My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin-Chapter 23: Fake Profile

If Lucian had stayed, Ashley had planned to make him help her repack the soil into small sachets. She intended to distribute the samples until this expert botanist—the wife of Lucian’s prospect—reached out.

And she planned to take Lucian to the florist’s, since that was the only place she knew she could leave them.

But since he allowed her to go out, she knew she wouldn’t have a problem distributing the samples.

Now, instead of sleeping, here she was—packing soil into small sachets in the middle of the night.

"I guess this is enough!" she beamed, nodding. "Aunt Liza told me about some of the flower shops around the area."

Even though she had given Lucian a present to deliver to the man he was about to meet, Ashley knew it wouldn’t be enough.

"The soil is something rare and tempting," she whispered. "But for that kind of man, there’s a possibility he’d turn down this opportunity."

Why?

Because it came from Lucian. It came from Dominion.

This meeting was meant to fail, and it was meant to end tragically. The man Lucian had his eyes on valued the peaceful life he shared with his wife. There was a strong possibility that he would keep this from her, simply to protect themselves from being associated with Dominion.

"Well! There’s no harm in trying!" she told herself, nodding. "If that fails, the second plan is already in motion."

If the husband kept the present from his wife, Ashley had already planned to make its existence known by distributing it.

Lucian had a gold mine in his own home, and Dominion didn’t even know it.

She smiled happily, grinning to herself.

"And only I know this gold mine. If this still fails, then I’ll have no choice but to resort to that plan!"

Deep in her heart, she hoped she wouldn’t have to. But if all else failed, Ashley had a trump card up her sleeve.

As she promised, she wouldn’t let this fail, and she wouldn’t allow Dominion to return with casualties.

*****

The next day arrived quietly.

When Ashley woke up, Lucian had already left for business. It was no surprise. Lucian wasn’t only preparing to meet this person—there were several matters he had to attend to as well.

Having said that, Ashley began her day too.

Carrying the large luggage filled with soil samples, she went down to the lobby to meet her guards. Seeing them standing upright outside the lift told her Lucian had already informed them of her plans.

All of them carried distant expressions on their faces. But when their eyes landed on the luggage she was dragging along, their composure began to crack.

"Did you have breakfast already?" she smiled at them as she stepped out. "If so, let’s go."

With that, she dragged the luggage herself. However, when it was time to load it into the car, she told them to place it in the backseat with her.

And so they did.

Still, one question lingered in their minds.

Why was she taking this luggage, and what in the world was inside it?

It would only take a few minutes for them to find out.

When they stopped in front of a flower shop, Ashley opened the luggage.

"Soil?" Red, who sat in the front passenger seat of the same car, looked back when he heard the zipper.

His face twitched as he studied the packed soil sealed in small, clear plastic bags.

They looked suspiciously like illegal drugs.

Dominion didn’t deal in drugs, but they dealt with people who did. For instance, the Di Carpios.

"Are those—"

"These are not drugs," she cut him off before he could finish, picking up one of the samples and showing it to him. "This is gold. Wait for me here."

She didn’t wait for his response before stepping out with a sample in hand.

Even so, Red instinctively got out and followed her. He didn’t enter the shop, though. Instead, he stayed outside the establishment—just in case she fled.

Through the glass window, Red watched her with a deep frown.

Ashley walked up to the counter.

"What the hell is she doing?" he muttered, utterly confused. "And soil? That’s what she’s been bringing all along?"

He didn’t even bother wondering how the luggage had passed the airport’s security check. With Dominion’s influence, they could easily enter and leave countries without even surrendering their weapons.

Red studied the smile on Ashley’s face as she spoke with the person behind the counter. Whatever they were talking about made the two smile brightly.

Then, a moment later, Ashley walked back out.

"Huh?" She paused when she saw Red standing outside the shop.

For some reason, she smiled smugly.

"You," she said, pointing at him. "If I become very rich, I’ll give you a tip."

"Huh?"

"Let’s go!" she chirped, skipping back to the car. "Time to work!"

Confused, Red glanced at the other guards from the second car, who had stepped out as well when she exited the shop.

Not a single one of them understood what Ashley was distributing, even as they kept stopping at flower shops and gardens one after another.

They had already lost count of how many flower shops they had visited—or how many people she had spoken to.

All they knew was that Ashley would hop out of the car, carrying one or two samples of soil, talk to someone inside, and then walk out again with both of them smiling from ear to ear.

She wasn’t even getting paid for it, which made the entire situation even more confusing.

Another thing that became clear to them was that the luggage was gradually getting lighter.

Before they realized it, they had already spent the entire morning doing just that.

"That’s it!" Ashley announced as their car pulled over in front of another flower shop. "You should turn off the car. I’m staying here for a bit."

With that said, she was about to step out when Red spoke.

"The sample—" He stopped himself, biting his tongue as realization dawned on him.

Ashley looked at him and smiled.

"There’s no need for that."

She raised a small flower pot she had bought earlier from another shop, with a ribbon tied around it.

With a bright smile, she hopped out of the car and headed toward the entrance of the small establishment.

As she walked in, the chime above the door rang.

At the sound, Liza—who was behind the counter—turned around. Her eyes softened the moment she saw Ashley walking in, as if the young lady’s presence brightened the already lively flower shop.

Beside Liza stood another person—a man — her husband.

He turned toward Ashley as well, his brows lifting slightly in surprise.

*****

Meanwhile, somewhere in the main city...

Lucian sat in the backseat of the car, staring at the photograph of the man from the background check they had conducted.

"Hah..." Gustav scoffed as he looked back toward the rear seat. "Sir, it seems he prepared for this."

Lucian remained quiet, his eyes fixed on the photo in the profile.

"With how in demand he is, it shouldn’t be surprising that he hides his face," Lucian said calmly. "What’s important is that he agreed to meet with us. Make sure everything is perfect later."

Gustav lowered his head. "Yes, sir."

After all, they had just discovered that the photograph in the profile belonged to someone else.

In other words, they had no idea what the man they were about to meet actually looked like.

They would only find out when they met him later that evening.