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Chapter 2

Author: Liora Z
Nico realized his mistake. He dropped his hands and stepped back, his cold mask of control slipping back into place.

"Chiara?" He forced a light laugh. "Oh, you mean an old acquaintance from years ago. We were just friends. She moved away."

"Get everyone out! Now!" Matteo sensed the shift in the room and roared at the butler. "This is a private party! No outsiders allowed!"

But I wasn't going to let them off the hook that easily.

"Old acquaintance? Just friends?" I pressed him. "Then care to explain why you abandoned your 'friend' and her daughter for twenty years without a single word?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Matteo stepped in front of me, sneering. "Watch it, or I'll sue you for slander!"

"Matteo is right."

An elegant female voice rang out.

Isolda Russo stood up slowly.

Draped in haute couture Chanel and glittering diamonds, she looked like a queen on her throne.

"You poor thing," she purred, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "You've been fed a terrible lie. It was Chiara who broke my husband's heart, not the other way around."

The guests started murmuring. The tide was turning in her favor.

"Makes sense. Just another gold digger."

"So many of them these days, targeting successful men."

"Look at her cheap clothes. Classic extortion."

Isolda saw the tide turning and drove the knife in deeper. "Let's be clear. The Russo Group was built with my family's money. As for the lies some people spin..."

She turned to me, a vicious glint in her eyes. "So, little girl, I suggest you walk away now. Before you find out what happens when you poke the bear."

The crowd echoed her.

"Yeah, kick out this trash!"

"They'll make up anything for cash!"

"Where's security? Throw her out!"

Facing a room full of insults and sneers, I suddenly laughed.

I started to clap. Slow. Deliberate. Each one echoing in the silence.

"Bravo. Truly a master class in betrayal." I looked at Nico, mocking him. "Building your empire on one woman's money, then hiding behind another's. Nico, you're not just a bastard. You're a coward."

"Enough!" Nico finally snapped and roared. "Security! Get this crazy bitch out of here!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, hold on a second."

Julian stepped forward, holding a thick stack of papers.

"Before you jump to conclusions, let's hear some facts." He cleared his throat and read aloud:

"March 15, 1995. A wire transfer from Chicago First Bank. Five hundred thousand dollars. From Chiara Vittori to Russo Real Estate. The memo reads: 'Seed money'."

The room went dead silent again.

"March 20 of the same year. A prenuptial agreement. Nico Russo swore under his own name: 'Chiara's investment will be treated as founding shares. She will forever be my partner and my wife.'"

The guests started whispering. Their eyes filled with doubt.

"It's all forged!" Nico's face turned livid. "I never signed any agreement!"

"Is that so?" Julian smiled and handed him a document. "Then please take a look at this signature."

Nico snatched the paper and ripped it to shreds.

The pieces fluttered to the floor, just like his shredded conscience.

"We'll settle this in private." He kept his voice low, but he couldn't hide his panic. "I can pay you off, but I absolutely do not have a daughter!"

"No daughter?" I sneered and pulled out my phone. "Then let's ask an old friend of yours."

Mr. Sal's voice, weary and rough, played from the speaker:

"This is Sal, the doc from the old neighborhood. I'll swear on my life—Alessia is Nico Russo's flesh and blood. I was there in November of '95. I watched with my own eyes as that son of a bitch walked out on Chiara when she was eight months pregnant..."

"Shut it off! Shut that damn recording off!" Matteo lunged forward to grab my phone.

But the recording was already done.

Dead silence.

Everyone stared at the perfect family of three with complicated looks.

Isolda was pale as a ghost. Matteo was shaking with rage.

And Nico... he looked like a clown stripped of his disguise, utterly pathetic.

"One last piece of evidence." Julian chimed in perfectly, pulling a yellowed document from his briefcase. "November 12, 1995. Birth certificate from St. Mary's Hospital, Chicago."

He held it up high:

"Father: Nico Russo. Signature: Nico Russo."

"You signed this yourself, at the hospital. This is ironclad. Alessia is your daughter."
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  • I Crashed His Empire With a Marriage Certificate   Chapter 7

    A cold wind whipped around the hospital entrance. I held a hot milk and a sandwich. I walked up the steps.Three shapes lunged from the shadows, grabbing at my feet."Alessia! My daughter! Please, save me!" Nico clung to my boot.His expensive suit was torn to rags from his night in a cell. His face was bloody, his stubble thick. He looked like a bum. Next to him, on their knees, were Isolda and Matteo.Isolda’s pretty face was ruined. Sliced up by some goon a creditor sent to the station. Gauze covered her face, stained with blood.Matteo was just a heap on the ground, his right hand a mangled, bloody mess. He twitched like a dying animal."We were wrong! We know we were wrong!" Isolda banged her head on the concrete. Thump. Thump. "Please, talk to the Godfather! Ask him to let us live!"I stopped. Steam rose from the hot milk into the cold air.Nico thought he saw weakness. He looked up at me, desperate. "I'm your father! My blood is in your veins! Just say the word. They'll listen

