Chapter 5 - THE THREAT FROM THE SHADOWS
The temporary truce between us was shattered less than forty-eight hours later.
I had agreed to let Luca meet the children in a neutral setting—a private park near my neighborhood—under the strict condition that we didn't tell them he was their father just yet. I wanted them to get used to his presence gradually.
Watching him interact with Leo and Maya was surreal. The ruthless billionaire who bought corporations for breakfast was awkwardly sitting on a wooden bench, clumsily helping Maya tie her shoes and listening with rapt attention as Leo explained the intricacies of his favorite dinosaur. For a moment, watching the faint, genuine smile grace Luca's lips, a tiny piece of my broken heart felt strangely healed.
Then, the media storm hit.
By noon the next day, the front cover of the Chicago Tribune and every major tabloid had leaked the photos taken at the park.
LUCA MORETTI’S SECRET FAMILY: THE BILLIONAIRE’S HIDDEN TWINS.
The press flared out of control. Evelyn Shaw’s family was one of the oldest, most powerful political dynasties in Illinois, and the public humiliation of the affair—or what appeared to be an affair—was something they wouldn't tolerate.
I was at my office when my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar voice, sharp, cold, and refined.
"Ms. Carter. This is Victoria Shaw, Evelyn’s mother."
"Mrs. Shaw," I said, leaning back in my chair, feeling a cold sweat break out on my neck. "I have nothing to say to you."
"You have a great deal to worry about, my dear," the matriarch replied smoothly. "Luca’s marriage to my daughter involves billions of dollars in joint real estate ventures and state political endorsements. A scandal of this magnitude threatens everything. We have already filed emergency motions regarding the legitimacy of those children."
"Legitimacy?" I echoed, my voice shaking with rising fury. "They are his biological children!"
"Are they?" Victoria hummed thoughtfully. "Or are they the result of an opportunistic ex-wife seeking a payout seven years late? Courts are very easily influenced when proper pressure is applied, Ms. Carter. You took on a billionaire once and lost your marriage. Don't lose your children too."
"Is that a threat?"
May you like
"It’s a reality check. Stay away from Luca, take a settlement, and leave Chicago. Or we will make sure those children are tied up in custody battles until they are adults."
The line went dead.
