After My Brother’s Girlfriend Tried to Extort 500,000 from Me, I Revealed I Was the Mafia Donna Chapter 08

After My Brother’s Girlfriend Tried to Extort 500,000 from Me, I Revealed I Was the Mafia Donna Chapter 08

Luca stood frozen in place, his face pale.

As I looked at him, I suddenly remembered a winter many years ago.

A heavy snow had just fallen over Chicago.

Grandfather was still alive then.

The moment Father brought three-year-old Luca home, the entire Moretti Family erupted into an argument.

Grandfather believed the boy would become a stain on the Family.

He also believed that a son born out of wedlock would eventually become the source of a succession dispute.

He wanted Luca and his mother sent away.

I was the one who stopped him.

I was young myself back then.

I stood outside Grandfather’s study all night, asking him again and again to reconsider.

“He didn’t choose how he was born. Give him the Moretti name. I’ll keep him in line. He won’t become a problem for the Family.”

Grandfather finally agreed, but there were conditions.

Luca could enter the Family.

He could receive an education.

He could live as a Moretti.

But he would not automatically become the heir.

The right of succession would remain mine.

I had never told Luca any of this.

I made sure everyone treated him as my own brother.

When people at school mocked him over his background, I went there personally and dealt with it.

When he attended his first formal Family dinner, I had him seated beside me.

When he wanted to open a restaurant, I gave him the funding, the team, and the connections.

I had thought that if I gave him enough, he would never have to spend his life being defined by the circumstances of his birth.

But I had forgotten one thing.

If someone never learns that everything they have was fought for by somebody else, sooner or later they start believing it was theirs by right all along.

“I treated you like my own brother.”

I looked at Luca.

“Not because Father told me to. Because I chose to. But you took my protection for weakness, and my silence as proof that I agreed women had no business holding power.”

“You even took the position I gave you as proof that you had every right to replace me.”

The colour drained from Luca’s lips.

“Isa…”

I took out my phone and called my legal counsel.

When the call connected, I put it on speaker.

“Notify the Family Council.”

“First.”

“Take back every property, vehicle and spending privilege the Moretti Family gave Luca.”

“Second.”

“Strip him of every stake he holds in the Family’s legitimate businesses.”

“Third.”

“Take his name off every external project, supply route and affiliated partnership.”

“Fourth.”

I glanced around the house.

“Tell the head of security this property is back under Family control, effective immediately. Give Luca ten minutes. He leaves with nothing but his own clothes.”

There was no hesitation on the other end of the line.

“Understood, Donna.”

The moment he called me Donna, every face in the room changed.

Some people snapped their heads towards me.

Others instinctively stepped back.

Luca remained where he was, completely still.

His voice came out hoarse.

“Donna? Since when have you…”

I put my phone away.

“Ever since Father stepped back, I’ve chaired the Family Council. I never thought I’d need the title to make you listen to me. Apparently, I was wrong.”

Luca dropped onto the sofa.

He sank back into it and sat there for a long moment without reacting.

The way his friends looked at him had changed too.

Only minutes earlier, they had seen him as the next head of the Moretti Family.

Now, the status the Family had given him had been formally stripped away.

All they saw was a man who had lost everything.

I turned to leave.

Luca suddenly rushed after me and grabbed my arm.

“Isa! I was wrong. Please, don’t do this. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t.”

He was crying now, no longer caring what anyone around him thought.

“Give me one more chance. I’ll end things with Vanessa. Right now. I’ll do whatever you want.”

I looked down at his hand on my arm.

“Let go.”

He let go.

He didn’t dare do otherwise.