Chapter 6 - The Broken Ring
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Luca slowly reached down to his left hand, grasping the heavy platinum band engraved with the Moretti crest.
The ring caught the chandelier light for a brief second before Luca dropped it into his half-empty champagne glass.
The heavy metal clinked against the crystal, sending ripples through the golden, sparkling liquid.
"Consider our marriage officially dissolved before the ink on the license even dries," Luca announced cold-bloodedly.
Vanessa let out a piercing shriek of humiliation, burying her face into the folds of her ruined satin dress.
The four Bellini bodyguards standing near the archway reached under their tailored coats, sensing imminent danger.
Before their fingers could wrap around their holsters, Luca’s enforcers drew their suppressed pistols with lethal precision.
"Drop them," Marco ordered, pointing a heavy barrel directly between the eyes of the lead Bellini guard.
The four men slowly raised their hands into the air, allowing their firearms to clatter uselessly against the stone floor.
Donna Bellini stood frozen, her eyes darting frantically toward the locked exits as sweat broke through her makeup.
"You can't hold us here, Frank," Donna hissed, trying to mask her panic with hollow bravado.
"Antonio knows we are here, and his men will storm this compound if we do not check in by midnight."
Frank smiled faintly, though his eyes remained as cold as a frozen lake in mid-January.
"Antonio won't be checking in with anyone tonight, Donna," Frank replied calmly.
"Do you honestly believe I survived forty years in this city by being blind to your family's treachery?"
Frank turned his attention toward the forty wedding guests, who sat entirely paralyzed by the unfolding drama.
"Dinner is concluded, ladies and gentlemen," Frank said with polite, icy formality.
"The catering staff will escort you out through the private garden gate to your waiting vehicles."
"If a single word of what transpired in this room reaches the press or the streets tonight, I will personally hold each of you accountable."
The guests needed no second invitation; they rose rapidly from their chairs, whispering among themselves as they filed out.
Within three minutes, the grand ballroom was cleared of everyone except the family, the guards, and the conspirators.
Luca walked over to where Donna stood, motioning for two guards to take hold of her manicured arms.
"Take Mrs. Bellini down to the secure wine cellar beneath the south wing," Luca instructed coldly.
"Make sure she is comfortable enough to answer every question we have about the warehouse fire forty years ago."
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Donna screamed and cursed, kicking her high heels against the floor as the guards dragged her away without hesitation.
Vanessa remained curled on the cold floor, sobbing hysterically as she realized she was completely alone in the world.