  • I Crashed His Empire With a Marriage Certificate   Chapter 6

    The Rolls-Royce Phantom cut through the Chicago night. It was quiet in the car. Too quiet.The demon from the ballroom was now fidgeting, wringing his hands like a nervous schoolboy. He looked at me, his voice barely a whisper."Alessia... what do you like to eat? Sicilian pasta? Chicago pizza?"I saw a drop of Matteo's blood on his cuff."Anything that isn't moldy bread," I said quietly.For years, we lived on discount groceries. Never dreamed of a real restaurant. And now this man, this king of the underworld, was worried I might be hungry.His eyes went red. His throat worked. He turned away sharply, staring out the window. Hiding the pain in his eyes.The high from revenge started to fade. A strange warmth spread through my chest. So this is family.We pulled into the hospital's private garage. A familiar face was waiting by the VIP elevator. It was Sal. The pharmacist. The doctor who took my fifty grand.I started to say hello. Sal walked right past me. He dropped to one knee in f

  • I Crashed His Empire With a Marriage Certificate   Chapter 5

    The doors burst open. Dozens of armed men poured in.They moved as one. Sealing every exit. Dark muzzles stared down every guest in the room.The air was thick. Suffocating. A tall, imposing figure stepped into the hall.Time had turned his hair to silver. But it couldn't hide the smell of blood that clung to him. The kind of smell that terrified the entire European underworld.He was the head of the Sicilian Mafia. The Don of the Vittori family.Marco Vittori.Don Gallo walked to meet him. "My friend. Your timing is perfect," Gallo said, his voice low.He pointed his cane at me. "That's Chiara's daughter."Marco's eyes found me. And locked on.The goons holding me down? Their legs turned to jelly. They let go. Scrambled away.I stood up straight. I brushed the messy hair from my face. And I met his eyes.He walked toward me, one step at a time.This was the great Don. The killer. And now, he was shaking. Even his breath was unsteady.His eyes searched my face. My defiant eyes. Then th

  • I Crashed His Empire With a Marriage Certificate   Chapter 4

    Julian’s warning froze the room.Nico’s face darkened. He glared at us, his eyes pure poison.Then he turned to his son. A cold glance. That was all it took.Matteo got the message. He smirked and snapped his fingers.Dozens of goons in black suits flooded the hall. They poured out from the shadows, from every door.They grabbed Julian. Shoved our faces onto the long table. Hard.Cameras and papers went flying.“Recording? Livestreaming?” Matteo sneered. “You think I scare that easily?”He stepped up to us. He pulled a black device from his pocket and dangled it. “The signal in here is jammed. You ain't sending shit.”He yanked my hair, forcing my head up. “You think a few scraps of paper can take down the Russo family? In your dreams.”Crack.The back of his hand hit my face. Hard. No hesitation.My head slammed against the tabletop. Half my face went numb.The room gasped.He snatched the birth certificate. He ripped it to shreds right in front of my face. Then sprinkled the pieces o

  • I Crashed His Empire With a Marriage Certificate   Chapter 3

    The room erupted.But the uproar only lasted seconds before a suffocating tension choked the banquet hall.The air froze. The smart ones—the guests on the fringe—could smell the blood in the water. They were already slinking out the doors, hugging the walls.But the real power in the room hadn't moved. An old man in the shadows, tapping a silver wolf's-head cane against the floor. He hadn't said a word. He didn't have to. He was the Don.He watched the messy drama at the head table through half-closed eyes, looking down from on high.Nico stood there in silence for a solid minute.His face cycled through rage, shock, and helplessness, finally settling into a bitter defeat."Fine," he finally choked out, his voice raw. "I admit it. You're my daughter."Silence fell again.But I felt zero joy."Too late," I said, my voice ice. "I don't want a father. I'm here to collect what my mother is owed.""Take back what?" Isolda jumped in instantly. "We paid off that money years ago! I can even cu

  • I Crashed His Empire With a Marriage Certificate   Chapter 2

    Nico realized his mistake. He dropped his hands and stepped back, his cold mask of control slipping back into place."Chiara?" He forced a light laugh. "Oh, you mean an old acquaintance from years ago. We were just friends. She moved away.""Get everyone out! Now!" Matteo sensed the shift in the room and roared at the butler. "This is a private party! No outsiders allowed!"But I wasn't going to let them off the hook that easily."Old acquaintance? Just friends?" I pressed him. "Then care to explain why you abandoned your 'friend' and her daughter for twenty years without a single word?""What the hell are you talking about?" Matteo stepped in front of me, sneering. "Watch it, or I'll sue you for slander!""Matteo is right."An elegant female voice rang out.Isolda Russo stood up slowly.Draped in haute couture Chanel and glittering diamonds, she looked like a queen on her throne."You poor thing," she purred, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "You've been fed a terrible lie. It w

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