Chapter 7 - THE REVENGE AT THE BALLROOMThe Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel was packed with three hundred high-society guests, syndicate leaders, corrupt politicians, and news reporters.
Don Ricci stood at the main podium on the elevated stage, wearing an expensive black tuxedo, smiling triumphantly as he raised a glass of crystal champagne.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Ricci’s voice echoed over the sound system. "Tonight, we mourn the tragic loss of Lorenzo Moretti in that unfortunate house fire... but we look forward to a unified future under the Ricci-Chicago alliance!"
Applause erupted from his loyal supporters in the front row.
"Before we sign the territorial deeds," Ricci continued, pointing to a table where six legal documents lay, "I introduce my daughter, Valentina, who has returned to take her rightful place—"
BOOM!
The massive double brass doors at the back of the ballroom shattered off their hinges, crashing onto the marble floor!
The crowd shrieked in terror as fifty heavily armed Moretti loyalists flooded into the ballroom, securing every exit and aiming high-powered rifles directly at Ricci’s security detail.
Through the heavy smoke stepped Don Lorenzo Moretti.
He walked down the center aisle with slow, executioner-like strides, his hazel eyes burning with a terrifying, apocalyptic rage.
Beside him walked Sophia Bellini, looking like an empress of war in her emerald gown, holding the iron box under her arm.
"Lorenzo?!" Ricci gasped, dropping his champagne glass, which shattered across the stage. "You... you were burned alive!"
"It takes more than a fire set by snakes to kill a Moretti, Ricci!" Lorenzo’s voice boomed across the silent room, clear as a bell, cold as steel.
Valentina, who sat in the front row under armed guard, let out a pathetic whimpering sound, hiding her face in her hands.
Lorenzo stepped onto the stage, pulling a sleek digital tablet from Marco’s hands and plugging it into the ballroom’s massive projection screen.
"Three years ago," Lorenzo announced to the three hundred elite guests, "my father was murdered. Today, the world learns who pulled the strings."
The massive screen lit up.
Audio recordings of Don Ricci and Don Hector discussing the poison, bank transfer receipts showing millions paid to assassins, and video footage of Valentina threatening six-year-old Lena flashed before the entire High Commission!
Gasps of horror and disgust echoed through the room!
The Senior Boss of the High Commission stood up from his chair, his face red with fury, pointing his cane at Ricci. "Traitor! You murdered Don Vito and lied to the High Council?!"
"No! It's a lie! It's fabricated!" Ricci screamed, pulling a hidden revolver from his jacket, aiming it directly at Lorenzo’s chest!
Before Ricci could pull the trigger—
BANG!
A single gunshots echoed through the hall.
Ricci gasped, dropping his revolver, clutching his right shoulder as blood gushed through his white shirt.
He looked across the stage in absolute disbelief.
The gun hadn't been fired by Lorenzo.
It was holding steady in the hands of Sophia Bellini.
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Sophia stood tall, her green silk dress flowing around her, her hands steady as iron as she held a sleek silver Beretta, smoke drifting from the barrel.
"That," Sophia spoke, her voice carrying across the silent ballroom with terrifying grace, "was for my daughter."
