Chapter 6 - Evelyn's Reckoning
While Luca focused every ounce of his energy on rebuilding a relationship with Nia and the twins, a storm was brewing in the dark corners of Chicago’s high society.
Evelyn Vance-Moretti sat in the back of a blacked-out luxury SUV parked across the street from Nia’s brownstone. Her hands clutched her leather handbag so tightly the seams were straining.
She had been cast aside. The high-society circles were already whispering about the scandal—how Luca Moretti had stripped his mother of power and abandoned his flawless new wife for a middle-class ex-wife and two surprise children.
The door of the SUV opened, and Victoria Moretti slipped inside.
Victoria looked different. The regal polish was gone, replaced by a desperate, sharp edge. Her assets were frozen, her reputation damaged, and she was facing a federal investigation for medical forgery.
"Did you bring what I asked for?" Victoria demanded, her voice cold and raspy.
Evelyn pulled a thick manila envelope from her bag. "These are the custody papers drafted by my family’s legal team. If we file an emergency petition with Judge Sterling—who owes my father a favor—we can claim that Nia Carter hid heirs to a billionaire fortune, living in an unsafe environment without proper security, emotionally manipulating Luca."
Victoria snatched the envelope, a dark, victorious smile spreading across her face. "If we take those children away from her, Luca will break. He will have no choice but to come to us to secure their release from state custody. He will sign back my power of attorney to protect the family name."
"Is Dr. Vance going to stay quiet?" Evelyn asked nervously.
"Harrison Vance will keep his mouth shut if he wants his family provided for," Victoria snapped. "We file the petition tomorrow morning at dawn. By noon, child protective services will pull those bastards out of their school."
What neither woman realized was that Evelyn’s chauffeur—a man named Marcus who had worked for the Moretti family for fifteen years and whose own daughter’s college tuition had once been paid by Luca’s personal charity—was watching everything through the rearview mirror.
Ten minutes later, Luca’s phone buzzed in his office.
Luca listened to Marcus’s recorded audio file in absolute silence. Beside him, his head of security, a former Special Forces commander named Frank, stood at attention.
"They are moving tomorrow morning, sir," Frank said quietly. "They intend to use Judge Sterling to issue an emergency temporary custody warrant."
Luca’s expression didn't change, but his eyes turned into blocks of solid ice. The mournful, apologetic husband was gone. In his place stood the ruthless predator who had built a global empire.
"Judge Sterling has three undisclosed offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands," Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Call the FBI's public corruption unit. Give them the account numbers."
"And your mother and Evelyn, sir?"
Luca stood up, buttoning his jacket. "Call a press conference at the Federal Plaza tomorrow at 8:00 AM. Invite every major news network in the state."
May you like
"What are you going to do?"
Luca looked out his office window at the city below. "I am going to burn their world to the ground so completely that no one will ever dare whisper my children's names again."
