Chapter 5 - The Masterpiece of Lies
The silence in the grand hallway was suffocating.
I looked down at the tiny baby in my arms, tracing the dark hair and the delicate curve of her nose.
She was Luca Moretti’s biological daughter.
He had orchestrated the creation of my child without my knowledge or consent.
"You are a monster," I whispered, the betrayal burning like acid in my throat.
Luca did not flinch at the insult, simply accepting my hatred with a rigid posture.
"I am a man who saw what he wanted and ensured it became his," he answered softly.
"You stole my entire life," I sobbed, stepping further into the nursery and locking eyes with him.
"I gave you a child when your pathetic boyfriend could not," Luca countered, his voice hardening.
Derek was still pinned to the floor below, sobbing pathetically into the marble tile.
"Get him out of my house," Luca snapped at his guards, pointing at Derek.
The guards dragged my ex-boyfriend out the front doors, tossing him into the rainy night.
Luca slowly walked toward the nursery door, stopping just outside the threshold out of respect for my boundaries.
"I have watched you for three years, Emma," he confessed, leaning against the doorframe.
"You worked at the coffee shop across from my corporate headquarters."
"You smiled at my men, you remembered their names, and you treated monsters like human beings."
"I decided then that you would be the mother of my heirs."
My stomach churned at the sheer, calculated obsession behind his words.
He had fabricated the loan documents, the fake marriage, and the fertility clinic swap just to trap me.
"I am leaving," I stated firmly, grabbing a diaper bag from the changing table.
"You cannot leave, Emma, the rival syndicate is actively hunting you," Luca warned, genuine fear in his eyes.
"I would rather take my chances with strangers than stay with a man who engineered my reality," I snapped.
I pushed past him, my shoulder brushing against his solid chest, but he did not try to physically stop me.
He simply followed me down the stairs, his jaw clenched tight.
I walked out the front door and into the pouring rain, refusing to look back at the mansion.
I made it halfway down the long, winding driveway before the headlights of three black vans suddenly illuminated the darkness.
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The vans aggressively blocked the iron gates, and heavily armed men wearing ski masks poured out into the rain.
And stepping out of the lead van, holding an assault rifle and a terrifying smile, was Derek's father.
