I looked at him. He had lost so much weight that his wedding ring was almost slipping off.
Bandages covered his knuckles. I’d heard he had been distracted lately and had cut himself several times while cooking.
I leaned back against the seat. “You can lose everything and be a husband who is completely loyal to me. Or you can remain the Don everyone looks up to.”
He thought for a moment. “I understand.”
I stared at him in shock. “You mean you’re really willing to leave the Moretti family?”
The next day, at the Moretti estate, Rosalia stared at Sebastian as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
He nodded and took my hand. “I’ve made my decision.”
Her voice shook with fury. “You think I won’t give your position to your brother?”
“Mom.” Sebastian paused. “I’m serious, too.”
“You—!”
Rosalia laughed bitterly, then suddenly turned her fury on me. “Fine! Fine! This is all your fault, you shameless bitch!”
She snatched a vase off the table and hurled it straight at me. Sebastian pulled me into his arms. The vase shattered on the floor.
“Mom!” he shouted. “Sofia is pregnant!”
“Get out!” Rosalia screamed. “Both of you! Get out!”
Sebastian escorted me out of the Moretti estate. Soon afterward, he received a notification that his credit cards had been frozen.
He had made a fortune for the family over the years. Now he had nothing. He gave me a bitter smile. “Sofia, we’re officially broke.”
He rested his hand gently on my stomach. “But I have some jewelry I can sell. It should bring in a few thousand dollars, enough to get us through a month or so. I’ll find a new job before it runs out. I’ll take care of you and the baby.”
“Who said I needed you to take care of me?” I swatted his hand away and smiled. “I haven’t settled the score with Camilla yet. This isn’t over.”
He stared at me in shock.
Before long, my case against Camilla went to trial. I kept the family’s illicit dealings out of it, but I knew their legitimate holdings inside out.
An “ordinary” woman taking the mighty Moretti Holdings to court was enough to leave people speechless.
Rosalia came in person, accompanied by the Morettis’ team of top attorneys.
She gave Sebastian a mocking smile. “There’s still time to change your mind.”
He brushed her off. “Thanks, Mom. But no.”
“You really think the two of you can beat us in court? You can’t even afford a decent lawyer!”
“Who says we can’t?” My voice rang through the courtroom.
Rosalia frowned. Dressed in a business suit, I smiled at her.
“I only need one lawyer.”
Then I stepped forward as Sebastian watched.
Before long, the opposing attorneys were frantically rifling through their files. By then, it was too late.
Camilla was convicted of fraud, embezzlement, and charges stemming from the abuse she’d inflicted on me. She was sentenced to eight years in prison.
As the verdict was read, her knees gave out and she crumpled to the floor.
What Camilla didn’t know was that the judge overseeing her case had a reputation for being tough on financial crimes. No amount of influence from the Laurent family would save her now.
As the officers led Camilla away, I looked at her. “Anything else you’d like to say, Ms. Laurent?”
She stared at me in disbelief. “How are you a licensed attorney?”
I smiled faintly. “Did you really think all I did in college was study dance and acting?”
The color drained from her face.
Sebastian put an arm around me and looked at Camilla with undisguised disgust. “You asked why I never looked at you,” he said coldly. “I was never interested. I’m not with Sofia because of her looks.”
Camilla went blank. “No… That’s impossible.”
Sebastian looked down at me as he addressed Camilla. “I should’ve explained sooner. You actually believed me when I said Sofia was getting fat.”
I patted his arm.
Soon afterward, the family held a private hearing of its own.
This time, I presented evidence that Rosalia had been embezzling family money for years. I also had a DNA report proving that her chosen heir was the child she’d had with her lover—not with Sebastian’s father.
Once the family’s key members saw the evidence and understood what was at stake, every one of them sided with me.
Rosalia was stripped of control over the family trust. Giuseppe resigned as consigliere for good, and he and his wife retired to their rural hometown.
Sebastian regained control of the Moretti family and reclaimed everything he had lost.
Rosalia stared at me, trembling, her eyes red. “Who… who are you?”
“Just a sheltered small-town girl,” I said calmly.
She had no answer.
I ended up owning half of Moretti Holdings. I brought my parents to live with us in a beautiful mansion.
Sebastian left early and came home late every day. But the moment he stopped working, he came straight to me and wrapped me in his arms.
“How did I get lucky enough to marry you?”
I rolled my eyes at his sweet talk. He never tired of saying it.
Years later, the Moretti family was still the most powerful Mafia family in New York’s underworld, and Moretti Holdings had become one of its industry’s leading companies.
Sebastian had long since handed most of the company’s daily operations over to people we both trusted.
We simply held our shares, collected generous dividends every year, and traveled the world with our child.
Those days felt like a nightmare now. But I had finally woken up.
The storm had passed. All that remained was the road ahead—and a life worth celebrating.