Chapter 13
“Mom!” Alessio rushed over to steady his swaying mother. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Mrs. Bianchi’s voice cracked with rage. “What are WE doing? Let’s talk about what YOUR family has done!”
“You swore before God to protect our daughter! Look what you’ve turned her into!”
The party guests pressed closer, feeding on the drama. The Morettis exchanged panicked glances, trying desperately to usher the
Bianchis inside.
Mr. Bianchi planted his feet. “STAY BACK! Don’t you dare hide this!”
His relatives formed a wall as he bellowed, “NOW you’re ashamed? Where was that shame when you were destroying my daughter?”
He wheeled on Alessio. “YOU forced Noemi to take the fall for your wife’s human trafficking operation! Left her to die when that waste disposal plant exploded! Stood there while your precious Daniela tried to burn her alive!”
Shocked gasps rippled through the crowd. Whispers erupted like wildfire.
Donna Moretti went ghost-white. “Marco… tell me this isn’t true.”
“Every word is true!” Mrs. Bianchi hurled printed documents into the air.
Papers fluttered down like ash. Guests snatched them mid-flight, faces morphing from curiosity to horror.
Jesus Christ… they tortured that poor widow…”
“Made her the scapegoat for trafficking charges?”
“They tried to kill her!”
Mrs. Bianchi collapsed to her knees, wailing. “You MONSTERS took my beautiful girl and broke her!”
“If you couldn’t protect her, why didn’t you let us take her home?”
“My baby… my poor baby…”
The garden exploded into chaos. Accusations flew.
Sobs echoed.
Each word landed like a physical blow across Donna Moretti’s face until she clutched her chest and crumpled.
“Mom!”
“Mother!”
Through the pandemonium, Don Giovanni Moretti emerged-the man who made Sicily’s worst killers wet themselves. His presence silenced the garden.
“What exactly do you want?” His voice was soft, deadly.
Mrs. Bianchi, supported by her nephew, spat blood-flecked words: “We want Noemi FREE of your cursed family! Complete separation!”
Thunder cracked.
Lightning illuminated faces twisted with shock, rage, calculation.
Alessio felt his world implode.
No.
Not now.
The baby’s almost here.
The mission’s almost complete.
I can reclaim my identity, explain everything to Noemi.
We’ll be together again.
They can’t take her from me. Not when I’m so close.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT! The words tore from his throat.
The Bianchis’ stares could have frozen hell.
They’d finally seen the real Alessio-the manipulator, the deceiver.
Their daughter hadn’t married into protection.
She’d fallen into a viper pit.
Thank God she’s technically a widow.
Thank God we can fix this.
He’s trapped.
If he reveals himself as Alessio, the mighty Moretti heir becomes a disgrace-betraying every code for twisted games.
His rivals would tear the family apart. If he stays Marco, he has zero claim on her.
Either way, we win.
They’d chosen this moment deliberately-his mother’s birthday, maximum witnesses-to spring their trap.
“Say it,” Mr. Bianchi sneered.
“Tell everyone who you really are. We’re all listening.”
Lightning flashed again, reflecting the desperation in Alessio’s eyes as he realized the Bianchis had him cornered.
Checkmate.
