Chapter 7 - The Reading of the Will
Three days after the incident at Pier 42, the high-stakes world of New York high society was rocked by an unprecedented media firestorm.
Front-page headlines across every major newspaper read: ROMANO CRIME SYNDICATE COLLAPSES: FEDERAL INDICTMENTS ISSUED FOR 40 EXECUTIVES.
Inside the luxurious grand boardroom of the Moretti Corporate Tower on Wall Street, twenty high-ranking estate lawyers, financial trustees, and senior syndicate advisers sat around a thirty-foot mahogany table.
At the head of the table sat Aleandro Moretti. He wore a flawless charcoal suit, his expression commanding absolute respect.
Sitting to his right was Sophia, dressed in an elegant navy silk dress, her bandaged hand resting comfortably on the table.
Sitting on an oversized leather executive chair beside her was three-year-old Emma, wearing a brand-new crimson velvet dress and a pair of shiny black patent-leather shoes that sparkled under the recessed lights. She was busy coloring a picture of a sailboat on a pad of paper using a gold pen.
The head estate lawyer, an elderly man named Arthur Pendelton, cleared his throat and opened a thick leather binder.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Pendelton began, adjusting his reading glasses. "We are here today for the formal restructuring of the Moretti Family Trust and Global Holding Assets, pursuant to the explicit instructions of Don Aleandro Moretti."
The advisers murmured amongst themselves, exchanging uneasy glances.
"Item One," Pendelton read aloud. "Effective immediately, fifty-one percent of all voting shares in Moretti Logistics, Moretti Construction, and the Manhattan Real Estate Group are irrevocably transferred into a blind family trust."
Pendelton looked up from his papers, his eyes landing on the little girl coloring with her gold pen.
"The sole primary beneficiary of this trust," Pendelton declared, "is declared to be Miss Emma Sofia Moretti."
A sharp collective gasp rippled through the boardroom.
"Mr. Moretti!" a senior financial director stood up, flustered. "With all due respect, that represents an asset portfolio worth approximately four point two billion dollars! Placing controlling interest in the hands of a minor under legal guardianship—"
Aleandro raised his hand slightly. The financial director instantly sat back down, swallowing his remaining words.
"The guardianship of the trust," Aleandro stated, his voice ringing with absolute authority, "will be managed jointly by myself and Miss Sophia Miller, who is hereby recognized as the Chief Executive Officer of the Moretti Charitable Foundation."
Pendelton nodded, signing the legal parchment with a fountain pen. "Item Two. In accordance with the public wager made during the evening of August 12th at the Moretti Estate... a lump-sum payment of one million dollars is to be transferred immediately."
Pendelton slid a heavy white envelope across the polished mahogany table, coming to a stop directly in front of Emma.
Emma stopped coloring. She looked at the heavy white envelope, then up at Aleandro with her wide, curious hazel eyes.
"What's this, Daddy?" Emma asked innocently.
Aleandro smiled—a warm, genuine smile that stunned the hardened corporate lawyers in the room.
"That's your prize money, little girl," Aleandro said gently. "Because you danced better than anyone else in the world."
Emma looked at the envelope, then picked it up and handed it straight across the table to Sophia.
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"Here, Mommy," Emma said proudly. "Now we can buy the big washing machine that doesn't make noisy sounds!"
Tears filled Sophia’s eyes. She pulled Emma into a tight embrace, kissing her cheeks as the cold, hard boardroom burst into soft, warm laughter.
