Chapter 7 - The True HeirSpring arrived in Chicago with a fierce, blooming warmth that melted the remnants of winter ice along the riverbanks.
The front-page headlines of the Chicago Tribune society section didn't feature scandal anymore. They featured stability, power, and legacy.
THE MORETTI EMPIRE REDEFINED: NIKOLAI AND EVELYN MORETTI UNVEIL NEW Philanthropic FOUNDATION, PLEDGING 50 MILLION TO CITY INFRASTRUCTURE.
Inside the newly renovated Moretti-Hart Cultural Center downtown, the inauguration gala was in full swing. The ballroom was filled with hundreds of Chicago’s most influential figures—judges, senators, corporate titans, and syndicate leaders—all mingling beneath hanging installations of white roses and green ivy.
This time, the white roses weren't for a wedding that would end in betrayal. They were for a dynasty that had been built from the ground up.
I stood near the grand staircase wearing a custom emerald-green velvet gown that trailed gracefully behind me on the marble floor. Around my neck hung a vintage diamond necklace—not the one Julian had bought me, but a priceless heirloom of the Moretti family that Nikolai had personally fastened around my throat that evening.
Across the room, I spotted two familiar figures standing near the service entrance.
My mother and father.
They looked older, smaller, wearing off-the-rack clothes that spoke of a fallen empire. They had tried to slip in through the side doors, hoping to catch my eye, hoping for a handout, a pardon, a crumb of familial charity.
My mother raised a trembling hand, waving timidly in my direction, her face twisted in a pathetic, pleading smile.
I looked straight at her.
Then, slowly, deliberately, I turned my head away, raising my champagne flute in a silent toast to an invisible guest across the room.
I didn't blink. I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel pity.
I simply felt free.
A warm hand settled gently against the small of my back, familiar and solid as iron. I didn't need to look to know it was Nikolai.
He stepped up beside me, resting his chin lightly against my hair as his dark eyes swept over the crowded ballroom.
“Penny for your thoughts, Mrs. Moretti?” he murmured against my ear.
I tilted my head back, looking up into the eyes of the man who had seen me discarded in a hotel hallway and decided to hand me the keys to the city instead.
May you like
“I was just thinking,” I smiled, resting my hand over his on my waist, “that some families aren't worth saving. But empires... empires are much more fun to build.”
Nikolai laughed—a rich, genuine sound that echoed softly against the crystal chandeliers—and pulled me closer into the center of the room, ready to rule the world side by side, exactly where we belonged.
