Who Am I

Japanese cheesecake or New York cheesecake?

I looked at the two delicious items on my dining table waiting for me to devour. It's already been 30 minutes since I have been sitting at the table for my breakfast, and my stomach is rumbling with hunger. The only problem is, I don't know what to choose. The 15-seater dining table is empty, with all the food prepared as usual for anyone to eat.

Anyone, in the sense, my family. Reddy's Mafia family, to be precise. Since my parents, their subordinates, and their subordinates live around this mansion, the food is always being cooked. There are other items on the table as well, but I don't want to see and confuse myself with what to eat this morning. I am already confused enough with these two cakes.

"Could you help me choose my breakfast? Jiggling cheesecake or creamy cheesecake?"

My personal, assigned friend, Aarushi, answered, "Princess has an appetite to eat both, so why bother asking?"

Her family has been working under us for generations. She is my assigned friend, her mother is my mother's assigned friend, and her grandmother is my grandmother's assigned friend. This is because women from Mafia families rarely have social lives, so they are assigned a friend who is loyal and trustworthy.

"Don't call me Princess, I am your friend. Call me Aadhya." I pouted. "Please, pick one name so that I can eat already."

I have trouble with decision-making. Maybe because everything is spoon-fed to me or assigned. Any other time, Mummy or my godmother, Aarushi's mother, would serve me breakfast. But today, all of them were having a secret meeting without me, leaving me to this hard decision. What should I eat?

I stopped hitting my feet on the floor as soon as I heard my Papa's voice, "How about eating healthy instead of cake first thing in the morning, Princess?"

Healthy? Should I eat Japanese cheesecake or New York cheesecake or healthy? Oh, now there is a third option for me to choose. God! Please end this misery.

As if God answered my prayers, Papa inverted a small bowl on my plate and moved away the cakes. I don't even know the name of the dish I am eating, but I started stuffing my face. The last time I remember, I used to pick and leave it. Now that I am hungry, I don't mind eating it. It tastes healthy, though.

"Wait, is it carrot or potato?" I asked my papa.

He took a moment of silence before sighing. "Sometimes I think I over-pampered you, Aadhya. Beans. The vegetable you are eating is beans. And how did you even guess the cake names right but got the vegetable names wrong?"

"It's written on the cake box, duh!" I mean, why can't they do the same for vegetables?

It would be easier for me to identify.

By this time, the ladies came out as well from their secret meeting and sat facing me as if they planned something against me. Am I adopted? Or do I have an evil twin?

"Can you stop overthinking for a while and listen to us for a second, Aadhya?" my mother said in a loud voice.

Now this is scaring the shits out of me! Coming from a Mafia family, we are always dressed in black, and it feels like my own funeral planning. Something is surely fishy, and I can't stop overthinking.

"It's time for you to get married. We have arranged your marriage with Mr. Menon," Mummy said in a no-nonsense tone.

"But I just reached 18 years," I said, trying to finish my food and stomp my feet on the floor.

"You are already 22," all of them said in unison, as if today was my birthday. But wait, last I remember I was 18, being celebrated for officially becoming part of Reddy's Mafia family. So many years have passed since that day, and I am still stuck there.

Damn you, Covid-19. I didn't get to enjoy my years.

"Papa, we are from the Mafia. What if Mr. Menon pisses his pants seeing a gun in the house?" I laughed aloud.

"He comes from a Mafia family as well. His family has the highest number of dens under their control. Mr. Menon is the son of the leader of the Menon Empire," my father explained.

The profile sounds good, but I am still not ready. I haven't been to college like other girls, nor have I been out of the Reddy mansion. If I get married to Mr. Menon, I am pretty sure I will stay inside the Menon mansion. There are a lot of things to do in my life. Like... I don't know.

"Princess, we always look for your best. Till today, we chose everything for you, and this will be the last thing we choose. Just accept it and you will be in the safest hands." They were literally pleading.

My family is one of the strongest Mafia gangs, and seeing them so weak made me super sad. "I will think and let you know, Papa."