After My Brother’s Girlfriend Tried to Extort 500,000 from Me, I Revealed I Was the Mafia Donna Chapter 07

After My Brother’s Girlfriend Tried to Extort 500,000 from Me, I Revealed I Was the Mafia Donna Chapter 07

I didn’t answer immediately.

Everyone in the room was watching me, some with curiosity, others with open mockery.

I knew those looks all too well.

I was twenty-four the first time Father brought me into a Family Council meeting.

A room full of men had looked at me much the same way they were looking at me tonight.

They thought I had merely been allowed to sit there and listen.

Then Father told me to take the seat at his right hand.

Someone laughed.

No one ever laughed about it again.

I looked at Luca.

“So you really think I’ve been holding you back all these years?”

He clenched his jaw.

“Haven’t you? Father favours me, and everyone outside already sees me as the heir. But you control every legitimate business and every Family holding. You won’t give me any real say over the docks or the supply routes.”

“You’re scared I’ll end up more powerful than you.”

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

The entire room went silent.

Luca’s head snapped to the side.

He covered his cheek and stared at me in disbelief.

“You hit me?”

My tone didn’t change.

“I’m reminding you. Don’t forget who put you where you are today.”

I looked around the living room.

“You all think he’s the heir to the Moretti Family, don’t you?”

No one answered.

I continued.

“You think I’m just a woman who’s spent a few years keeping Father’s books, and that once Luca’s old enough, I’m meant to hand everything over to him.”

Several of the men who had been the loudest earlier lowered their heads.

I gave a faint smile.

“Luca, is that what you’ve believed all along?”

He said nothing.

“This house on the Gold Coast, the cars in the garage, the restaurant under your name. The Family gave you all of it.”

“So did your stakes in Family companies and the monthly Family allowance you spend as you please. Did you never once wonder why you were given any of it?”

He frowned.

“Because I’m a Moretti.”

I looked at him.

“No. Because I’m the reason you were allowed to become one.”

Luca’s expression slowly went rigid.

It was time he heard the whole truth.

“You were three years old when Father brought you back to Chicago. Your birth mother was never married to Father, and the Family never recognised her.”

“Grandfather wanted both of you sent away. I was the one who stopped him.”

All the colour drained from Luca’s face.

“That’s impossible.”

I spoke calmly.

“Your birth certificate was amended later, and your baptismal record was registered again. The other Families were simply told Father had another son.”

“No one knows the name you were born with. No one knows that, originally, you had no right to the Moretti name at all.”

He took a step back.

“That’s impossible. You’re lying.”

“If you think I’m lying, ask Father yourself.”

I paused.

“But from tonight, you’d better understand one thing.”

“Without my say-so, the Moretti name won’t get you out of anything anymore.”