Viella pov

The next day.

I woke up like a tired goblin dragging myself out of the bed.

With a groan and hair that looked like I fought a pigeon, I blinked at the ceiling.

Took my phone for another annoying dramatic headlines, familys nagging

BUT 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

No news headlines. No family emergency calls. No Dante mafia threats. Nothing.

Suspicious.

After that party’s drama? I expected fire, flood, and at least three emotional blackmail texts. But my phone was dry.

Even Dante, Mr. Mafia Cold-Glare himself, didn’t text. It wasn’t like he gonna text anyway.

Figures.

A soft knock at the door. My maid entered quietly, and from her wide eyes, I could tell she was new.

"Good morning, Miss Vielle," she whispered.

Poor thing looked like I’d throw a fork at her just for breathing too loudly.

I didn’t.

Instead, I nodded and let her clean as I dragged myself to the shower. After washing off all the party trauma, I picked out a comfy beige knit dress with a fitted waist and puff sleeves. Casual, classy.

Light makeup, loose curls, and a spritz of citrus perfume.

Because, villainess or not, dying without looking nice is a crime.

Downstairs, I started eating my brunch- a peaceful moment with juice in hand- until:

Notification: From Hothead-hiss-hiss

Mentally laughed after seeing the name vielle set for him.

Then opened the chat to see

A picture of the bracelet. The bracelet that caused more mental breakdowns than high school math.

Sent by none other than my so-called evil brother.

"Be in time. Or I’m Giving it back to Dante and will directly ask him about his dear gift"

My soul nearly left my body. I dropped my toast and smashed reply:

"YES YES 5 MINS I’M ON MY WAY DEAREST BROTHER PLEASE SPARE IT."

I chugged the rest of my juice like a shot of regret, grabbed my bag, and bolted.

Inside the car,

I opened our old texts to mentally prepare. And get to know their bond well as it wasn’t mentioned much in the book

....

Vielle: Can I borrow your Porsche?

Brother: You touch it, you die.

.....

Vielle: I think I’m gonna die fr

Brother: Then leave me your closet, I like your boots

.....

Him: Bring snacks.

Vielle: You kidnapped my bunny just for some snacks??

Him: Obey before it becomes yummy bbq meat.

.....

Cruel. So cruel. He Should’ve been the mafia boss, not Dante.

I reached his mansion and nearly cried.

It was bigger. Shinier. Cleaner.

Richer.

"I’m jealous," I muttered. "He stole my rich genes."

But then I remembered Dante and his mansion which was way bigger than any of us... and instantly changed remembering the dead threat.

Nope. Not going near that man until further notice. The last thing I need is mafia rage and bracelet betrayal in the same room.

I walked in. The guards bowed. Of course.

And there he was.

Leaning on the doorframe. Checking his expensive silver watch.

"You’re five and a half seconds late," he said flatly. "So now you clean my snake’s nest too."

I froze. "WAIT, WHAT?!"

Snake. Nest. What kind of medieval punishment-

"Do you want your dear brother to die of stress while raising exotic pets alone?"

"Do you want your dear sister to DIE cleaning a nest?!"

He smirked. That smug family inheritance.

Then he said it.

"Oh. It’s been peaceful today, huh? No paparazzi. No news drama?"

My eyes narrowed. "...What did you do?"

"Nothing," he smiled innocently. "Just made sure mom and dad don’t hear a word. Unless I tell them."

I gulped.

"Want your punishment instead? Hmm? No more luxurious mansion. Straight to the main house. With mom. And her yelling. And those ancient wallpaper rooms."

I swear, my vision went black.

"You... You’re a monster."

He tossed the bracelet in his hand.

"Say it with snacks in your hand."

I fake-laughed. "HAHA wow I love my amazing brother. You’re the best. Can’t wait to be your snake-sitter."

And that’s how my day started.

With blackmail, and emotional damage.

Just another Tuesday in villainess life.

---

The moment I stepped into that room, my soul left my body.

Dark, dimly lit, with shelves of terrariums lining the walls. The faint sound of hissing and slithering filled the air like some horror movie ambience. It smelled expensive, humid... and absolutely not like somewhere I wanted to be.

And then I saw her.

Luciferina.

My brother’s beloved pet snake, coiled dramatically on a branch like she ruled the entire room. Her slitted yellow eyes locked on me like I was an unseasoned snack.

"Why does this book want me dead?" I muttered, frozen. "First Dante, now this snake with murder in her eyes?"

Just then, my dear sibling, the devil himself, strolled in casually. He tossed a spray bottle, gloves, a cloth, and a weird tong-looking thing into my hands like I was the official Snake Maid.

"You got thirty minutes. And no, she doesn’t bite... unless you scream."

He smirked and left like some Bond villain, locking the door behind him.

I stood there. Alone. With the snake mafia.

"I wanna cryyyyyyy," I whispered to no one.

As I carefully dusted the corner of a tank, I sat cross-legged and started ranting to the only thing that was forced to listen.

