MAFIA BOUND BY DEBT

MILA

I had come home early from another long day of searching for jobs. Hospital to hospital with my CV, I’d collected more rejection stamps than fingerprints.

“How was it?” Liza asked.

“No luck today,” I replied.

“Don’t worry, my dear. Very soon, everything will fall into place. Go freshen up, then come and eat.”

You might be wondering who Liza is. She is my stepmother.

I don’t remember the sound of my mother’s laugh or the way her arms felt when she hugged me. All she ever did was scream at me, like I was a mistake in her life.But I remember the day she left.

I was six, sitting on the tiled floor of our living room with my favorite stuffed rabbit, when she walked past me, dragging her suitcase.

“Please, Beatrice, don’t do this,” my father begged. “Who will look after Mila? Think about us.”

“Jaden, I’m sick and tired of you,” she snapped. “How long do you expect me to live like this? You can’t even provide three square meals. And talking about Mila... didn’t you ask me to keep that pregnancy? You know she was a mistake that happened between us.”

My father begged, but she closed the door without turning back.

I think that was the first time I felt hatred for her.

My life would have been a complete disaster if Liza hadn’t entered it.

She came three years after my mother disappeared. Soft-spoken. Patient. Gentle in a motherly way. She didn’t try to replace my mother; she simply stepped into the space my mother abandoned and made it warm again.

She stayed through everything.Through unpaid bills.Through late-night knocks from creditors.

My father, however…He has always been a storm.

I love him God knows I do but some days, loving him feels like trying to hold water in my hands. He slips through every promise he makes.

His addiction to gambling is the part of him I hate the most. The smell of the casino followed him home every night alcohol, smoke, disappointment. I grew up listening to him whisper to himself about winning it back, just one more hand, luck changing soon. Lies he told himself more than he told us.

He gambled away rent money. Electricity bills. Even my school fees once.

Liza always found a way, as she always did.But the resentment I carry is heavy.

Even now, at twenty, my life feels like it’s built on the ruins of my father’s choices.

The past few weeks had been worse than usual. My father was more anxious than I’d ever seen him. He flinched at knocks on the door, jumped when his phone rang, and avoided my questions like bullets.

Liza kept asking what was wrong.He kept lying.And I kept pretending not to notice.

But the truth never stays hidden forever.

I still remember the evening everything changed.

It was a normal Thursday.Or at least… it started normal.

My father was home, sitting on the couch with his head buried in his hands. His shoulders rose and fell with shaky breaths. That alone terrified me because my father never showed fear.

“Dad?” I called, stepping closer.

He didn’t lift his head.

Liza touched my arm gently, silently telling me not to push.

I sat anyway. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

He swallowed hard but said nothing.

And then

The knock came.

A firm knock.The kind people use when they already know you’re inside.

My father’s head shot up.He went pale.Liza stiffened beside him.

Another knock. Louder.

“Who… who could that be?” I breathed.

He stood abruptly. “Don’t open the door.”

But it was too late.

The door wasn’t even locked.

It swung open.

Three men entered with the confidence of people who had never heard the word no.

The one in front had sharp, calculating eyes the kind that didn’t just look at you, but measured your worth and your weakness in a single glance.

My heart dropped.

“Good evening, Mr. Jaden,” the leader said calmly. “We warned you.”

My father stumbled backward. “Please… I—I just need more time.”

They ignored him.

The man’s gaze shifted to me. Liza immediately stepped in front of me, her arm stretched out protectively.

“Leave my family out of this!” my father shouted, his voice cracking.

Family.Funny how that word comes easily only when people are desperate.

I gripped Liza’s hand so tightly my knuckles ached.

The leader took one step closer. “We don’t want your family, Jaden. We want what you owe us.”

“I’ll pay,” my father whispered. “I swear, I’ll pay.”

“When?”

Just one word.

My father had no answer.

The man sighed. “Our boss is losing patience. This was your first warning. Next time won’t be this polite.”

Boss.

That word felt heavy. Dangerous.

They didn’t touch us. They didn’t need to. They left behind a quiet promise of something worse.

The door closed.

My father collapsed onto the couch, shaking. Liza sat beside him. I stood frozen, every heartbeat echoing in my ears.

“Dad…” My voice trembled. “What have you gotten yourself into this time? How much do you owe?”

He didn’t answer.He just cried into his hands.

That terrified me more than anything ever had.

Liza looked at him, then at me. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Jaden… who are these men? Whose boss are they talking about?”

He lifted his head slowly.

“Adrian,” he whispered. “Adrian Scoto.”

The name felt like ice water down my spine.

Adrian Scoto?

My father’s voice broke. “Forget the name. Forget everything. Please.”

But I couldn’t.

“Who is he?” Liza asked shakily. “A loan shark?”

My father looked at her… then at me… and said the two words that froze my blood.

“He’s worse.”

Worse?

Worse than men barging into our home like they owned it?

I sat down, my breath unsteady.

Liza covered her mouth with both hands and broke into tears...shaking sobs that filled the room with a fear I had never seen in her before.

My father had always made terrible decisions.

But this one was different.

This one was dangerous.

And the worst part?

One terrifying question echoed in my mind.

What happens when Adrian Scoto decides my father’s time is up?

ADRIAN SCOTO

Outside the city, in a modest bedroom, a man and his wife lay asleep with even breaths, bodies relaxed, utterly unaware that someone was already there.

Adrian Scoto’s face was hidden behind a black mask. Only the sharp glint of his eyes betrayed his cold presence.

He sat on a cushion in their bedroom, legs crossed, taking in the scene before him.

The faint creak of the floor would have been loud to anyone else, but they remained blissfully unaware...until the wife woke.

The moment she saw a stranger, she screamed, which jolted her husband awake.

The man stirred, eyes snapping open, panic instant.“W-what…?” he whispered, his voice trembling. Fear gripped him before he fully comprehended what he was facing.

“Do you know what happens to debtors who are disobedient?” Adrian asked, his voice dripping with menace.

The man’s hands flew to the floor as he dropped to his knees.“Please… I’ll pay! Just a little time! I