Chapter 5 - Maren Confronts The Past She Tried To Escape
The silence in the grand ballroom was so absolute that the hum of the air conditioning sounded like a roaring engine.
Several members of the DeLuca corporate board seated near the front row turned white with unadulterated panic.
Marcus DeLuca, Luca’s aging uncle and the patriarch of the family trust, stood up abruptly from his table.
"Luca, you are making a catastrophic mistake," Marcus warned, his voice shaking with furious authority.
"Shut your mouth, Uncle Marcus," Luca snapped back, his dark eyes locking onto the older man with lethal precision.
"You orchestrated the cover-up in 2018, and I have the signed bank wire transfers to prove it."
Maren stepped up onto the stage, her posture straightening as she looked out at the people who had terrorized her youth.
"You thought you could break me with hush money and quiet threats in a sterile hospital hallway," Maren spoke clearly.
"You thought I would raise my daughter in the shadows while you dined on caviar and champagne."
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"But we survived," Maren added, squeezing Wren’s small hand as the little girl looked up at her with newfound pride.
"And now, your entire empire is about to crumble under the weight of your own lies."
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