"Honestly? Your master is evil. He blackmailed me, you know? ME. His cute, innocent sister. I was supposed to be rich, not cleaning snake poop. Do you know how many layers of highlighter I wore for this kind of betrayal?"

Luciferina hissed and flicked her tongue at me.

"Rude."

I turned to wipe another shelf and that’s when I heard it.

A soft, slithering noise... not from the tank.

My spine straightened like a ruler. Slowly, I turned my head, and there it was.

A snake. Crawling. On. The. Floor. Behind. Me.

"Nope nope NOPE-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

I screamed so loud, birds three towns over probably dropped dead. In a complete panic, I sprinted to the door like I was in a horror movie and-without looking-launched myself at the first person I saw.

Arms wrapped tight. I hugged whoever it was like my life depended on it (and honestly, it did).

"BROTHER SAVE ME AHHHHH!!!" I cried, clutching their shirt for dear life.

But then-

I heard a very non-brotherly voice right beside my ear.

"...Are you done clinging, or do you want more?"

I blinked. My eyes slowly looked up.

Dante.

The Mafia ML. In all his tall, suited, cologne-wrapped glory. One brow raised, his eyes unreadable, and one hand casually holding back a strand of my hair like this wasn’t the third time I’ve had a mental breakdown near him.

"...Hi, fiancé," I whispered, giving a cracked smile. "Funny running into you here. Heh."

Behind him, my actual brother ran in, cradling his snake like a baby. His face was all horror.

"I thought you did something to my baby!"

My jaw dropped. "You thought I hurt the snake? WHAT ABOUT ME?? I ALMOST DIED!"

He ignored me and turned to Dante with a fake chuckle. "Hey, sorry about my sister. You know how she is... chaos on legs."

Me: "I will murder you in your sleep."

Reality: Glares silently like a cursed Victorian ghost.

Dante looked between us, his expression unreadable, then finally turned his attention to me.

"So... this is where you were hiding?"

I blinked. " you were... looking for me?"

But he didn’t answer.

He simply adjusted his cuffs, removed his hands which nearly made me fall to the floor and walked away like the mysterious mafia male lead he is.

"RUDE!" I shouted internally, throwing imaginary daggers at his retreating back. "Say what you mean, you dramatic man!"

My brother, meanwhile, clapped his hands.

"Okay, Miss Snake Hugger. Back to cleaning. Don’t make me get Luciferina to motivate you."

I groaned louder than my soul wanted to.

"This world really said: ’You reincarnated for luxury? Here, have chores and reptiles.’"

......

After an eternity of cleaning Satan’s reptile zoo, my neck was hurting, my knees were trembling, and my soul had left my body three times already.

I looked around- dead silence. Finally, my brother and Dante were gone, probably off doing mafia tax fraud or whatever suspicious men in suits do.

Dragging myself like a Victorian ghost, I peeked out of the snake room. The mansion was peaceful. Maids were scattered like NPCs doing their background tasks, and no one paid me any mind. As they should.

"Excuse me, I need a room. And a change of clothes. Preferably ones that don’t smell like snake poop."

They quickly guided me to a guest room-no big deal, just a room bigger than my entire life. I picked a silky little black robe-style mini dress. Funny how the dresses were exactly my fit.

Feeling hot, cute, and mildly traumatized, I tied my hair up in a messy bun, popped in my headphones, and clicked shuffle on my playlist.

DJ Vielle Mode: Activated.

I was mid-vibe.

My brother’s mansion was quiet. The staff were minding their business. Which meant: time to lose mine.

There I was in the middle of the marble floor, holding his pet snake like a microphone and singing at the top of my lungs:

"Yo yo, it’s DJ V, back from hell -

Stuck in a mansion where snakes dwell.

Dante’s cold, like iced espresso-

But damn, he still fine in a black tux, though.

My brother’s rich, a certified menace-

Keeps a snake but not a conscience.

But hey - we’re mafia, not saints-

So lemme vibe before I catch more complaints."

I twirled. Dramatic. Free. Slightly possessed.

And then I slipped.

Flat. On. The. Floor.

Dignity? Donated to charity.

As I lay there trying to recover from life, I heard it.

A quiet breath. Almost a laugh. Too quiet to be real.

I turned my head and saw-

Dante.

Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, face unreadable, but I swear his lips had the tiniest quirk.

Next to him?

My brother, smirking like this was his favorite comedy special.

"We came back early," he said, "and lucky us - front-row seat to the downfall of DJ V."

I scrambled up, clutching the snake like a weapon. "You didn’t hear anything."

Dante said nothing at first. But as he walked past, he muttered just loud enough:

"Nice rhymes."

WHAT DID THAT MEAN??

Was that praise?

Was that sarcasm??

Meanwhile, my brother just shrugged. "You almost dropped my snake. He’s more expensive than you."

"He hisses less than you do," I muttered back.

"Fair."

At this point I just wanna dig my own grave and do my own funeral.

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To be continued.