Chapter 4
I learned very quickly that powerful families could be just as broken as poor ones.
They just broke behind more expensive doors.
Vincent’s younger brother, Daniel Moretti, had spent ten years building his own investment company.
According to Isabella, the brothers had once been inseparable.
Then their father died.
Everything changed.
Vincent inherited control of the family corporation.
Daniel believed he should have received half.
“He did receive half the ownership,” Vincent told me.
We were in his home office while Isabella rested upstairs.
“He wanted control.”
“And you got it?”
“My father believed I was better suited.”
I winced.
“That probably went over well.”
“No.”
That was the understatement of the century.
Daniel moved out.
Started competing with Vincent.
Every business decision became personal.
The Langford Harbor project was apparently Daniel’s biggest opportunity yet.
Victoria’s family owned much of the land.
Daniel had investors.
What they needed was access to infrastructure controlled by Moretti Holdings.
Vincent refused.
So Victoria pressured Isabella.
“And she knew exactly who your mother was at the gala.”
“Yes.”
He looked angrier each time he said it.
“Why would Daniel allow that?”
“We don’t know that he did.”
“You think Victoria acted alone?”
“I think assuming guilt before evidence is how innocent people get hurt.”
I stared at him.
“That sounded almost wise.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Almost?”
I smiled.
Something had changed between us.
I didn’t know when.
Maybe when he sat with Dad.
Maybe when he defended me without trying to control me.
Maybe when I realized the frightening billionaire had a mother who ignored his security instructions and a brother who hated him.
He was suddenly human.
That was dangerous in an entirely different way.
My phone rang.
Lily.
I answered immediately.
“Everything okay?”
She was crying.
“Emma, Dad collapsed.”
The room disappeared around me.
“What?”
“We’re at County Medical. They took him into emergency.”
I stood so fast I knocked over my chair.
Vincent was already reaching for his coat.
“I’ll drive.”
“I can get a cab.”
“Emma.”
I looked at him.
“Move.”
We moved.
The drive felt endless.
I called Lily twice.
No change.
When we reached the hospital, I ran.
Vincent stayed behind me.
Lily met us outside intensive care.
Her face was white.
“They said his heart rhythm went crazy.”
I hugged her.
“What did the doctor say?”
“They’re stabilizing him.”
We waited for nearly an hour.
I paced.
Lily cried.
Vincent stayed.
He didn’t make calls.
He didn’t tell anyone who he was.
He simply sat beside my sister.
When Dr. Patel finally appeared, I knew the news wasn’t good.
“Your father needs surgery.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Soon.”
He explained that Dad’s condition had progressed.
There was a procedure that could help, but the recovery would be difficult.
Then came the sentence I feared.
“There may be expenses insurance doesn’t fully cover.”
Of course.
There were always expenses.
I looked at Vincent.
He immediately shook his head.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t make that face.”
“What face?”
“The one where you prepare to refuse help before anyone offers it.”
Lily looked between us.
“This is a weird friendship.”
“It isn’t a friendship,” I said.
Vincent looked offended.
“I brought you to the hospital.”
“That makes you an Uber driver.”
Lily laughed through tears.
Even I smiled.
Then Vincent became serious.
“The Moretti Foundation has a patient assistance program.”
“No.”
“It isn’t mine personally.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“I’m not taking money because I stopped someone from hitting your mother.”
“You wouldn’t.”
He lowered his voice.
“You would apply to a program that exists specifically for families in this situation.”
I looked at Lily.
Her eyes pleaded with me.
Pride was expensive.
Dad couldn’t afford mine.
“Fine.”
Vincent nodded.
“I’ll have someone bring the forms.”
“No special treatment.”
“No special treatment.”
I pointed at him.
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
Dad’s surgery was scheduled.
For the first time in months, I felt like maybe we had a chance.
Then my phone started exploding again.
This time the story wasn’t about the gala.
A gossip site had published photographs of Vincent entering my house.
Another showed us arriving at the hospital together.
The headline made me sick.
BILLIONAIRE’S NEW WAITRESS MISTRESS?
Lily read it over my shoulder.
“Oh, wow.”
“Don’t.”
“She called you mysterious.”
“Lily.”
“And beautiful.”
I snatched the phone.
“This isn’t funny.”
Vincent saw the headline.
His face hardened.
“I’ll handle it.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“This affects my family too.”
“Then respond for your family. Don’t speak for me.”
He nodded.
That surprised me.
“All right.”
Within hours, things got worse.
Victoria appeared on a television interview.
She didn’t accuse me directly.
She didn’t have to.
“I think everyone should ask themselves why a billionaire became so interested in a waitress overnight.”
The interviewer smiled.
Victoria continued.
“Some people create dramatic situations because they understand cameras are everywhere.”
My stomach twisted.
She was implying I had staged everything.
Then she added:
“I feel terrible for Mrs. Moretti, of course. But manipulation can happen in many forms.”
Dad was unconscious after surgery.
Lily was sleeping across two waiting-room chairs.
I sat alone watching strangers online call me a gold digger.
Then someone sat beside me.
Isabella.
I stared.
“What are you doing here?”
“Visiting David.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know his daughter.”
She took my phone.
Then she turned it off.
“Never argue with people who have already decided they prefer a lie.”
“I’m losing my mind.”
“No.”
She squeezed my hand.
“You are discovering how expensive integrity can feel before it starts paying you back.”
I leaned against the wall.
“I don’t need it to pay me back.”
“I know.”
Her eyes softened.
“That’s why it probably will.”
Later that afternoon, Dad woke.
His first words were:
“Did we win?”
I started crying.
“What?”
“The surgery.”
I laughed through my tears.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them again.
“Why is Vincent Moretti standing behind you?”
I turned.
Vincent had just entered.
He smiled.
“Apparently I’m her Uber driver.”
Dad looked at me.
“I like him.”
“Please go back to sleep.”
For one moment, everything felt almost normal.
Then Vincent’s security chief entered.
He whispered something into Vincent’s ear.
Vincent’s expression changed.
“What?” I asked.
He looked toward Isabella.
“Daniel wants to meet.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why?”
Vincent’s eyes met mine.
“Because he says he can prove Victoria has been lying.”
I exhaled.
“That sounds good.”
“No.”
Vincent looked toward the hospital window.
May you like
“He also says if I don’t meet him alone, he’ll release something that could destroy my mother.”
And suddenly, Victoria’s gossip campaign felt like the smallest part of what was happening.
