Chapter 5 - The Fall of Marcus MorettiBy 2:00 PM that afternoon, the corporate and underground sectors of New York detonated into an unprecedented crisis.
Marcus Moretti believed Kieran was distracted by a domestic medical emergency and attempted to use Clara's court custody papers to force Kieran to surrender his private shipping terminals along the East River.
At 3:00 PM, four black armored Maybachs pulled up to the red carpet outside the New York Supreme Courthouse on Centre Street.
When the heavy bronze doors of the grand courtroom were thrown open, Marcus Moretti and his ten legal advisors turned around, expecting a desperate, pleading father.
Instead, walking down the central aisle, flanked by twenty armed Blackwood operators in dark suits, was Kieran.
He wore an immaculate black suit, his posture tall, broad, and unyielding.
And walking directly beside his right shoulder, wearing a custom emerald silk dress provided by Kieran's private stylist, her dark hair falling in glossy waves over her shoulders, her hazel eyes holding zero fear, was me.
Marcus Moretti sat at the petitioner’s table, his jaw sagging open in total, horror-stricken shock as he saw Kieran walking toward him completely calm, holding my hand firmly in his broad palm.
"Moretti," Kieran spoke.
His thunderous baritone echoed through the high-ceilinged courtroom like a rolling wave of thunder, freezing the blood in every lawyer's veins.
"Blackwood...!" Moretti stammered, standing up frantically. "Listen to me! The biological father signed over his legal rights! Under state family law, I have primary custody—"
"The biological father was arrested at Kennedy Airport twenty minutes ago for federal wire fraud and child abandonment," Kieran interrupted deadpan.
Kieran set an encrypted tablet flat onto the judge's bench, projecting a live video feed from the United States Attorney's Office downtown.
The red text illuminated the wall monitor:
TERMINATED PARENTAL RIGHTS — Executed by the State Family Court at 1:00 PM today following evidence of child neglect and debt fraud.
ADOPTION DECREE GRANTED — Full joint legal guardianship assigned to Kieran Blackwood & Saraphina Torres.
IMMEDIATE ARREST WARRANTS — Issued for Marcus Moretti and Richard Vance for Judicial Extortion and Healthcare Fraud.
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Marcus Moretti collapsed flat onto his knees on the carpeted floorboards, weeping pathetically as four uniformed Federal Marshals stepped forward, slapping heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists.
"You tried to touch my daughter, Moretti," Kieran announced flatly, looking down at the groveling crime boss with a look of chilling, absolute disdain. "You're spending the rest of your life in a federal penitentiary."
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