Chapter 3 - the shadows of the past
The executive elevator rose in complete silence, ascending toward the private top floor of Moretti Plaza. Inside the wood-paneled cab stood Dominic, Marco, Anna, and little Lily, who was sitting happily on a leather bench, swinging her small pink shoes while clutching her stuffed rabbit.
Anna stood near the corner, her fingers tightly holding her handbag. She could feel Dominic’s intense, commanding presence filling the cab.
When the elevator doors opened onto the private floor, Dominic led them into his vast executive office—a room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, plush leather seating, and a massive mahogany desk.
"Marco," Dominic ordered flatly. "Lock the floor. No one comes up without my direct authorization."
"Understood, Boss," Marco replied, stepping outside to secure the private corridor.
Dominic walked over to his desk, setting the shoebox down beside his computer monitor. He pulled out his high-backed leather chair and gestured toward the sofa. "Sit down, Anna."
Anna sat on the edge of the plush leather sofa, holding Lily close to her side. "Mr. Moretti, if this is about the severance pay, I don't want any trouble. I just want my final paycheck so I can pay my landlord."
Dominic didn't sit. He stood near the desk, his beige suit immaculate, his luxury watch catching the afternoon sunlight. He reached into the shoebox and pulled out the folded document signed by his father.
"Eight years ago," Dominic began, his voice surprisingly soft, "my father died of what the doctors called sudden cardiac arrest. Two days before he died, he promoted you from a junior receptionist to his private secretarial assistant."
Anna looked down at her simple shoes, her shoulders tense. "Yes."
"And two days after he died," Dominic continued, stepping closer, "you were quietly transferred to the low-level records department in the basement, where you spent the next eight years sorting archival files for minimum wage."
"I was grateful to keep my job," Anna whispered.
"My father's signature on this document," Dominic said, holding up the paper, "is an official codicil to the Moretti Family Trust. It states that an offshore holding account containing twenty percent of the group's distribution shares was placed under your legal guardianship."
Anna gasped softly, her eyes widening in genuine, unfeigned shock. "What? No... that's impossible! I was just his clerk!"
Dominic watched her reaction with terrifying intensity. "You didn't know?"
"Of course I didn't know!" Anna exclaimed, her voice trembling with raw emotion. "Your father gave me that sealed envelope three days before he died! He told me to keep it safe and never open it unless someone tried to hurt me or my family! He told me it was a personal letter of recommendation!"
May you like
Dominic turned the paper over, showing her the second line of text written in his father's bold handwriting: To be delivered to my son Dominic only when the snake in the council shows his face.
Suddenly, the heavy glass window of the executive office shattered with a sharp, explosive crack.
