Chapter 5

My father spun around, his brow furrowing.

"What are you trying to pull now? Can you stop causing trouble for one night?"

"Cousin, maybe you should step aside," Wilfred said softly. "They might not want to come in while you're standing here."

His meaning was obvious.

The guests were refusing to enter because of me.

Because after breaking with the Morettis, I was supposedly bad luck.

My parents believed him immediately.

"Get out of here!" my father snapped.

"All you do is bring trouble to this family. What are you still standing there for?"

My mother glared at me with undisguised hatred.

I wasn't angry.

I wasn't even disappointed anymore.

I just found it amusing.

I turned toward the waiting crowd.

"Everyone."

"It's cold outside. Please, come in."

The response was immediate.

"Of course, Miss Moretti."

"Thank you."

One by one, representatives from the city's most powerful families walked past my father and entered the estate.

My parents, Wilfred, and Louis stood frozen.

None of them had expected that.

My father quickly grabbed Zion Lambert, an old ally of the Moretti family.

"Zion, what's going on? Why are they listening to Grace?"

His face darkened.

"She walked away from the family. She has nothing now."

"Exactly," my mother added. "Wilfred is the Moretti successor. Why would anyone care what Grace says?"

Zion stared at them.

"You people..."

He sighed, clearly about to explain.

Then he spotted Paul approaching behind me.

His expression changed instantly.

"Stay away from me."

He pulled his arm free from my father's grip.

"I want nothing to do with whatever you've gotten yourselves into."

Zion hurried inside.

My father stood there in disbelief.

For years, the Moretti name had commanded respect throughout the city.

No one had ever dismissed him like that.

"You had someone capable enough to hold this family together, and you threw her aside for someone who hasn't earned a fraction of her power."

Paul stopped beside me and looked at my father.

"Don Moretti, you were holding the strongest hand at the table."

"And somehow, you still managed to lose."

My father's face turned crimson.

Louis immediately stepped forward.

"Uncle, don't listen to him. He's close to Grace. Of course he'll take her side."

"Ungrateful."

My father clenched his jaw.

"Absolutely ungrateful."

Then his eyes narrowed.

"But why are all the families we invited listening to her?"

No one answered.

Wilfred's gaze shifted.

Then he spoke carefully.

"Uncle, do you think Grace might have taken something when she left?"

My father's expression changed.

Wilfred lowered his voice.

"She handled our routes, alliances, accounts, and contacts for years. She knows almost everything about the Moretti family's operations."

He paused, then gave an innocent shrug.

"Maybe she traded some of that information for support."

"But I'm only guessing. Forget I said anything."

I almost admired how easily he planted the idea.

My father's face turned cold.

"No."

His voice hardened.

"You're right."

"She spent eight years inside our inner circle. She knows every route, every alliance, every weakness we have."

My mother's face twisted with fury.

"That ungrateful girl!"

"After everything this family gave her, she betrayed us?"

She looked toward the doors where I had disappeared.

"I should never have raised her. She'll never be half the person Wilfred is."

My father gave a cold laugh.

"It doesn't matter."

"Once those families get whatever information they want from her, they'll throw her aside."

He adjusted his coat and turned away.

"Let's go."

"We'll return to the compound and gather everything we have on her."

His eyes were colder than I'd ever seen them.

"If Grace betrayed the Moretti family, she'll answer for it before the council."

He paused.

"In our world, family means nothing once someone becomes a traitor."

"She made her choice."

"Now she'll live with the consequences."