Chapter 6 - The Confession and the Fallout
The morning sun struggled to break through the heavy grey clouds over Chicago, casting a pale, washed-light across the fourth-floor recovery suite of St. Jude Memorial.
Dominic sat in a leather armchair beside the bed, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, refusing to leave Lauren’s side even for a moment. Her breathing had grown stronger through the night, the steady beep-beep of the heart monitor serving as the only anchor in his chaotic world.
Downstairs, in the sterile holding room of the hospital’s security basement, Bianca Russo sat handcuffed to a stainless-steel chair.
The crimson silk dress was wrinkled and stained. Her hair was matted, and her makeup was completely smeared across her face. When the heavy steel door swung open, the bright overhead light made her flinch violently.
Marcus stepped into the room, followed by two armed security operatives who took up positions by the door.
Bianca looked up, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and lingering arrogance. "Marcus! You can't do this! Dominic is out of his mind—he's letting his emotions cloud his judgment! I gave seven years of my life to the Moretti organization!"
"You gave seven years to serving your own greed, Bianca," Marcus said coldly, tossing a thick dossier onto the metal table in front of her. " embezzlement, mail fraud, malicious interference with family law, and deliberate endangerment of minors."
Bianca stared at the file, her breath hitching. "Those are fabricated charges—"
"They’re backed by ironclad digital signatures and financial trails leading straight to your offshore accounts in the Caymans," Marcus interrupted, leaning forward. "Dominic has already signed the dissolution of your position. Your assets are frozen. Your apartment is being cleared out as we speak."
"He can't do that!" she screamed, lunging forward until the handcuffs jerked her back. "I know too much! I know where the syndicate buried the accounts in Zurich! If he destroys me, I'll bring the entire Moretti empire down with me!"
The door opened wider, and a tall, imposing shadow fell across the room.
Dominic stepped inside.
He didn't look angry. He looked entirely indifferent, which was infinitely more terrifying. He walked slowly toward the table, resting his palms on the cold metal surface and leaning down until his face was inches from hers.
"You think you hold secrets that can hurt me, Bianca?" Dominic asked, his voice a lethal whisper. "You spent seven years watching me from the outside of my real life. You never knew the half of what I controlled."
Bianca swallowed hard, her voice trembling. "Dominic... please. We were together. We had an understanding—"
"We had an arrangement," Dominic corrected flatly. "An arrangement where you kept my schedule and managed my estate. You mistook my indifference toward my failed marriage for an invitation to usurp my family."
He straightened up, adjusting his cuffs.
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"You will be transferred to a federal holding facility before noon under a maximum-security federal detainer," Dominic said, turning his back on her. "You will serve every single day of the maximum sentence. And if you ever utter my name or my family's name again, your existence will end before you even reach the prison gates."
As Dominic walked out of the room, Bianca slumped forward against the table, her hysterical sobs echoing off the concrete walls into absolute silence.
