Chapter 17 - Emma’s ChoiceThe men rushed toward Emma.
Alessandro fought back.
Everything became chaos.
Luca lay bleeding.
Sophia screamed.
Isabella kicked one attacker away.
Marco appeared from the corridor.
He fired.
One man fell.
Then another.
But there were too many.
Emma slipped from Sophia’s arms.
A masked man grabbed her.
She screamed.
“Alessandro!”
He turned.
The sound broke something inside him.
He charged.
The attacker raised his weapon.
Then Emma bit his hand.
He yelled.
She escaped.
She ran through the smoke.
Alessandro caught her.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
Then pointed toward the old man.
“He’s scared.”
Alessandro looked.
“What?”
“He keeps looking at the door.”
He understood.
Someone else was coming.
The ballroom doors exploded.
Federal agents stormed in.
Behind them walked a woman Alessandro had never seen.
She carried a badge.
“Richard Moretti.”
Richard stepped forward.
The old man went pale.
Richard looked at him.
“You’re finished.”
Alessandro stared.
“You’re on our side?”
Richard smiled.
“Not quite.”
He pointed at the old man.
“That man killed my father.”
Alessandro froze.
“You’re not Richard Vale.”
“No.”
“I told you.”
Richard removed his false identification.
His real name was Gabriel Moretti.
Another hidden branch of the family.
“The trust has been manipulated for decades.”
The old man laughed.
“You think you can stop me?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Emma.
“She can.”
The trust activated again.
A holographic document appeared.
FINAL SUCCESSION CONDITION.
Emma touched the screen.
Her name glowed.
THE HEIR MAY TERMINATE THE MORETTI TRUST.
Everyone stared.
Alessandro whispered:
“Emma can destroy the empire.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Every illegal asset. Every hidden account. Every criminal network.”
Emma looked at Alessandro.
“Should I?”
He crouched.
“Whatever you choose.”
“But people will lose their jobs.”
“We’ll protect innocent people.”
“And Mommy?”
“She stays with you.”
Emma looked at Isabella.
“And Auntie?”
Isabella smiled.
“She stays too.”
Emma placed her tiny hand on the screen.
“Then I choose to end it.”
The hologram turned red.
CONFIRM.
She pressed again.
Across the world, accounts froze.
Properties transferred.
Secret companies dissolved.
Encrypted files unlocked.
Names appeared on government servers.
Politicians panicked.
Criminal organizations collapsed.
The Moretti empire died in thirty seconds.
The old man stared in disbelief.
“No.”
Emma looked up at him.
“You hurt my family.”
The man laughed bitterly.
“You think this changes anything?”
Then the doors opened.
A final figure entered.
A man Alessandro thought he would never see.
His father.
Alive.
Not the old man.
A different man.
Older.
Broken.
He looked at Alessandro.
“I am sorry.”
Alessandro’s voice shook.
“Who are you?”
May you like
The man answered:
“Your real father.”
