here, and they never get tired of serving her.
They're her boy toys.
"My whores!!" She laughed, slapping two of them in the arse before stepping away from the suite.
--
[Sandra's Condo]
This place is for the last child of the crime family.
Sandra. The Top Girl.
She's the clean freak who hates blood on herself and is very obsessed with elegant dresses, but at the same time, she kills like a maniac.
Just like Leonardo and Bobby are close as the only male children, Sandra is close with Bacardi too as the only females.
Currently, Sandra is busy with Wendy—the bride.
Wendy is crying from the nose and eyes as Sandra did her makeup.
Even her wedding dress is soiled with the mascara as a result of her tears, but Sandra doesn't care.
Her cup of care is always empty.
She just kept doing her thing with the makeup, and Wendy kept crying.
Suddenly, Wendy stood from the chair and fell on her knees.
She held Sandra's legs.
"Please! You know Bobby is going to show me hell in this marriage! I don't want to enter that wedding hall! He's going to make me beg for death! I admit I made a mistake by cheating on him, but he already killed the monster I cheated with, please help me beg Bobby to let me go!!!"
She bent down and kissed Sandra's toes like a beggar, licked her calves and wet it with her hot tears.
"Please help me!! I'd rather have him kill me than get married to him!!!"
Sandra's leg went up with precision, and when it came down to Wendy's head, it smashed her face to the floor
Wendy's nose peeled completely.
Her forehead bled into her mouth as she cried out again, louder.
"Beg Bobby for you?" Sandra scoffed, lips curving with cruelty. "Why would I beg for a wench? Bobby caught you cheating with another man's dîck in your à nus, so get up and go get your inevitable karma!" Sandra kicked her to the door.
From there, female guards took Wendy, by each side.
"Sandra!! Sandra please!!! Sandra!!!!"
--
[Ballroom]
Important members of the Outfit mob moved with wine glasses held with callused hands.
The needed guards and assigned maids lined the hall.
The cut head of Wendy's cheating partner is by the door, acting as a stepping stone for everyone.
Everyone must step on it before they enter, and the head is already unrecognizable.
Bobby is in front of the hall, waiting for his bride with a evil smile.
Leonardo is now in a suit, and his hair is sleeker, a tequila glass sat in his hand down the hall.
"Leo!" Lissa arrived behind.
He turned slowly, his stripping eyes checking her out from her toes, hips, to her face.
Lissa gave him a hug.
She's his childhood friend, and their friendship is close-knit. Also, her Armando family have a deeply rooted relationship with this clan.
"Thought you changed your mind about coming," Leonardo said, reluctantly taking his eyes off her.
Lissa is overly beautiful.
"A poor thing pissed me earlier, nearly changed my mind, but if I did, Bobby is gonna wail in my ears for the rest of the year, so I had to come, couldn't have missed this wedding of misery anyways," she quipped, clinking her glass with Leonardo's.
Bacardi and Sandra entered the organized hall, their sharp heels clawing the ground till they picked their glasses from the table tower.
The second door was pulled open by maids whose head are deeply down.
The boss of this crime family, the father—Don Anthony entered with his wife—Donna Felicia, beside him, their arms linked.
Don Anthony wore brown shades on his black tux, his hair slick back. He's a solidly built man with slightly big belly, in his early fifties.
He looks crazily vibrant with his caustic smile. He's always smiling, even when killing the enemy.
Donna Felicia is his opposite.
She wore a black backless dress, cleavage out, hair in a tight bun. She's stone-faced with a long elegant neck that belongs to aristocrats.
She's really gorgeous.
As they entered, silence swallowed the hall as if this is a ritual.
Then... Wendy was brought by the female guards.
As she was made to step on her cheating partner's head before entering the hall, she broke into fresh tears again.
From the front, Bobby waved her with two fingers, and her chest tore apart literally.
Leonardo swirled the tequila in his glass fast.
"Anything supping?" Lissa asked when she noticed that move.
Reason; even if Leonardo blinks, it means something.
"Don't be hasty, won't be long now," Leonardo replied, drinking a sip from his tequila.
--
[Slush Fund Vault]
After the siblings slipped into the vent earlier, they came out to a thin corridor, and from there, they followed the direction of their map.
Every turn brought a new risk—a passing maid, a guard's shadow, a mob laughter from the other side.
They hid behind drapes when they sighted another guard,
The closer they got to the vault, the thicker the air got, scenting of looming trouble till they arrived.
The vault was disguised as a private study room with mahogany desk, two leather chairs, and a grand painting of the Padrino(Godfather)
Surprisingly, the painting swung open to reveal a steel door.
Robert cracked it open in sixty heartbeats.
Inside, bundles of cash stacked like bricks filled metal shelves, so f+kin much like it could feed the whole country for years.
"Now!" Ginny pulled out their bags.
They started packing without waiting, their hearts pounding too loud.
Then—a noise.
A low vibration beneath their feet.
Vows...
"I, Bobby Esposito, promise to drag Wendy Marcus to hell and make this wedding your darkest nightmare, through tortures and...."
"The wedding is happening right under us?" Ginny said at alert.
"This vault was built on top of the wedding ballroom,I think" Robert replied, still packing money.
"Why didn't we see that inside the map we studied? Also, isn't this too easy?" Ivanna suddenly said.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"We're in a Mafia clan, a deadly one and shii, and I calculated that we would spend the next fifteen minutes searching for the slush fund vault, but it's not even up to seven minutes and we already found the vault? We opened it without stress?" Ivanna said suspiciously.
Robert's brain snapped.
"No! We need to go now!" He suddenly ordered, suspecting it's not making sense too.
Things aren't adding up anymore.
"The hell?" Ginny muttered.
They grabbed the bags of money they've gathered, and they all went for the door smoothly, but unknown to them, they didn't fully reset the door when they came in earlier.
The floor groaned under the impact of their weight, and a beam snapped. The wooden panel splintered.
Before a scream could form, the three of them crashed straight through the ceiling, plaster dust.
They fell into the wedding hall.
The roses on the alter scattered up like snow.
Their money bags bursted, money rained in the air like cursed confetti.
Ivanna fell directly on Wendy, and in the process, Wendy's neck hooked on one of the fallen ceiling panels.
Her neck got deeply slit, and she died on the spot.
By now, the guards are already pointing their guns forward, even the ones on top of the ballroom railings.
More than two hundred guns including snipers faced the siblings, and poisonous eyes ransacked them.
As for Bobby, his half-wide eyes are on Wendy's dead body on the ground.
Ivanna and her siblings looked up at the same time, and when they saw the bloody lion's den they just fell in, they lost their damn minds.
And Leonardo?
He's staring intensely at the siblings.
He's sitting already, and he has stopped swirling his tequila glass, calm as sin in his tailored suit.
When his unreadable eyes caught Ivanna's, he brought the glass to his lips and held eyes with her as he drank all the tequila till there was no drop left in the glass.
Finally, the scapegoats fell into the tight trap.
TBC.
Another banga
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ReplyDeleteIvana, the girl don daran😫😫😫