Chapter 8 - THE PRESS CONFERENCE
The grand ballroom of the Drake Hotel was packed with over two hundred journalists, camera crews, and legal representatives. The air buzzed with electric tension. Everyone expected Luca Moretti to issue a formal apology or announce a quiet settlement with the Shaw family.
Instead, he walked onto the stage alone, wearing a dark suit, his face set in stone.
"For the past week, my private life has been broadcast across national news," Luca began, his deep baritone echoing through the silence of the room. "The Shaw family has publicly accused my ex-wife, Nia Carter, of deception and extortion. Today, I am here to correct the narrative with evidence."
Luca motioned to the massive LED screen behind him.
Documents flashed across the display—bank wire transfers, intercepted emails, and sworn affidavits from medical personnel.
"Seven years ago, Julian Vance, my former chief of staff, was bribed three million dollars by Shaw Holdings," Luca stated, looking directly into the primary camera lens. "His assignment was simple: manipulate my marriage. He planted false medical reports, whispered lies into my ear that Nia was secretly taking birth control, and told Nia that I viewed her as 'defective.' He systematically destroyed two lives so that a political alliance through marriage could be forced upon me."
Gasps echoed throughout the room. Camera flashes erupted in a blinding storm.
"I have filed formal criminal complaints with the State Attorney General for corporate espionage, wire fraud, and harassment," Luca continued, stepping closer to the podium. "Furthermore, my divorce from Evelyn Shaw is finalized as of this morning. Any threat made against Nia Carter or my children, Leo and Maya Moretti, will be met with the full economic and legal weight of my empire."
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Sitting in a private balcony room above the ballroom, watching the broadcast on a monitor, I felt a heavy knot in my chest finally loosen.
Luca had not just defended us. He had burned down his entire high-society standing to clear my name.
