Chapter 13 - THE ULTIMATE CHOICE
Three months later, the federal courtroom downtown was packed with reporters and prosecutors.
Judge Vance pounded his gavel three times.
“Moretti Holdings is hereby placed under federal receivership pending corporate asset liquidation.”
Flashes blinded the courtroom as cameras captured the fall of Chicago’s most untouchable dynasty.
Lily Monroe received a mandatory twelve-year sentence for corporate fraud and conspiracy.
Viktor Sterling quietly absorbed the North Side shipping docks, exactly as we had agreed.
And Adrian Moretti?
He didn't go to prison—his legal team managed to insulate him from direct criminal charges by sacrificing his shell corporations.
But he lost something far more valuable than freedom.
He lost control.
When he walked out of the courthouse into the blinding spring sunlight, a black town car waited at the curb.
I stood beside the rear door holding a final set of papers.
Adrian stopped a few feet away.
He looked older.
The sharp, arrogant edge of Chicago’s kingpin had been dulled by defeat.
“Are you happy, Claire?” he asked quietly.
“I’m free, Adrian,” I replied, handing him the final property transfer deed.
“The divorce is finalized. You keep the Lake Forest mansion. I kept my name and my freedom.”
He looked down at the paper, then back up at me.
“Can we ever go back?”
“There is no back,” I said, opening the car door.
May you like
“Only forward.”
I slid into the leather interior and pulled the door shut.
