Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Family Picture Without Me: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

“What time is the next ferry off the island?”The woman behind the ticket window checked her screen. “Six forty. It’s an express ferry, and there are three seats left.”“One ticket, please.”As she processed my passport, my phone vibrated with a message from Damian in the family group chat.[The sunrise was incredible. Viola, get up here before you miss it.]A photograph followed.Selena stood at the cliffside railing with the ocean glowing behind her. The wind lifted her white dress, and Leon’s jacket rested around her shoulders. Mom was fixing her hair while Dad and Damian stood beside her.Five people smiling against the sunrise.Another perfect Moretti family portrait without me.Dad replied:[She’s probably still asleep. You know how difficult she is in the mornings.]No one had called me. No one had returned to the villa to check my room.They had left shortly before four, yet it had taken them more than two hours to realize I wasn’t with them. Even then, they had only noticed af

Rain followed me into New York.When I reached Manhattan, the first message waiting for me was a voice recording from Damian.“You missed one sunrise, Viola. Was it really worth ruining the entire trip? Leon has been trying to reach you for hours.”I deleted it and took a cab to New York University.My roommate, Nora, stared when I wheeled my suitcase into our graduate residence.“Aren’t you supposed to be on the island until Sunday?”“I came back early.”“Did you fight with Leon?”“No. I’m moving out.”She lowered the book in her hand. “You decided?”I accepted the position at Kane Strategic Risk’s Chicago headquarters. I start Monday.Nora knew Ronan Kane had offered me the job one month ago. She also knew I had declined because I planned to marry Leon and work for the Falcone family.“I thought you were staying for the wedding.”“So did I.”“What changed?”I began taking books from the shelf.“For years, I kept waiting for my family to see what I could do. I thought if I worked hard

Chicago was colder than New York.By the time my flight landed, rain had turned to sleet against the terminal windows. A driver from Kane Strategic Risk was waiting near baggage claim with my name printed on a plain black card.He didn’t call me Miss Moretti or mention my family.“Ms. Viola,” he said. “Mr. Kane asked me to take you to the apartment first. You start tomorrow.”The company apartment overlooked the river. An encrypted phone, an access badge, and a handwritten note waited on the dining table.There’s no champagne in the refrigerator. Staying sharp before your first day matters more than celebrating. —Ronan KaneI smiled despite myself.That was exactly how Ronan had sounded during the video conference where we first met: practical to the point of rudeness.He had been reviewing a Moretti shipping guarantee when he found three weaknesses in the contract. I had found two errors in his risk model before the call ended.A week later, Kane Strategic Risk offered me a position a

Leon arrived outside Kane the following evening.He had come without his security detail. His shirt was creased, and dark stubble shadowed his jaw as if he had left the airport without stopping anywhere else.The moment I stepped through the revolving door, he crossed the sidewalk.“Come home with me.”“I’m not going home.”He held out the ring.“You can’t end an engagement by leaving this in a dorm room. Both families have spent a year planning the wedding. Half the East Coast knows we’re getting married.”“And I should marry you so no one asks embarrassing questions?”“That isn’t what I meant.”“It’s the first reason you gave.”He lowered the ring. “Your father is prepared to put you in charge of Moretti risk operations. Full authority over the harbor accounts, security models, and international audits.”“I already have a job.”“This is your family’s business.”“That didn’t matter when every family decision was made around Selena.”“We’re trying to correct that.”“Because I left.”Le

The Hawthorne investigation closed two weeks later.Federal investigators seized three underground vaults, and Kane saved the client ninety million dollars in acquisition losses. At the final meeting, Ronan handed me the client’s letter.The last paragraph read:The acquisition committee has voted unanimously to retain VIOLET for the continuing investigation, subject to independent authorization from its creator, Viola Moretti.I had developed VIOLET during graduate school and retained legal ownership of its source code, though the Morettis had used it for years without putting my name on most of the work.Now my name appeared alone.Applause filled the conference room.Ronan didn’t take the letter from me or turn my success into a speech about Kane. He waited until the room cleared, then asked, “How do you want to celebrate?”“No champagne.”“I assumed that much.”“There’s a bakery around the corner.”Ten minutes later, one of the most feared men in private intelligence stood beside m