Chapter 5 - The War in the Boardroom
At 10:30 AM, the glass-walled boardroom on the 50th floor of Moretti Global Tower in downtown Chicago was thick with tension.
Luca sat at the head of the massive mahogany table. He had changed into a sharp, charcoal-grey three-piece suit, but his face was set in stone. Sitting to his right was Richard Shaw, a silver-haired, ruthless titan of industry. Beside Richard sat Evelyn, looking elegant but noticeably pale, her hands trembling slightly as she adjusted her diamond bracelet.
"Luca, this emergency meeting is absurd," Richard Shaw sneered, tossing his leather folder onto the table. "The board is preparing for the quarterly review, and you're dragging us in here over personal rumors? Tabloids are claiming you were spotted at your ex-wife's house last night. It's embarrassing for Evelyn! It's damaging our stock price!"
Luca slowly leaned back in his leather chair. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't throw a tantrum. He simply looked at Richard with an icy, terrifying calm that made the surrounding board members uncomfortable.
"Do you know what really damages a stock price, Richard?" Luca asked softly. His voice carried an edge sharp enough to cut glass. "Felony fraud. Medical records tampering. And criminal conspiracy."
Evelyn gasped softly. Richard’s eyes narrowed. "What ridiculous nonsense are you spewing?"
Luca snapped his fingers. Gabe stepped forward from the back of the room, laying three thick blue folders in front of every board member present.
"Inside those folders," Luca announced, his dark eyes fixing onto Evelyn’s pale face, "you will find bank transfers originating from a shell company registered to Shaw Enterprises, directed to a former head nurse at the Gold Coast Fertility Clinic six years ago."
The room burst into shocked whispers. Board members began flipping frantically through the pages.
"You will also find," Luca continued, his voice dropping into a register of pure, lethal anger, "a sworn confession signed an hour ago by Dr. Harrison, admitting that he was pressured by Richard Shaw to deliver fabricated fertility assessments to me regarding my former wife, Nia Moretti."
"This is a smear campaign!" Richard roared, slamming his fist on the table as he stood up. "You’re lying! You’re trying to cover up your own personal indiscretions because you saw your ex-wife with some illegitimate children!"
"They are my children, Richard," Luca said quietly, standing up to his full height. His aura filled the room, suffocating every voice in it. "They are my twins. Born seven months after my divorce from Nia. Blood of my blood. Heirs to everything I own."
Evelyn stood up, tears springing to her eyes, her polished facade completely shattering. "Luca! You can't do this! We are married! I am your wife!"
"Our marriage was built on a lie manufactured by your father," Luca said coldly, pulling a thick envelope from his inner jacket pocket and sliding it across the polished table to her. "Those are annulment papers on the grounds of fraud. You and your father have one hour to vacate this building. If Shaw Enterprises attempts to fight this, I will turn every document in that folder over to the FBI by noon."
"Luca, please!" Evelyn cried out, reaching for his hand, but Luca stepped back, avoiding her touch with absolute disgust.
"Get them out of my sight," Luca ordered quietly.
Gabe and four armed security guards stepped forward, surrounding Richard Shaw and Evelyn. Richard’s face was purple with rage as he was escorted out, while Evelyn wept loudly, her cries echoing down the marble hallway.
Luca turned his back on the board members, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Chicago skyline.
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He had destroyed his enemies. He had reclaimed his company. But as he looked down at the city, his heart felt utterly empty.
Because winning the boardroom meant nothing if he couldn't win back the woman he had destroyed six years ago.
