Chapter 3 - The Frozen CourtroomFor three agonizing seconds, nobody breathed.
Lorenzo Moretti slowly rose to his feet. He was taller than I expected, towering over most men in the room, his shoulders broad and rigid. He turned his head slowly, like a predator scanning a clearing, and his dark eyes finally landed on Victoria Sterling.
There was no yelling. No theatrical outbursts. His voice was terrifyingly calm, smooth as dark velvet over a blade.
"Mrs. Sterling," he said, his voice echoing softly against the vaulted ceiling.
Victoria swallowed hard, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "L-Lorenzo... Mr. Moretti. I... I didn't know. If I had known she was—"
"Known what?" Lorenzo interrupted, stepping forward. Each step he took forward caused Victoria to step backward until the back of her legs hit a marble pillar. "That she is a human being? That she deserves basic respect? Or did you assume that because she chose to wear a sweater knitted by her own hands instead of a fifty-thousand-dollar designer gown, she was fair game for your cruelty?"
"It was a misunderstanding!" Marcus Sterling blurted out, rushing forward, his hands raised in desperate supplication. He looked pathetic, sweat beading on his forehead despite the air conditioning. "It was just a spilled glass of wine, Lorenzo! A silly accident! Victoria didn't mean any harm, she—"
"Shut up, Marcus," Lorenzo said without even looking at him.
Marcus froze, his mouth hanging open, looking as though he had been physically struck.
Lorenzo turned back to his mother, who gently patted his arm, murmuring something soft and placating. The old woman looked up, her kind eyes meeting mine over Lorenzo's shoulder. She gave me a small, appreciative nod—a gesture of profound gratitude that warmed me from the inside out.
Then, Lorenzo turned his full attention back to the crowd. He pulled out his phone, unlocked it with a single tap, and made a call. He placed the device to his ear, his eyes never leaving Victoria's terrified face.
"Yes," Lorenzo spoke into the phone, his voice loud enough for the front rows to hear. "Execute Directive Seven. Cancel all current commercial partnerships with Sterling Enterprises, call in their outstanding corporate loans immediately, and notify the board that Moretti Holdings is acquiring their remaining shares at a basement valuation. Do it now."
Victoria let out a choked shriek. "You can't do that! That's decades of our family's work! You're destroying us over an old woman?!"
Lorenzo lowered his phone, his expression completely blank.
May you like
"You destroyed yourself the moment you forgot who built this city," Lorenzo replied coldly. Then, his gaze shifted past Victoria, landing directly on me. He walked around the trembling socialite, stopping just a few feet away from where I stood holding my empty serving tray.
"And you," Lorenzo said, his voice softening just a fraction. "What is your name?"
