Chapter 5 - "She Does Not Need Your Charity, Sebastian — She Owns Your Entire Debt Portfolio"
The silence in the grand ballroom was so profound that you could hear the fizz of champagne bubbles across the room.
Sebastian’s face transitioned from smug arrogance to sheer terror within two seconds.
“Your... your wife?” Sebastian stammered, looking frantically between Norah’s calm, radiant face and the lethal mafia don standing beside her. “Mr. Castellano, there must be a mistake. Norah was my wife until two weeks ago. She has no money, no connections... she was just an analyst!”
Luca took a slow, deliberate step forward.
The atmosphere in the room plummeted by ten degrees.
“She was an analyst whose brilliance you exploited,” Luca said, his voice quiet, cold, and devastating. “She was the woman you degraded because your fragile ego could not handle her intellect.”
Julianne Vance tried to step in, her voice shrill with nervous arrogance. “Mr. Castellano, you don't know her! She’s just after your fortune! She came from nothing!”
Luca didn't even turn his head toward Julianne.
Marco stepped forward, handing Luca a thin leather folio.
Luca handed it directly to Norah.
Norah opened it, pulled out a single sheet of paper, and looked Sebastian dead in the eye.
“Crane Enterprises took out a $42 million subordinated loan from Hudson Maritime Credit last November to cover your warehouse losses in New Jersey,” Norah said, her voice clear, melodic, and razor-sharp.
Sebastian’s knees visibly shook. “How... how do you know that?”
“Hudson Maritime was bought out yesterday morning,” Norah continued with a slight, devastating smile. “The entire debt package was transferred into my private trust. As of 9:00 AM yesterday, Sebastian... I am your primary creditor.”
The entire ballroom erupted in hushed gasps.
“If you miss your quarterly interest payment by one single minute on the first of next month,” Norah whispered, stepping closer to him, “I will foreclose on your family estate, seize your father’s classic cars, and liquidate your firm down to the copper wiring in your office walls.”
Sebastian slumped back against a pillar, completely destroyed.
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Luca placed a heavy, protective hand on the small of Norah’s back, leaning down to whisper near her ear in front of the entire high-society crowd:
“Let’s go home, darling. The air in here is foul.”
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