Chapter 4 - The Shattered AllianceFor thirty seconds, the dining hall was a storm of shouting voices, slamming fists, and frantic whispers among the council elders.
Julian was shaking, his face flushed an angry, mottled crimson as he stared at the document resting before Donato Moretti.
“That’s impossible!” Julian screamed, lunging forward across the table. “Those shares belong to Arthur Hart! My future father-in-law! He would never transfer them to—!”
“To his eldest daughter?” I interrupted, tilting my head with a cold, mocking smile. “You and my father made a critical error, Julian. You assumed that because I was quiet, I was irrelevant. You spent months negotiating your little corporate merger while my father quietly signed over the commercial trust to me to avoid a tax penalty he didn't understand. I just re-routed the destination.”
Julian’s breath hitched. He looked at Serena, then back at me, finally realizing the catastrophic magnitude of what he had thrown away. He hadn't just traded an engaged partner for a prettier face; he had traded the entire financial foundation of his future for a girl who couldn't even balance a checkbook.
Donato Moretti picked up the document, adjusted his reading glasses, and scanned the signatures. A slow, terrifying grin spread across his face.
“Authentic,” Donato declared, his voice booming over the chaos of the room. He looked up, fixing his milky, sharp eyes on Nikolai. “Well, boy. It appears your wedding present to this family is the very leverage we needed to secure the North Dock expansion before the municipal vote next month.”
Nikolai raised his glass of scotch in a silent toast to the patriarch. “I told you, Uncle Donato. My wife is full of surprises.”
Julian gripped the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white. He looked at me with a mixture of sheer hatred and desperate panic.
“Evelyn, please,” Julian muttered, his voice cracking as he tried to salvage his crumbling dignity in front of the council. “We were supposed to be together. This... this madness with Nikolai, you’re just doing this to hurt me. We can talk about this. We can fix—games over, Ev.”
I looked at him the way a scientist might look at an uninteresting specimen under a microscope.
“Fix what, Julian?” I asked softly. “You wanted the real Hart sister. Well, you have her. Serena is all yours. Enjoy the debt, the failing real estate assets, and my parents' collapsing social standing. As for me? I’m busy running an empire.”
Serena let out a sharp gasp, bursting into theatrical tears as she buried her face in her hands. “You’re ruining our lives!” she sobbed. 🇦🇹
“No, Serena,” I replied, standing up slowly from my chair, letting my velvet coat drape over my shoulders. “I’m simply letting you live the life you stole from me.”
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Nikolai stood beside me, his hand resting securely at the small of my back, a silent proclamation of ownership and unbreakable alliance.
“The briefing is concluded,” Nikolai announced to the stunned room. “My wife and I have a city to run.”
