He Thought I Was Nobody Until My Five Brothers Erased His Empire

The ballroom erupted in sharp gasps.

Margaret screamed, reaching for her husband's arm, but two of Dominic’s security men stepped smoothly between her and the scene, blocking her path like iron walls.

Adrian clawed desperately at Dominic’s fingers, his legs kicking uselessly in the air, his face turning a deep, terrifying purple as his oxygen was completely cut off.

"Dominic," I said quietly.

Dominic didn't drop him. He held Adrian pinned in mid-air against the grand mahogany pillar, his dark eyes fixed on the suffocating man.

"He whipped her, Luca," Dominic whispered, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, primal rage. "He tied our sister to a beam and whipped her like a dog."

Luca walked over, pulling a silver fountain pen from his pocket. He uncapped it and held the sharp nib two inches from Adrian’s bulging eyes.

"Legally speaking," Luca said calmly, "a husband who inflicts severe bodily harm during a public gathering forfeits all marital asset protections under State Statute 404. I’ve already drafted the divorce emergency petition, Adrian. You will sign over your personal shares of Cole Infrastructure to Elena before sunrise, or I will hand the state prosecutor video footage of tonight’s event along with sixteen counts of felony torture."

"He... he won't sign!" Margaret shrieked behind them, her voice shrill and hysterical. "We will fight you in every court in the country! We have the best lawyers in the state!"

Gabriel pulled a tablet from his briefcase and tapped the screen once.

"Your primary law firm, Sterling & Croft, just dropped you as a client three minutes ago, Margaret," Gabriel said softly. "Luca bought their managing partnership firm's debt last month. You have no lawyers. You have no bank accounts. And as of midnight tonight, the city is revoking Cole Infrastructure’s commercial operating license."

Richard Cole dropped to his knees right beside his weeping wife. The proud, arrogant billionaire who had spent forty years stepping on small contractors was now trembling violently, looking up at my brothers like a condemned man facing the executioner.

"Please..." Richard rasped, reaching out toward me with shaking hands. "Elena... please... talk to them. We gave you a home! We made you a Cole!"

I stepped past Dominic, looking down at Richard Cole.

"You didn't make me a Cole, Richard," I said, my voice cold and clear. "You tried to make me a servant. But my name has always been Elena Moretti."

Dominic loosened his grip.

Adrian slammed down onto the hard marble floor like a sack of wet flour, coughing violently, gasping for air as he clutched his bruised neck. He rolled onto his side, shivering, terrified, staring up at me with eyes full of absolute, pathetic dread.

"Stand up, Adrian," I said.

He scrambled frantically to his knees, his hands trembling against the floor.

"Look at me," I commanded.

Slowly, weeping softly, my husband raised his head to look at the woman he had tried to break thirty minutes ago.

"The thirty lashes you gave me tonight," I whispered, leaning down until I was inches from his pale face, "are going to cost your family thirty billion dollars. One billion for every mark on my skin."