Chapter 5 - The Trap Springs Shut
Celeste’s panic instantly morphed into frantic, theatrical desperation. She pasted on a wide, trembling smile and rushed forward, her hands reaching out to grab Luca’s lapels.
“Oh, Luca! Thank goodness!” she cried, manufacturing tears in the corners of her eyes with practiced skill. “You won't believe what’s been happening! This wretched housekeeper—this thief—tried to steal confidential family documents from your mother’s study, and when I caught her, she attacked me and threatened to fabricate lies about us! I was just trying to protect your mother!”
The wedding planners gasped, looking nervously between Celeste and the silent housekeeper standing beside Vance.
Luca didn't flinch. He didn't pull her hands away. He simply stood there, letting her talk, his dark eyes colder than a winter midnight.
When Celeste finished her tearful performance, leaning her head against his chest, Luca gently—almost tenderly—lifted his hand and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“A very convincing performance, Celeste,” Luca murmured, his voice smooth as silk. “You always did excel at acting for the public.”
Celeste smiled weakly, her eyes fluttering up at him. “So you... you believe me? We should have security throw her out right now before she ruins our rehearsal dinner—”
“Vance,” Luca said, his voice cutting like a guillotine.
“Boss?”
“Play the archive.”
Vance pulled a small tablet from his jacket, tapped the screen, and connected it to the grand foyer’s massive surround-sound home theater display.
Instantly, the high-definition footage from the private family sitting room began playing on the giant screen above the fireplace.
Clang. The sound of the shattered crystal glass echoed through the silent foyer.
Then came the image of Celeste towering over the wheelchair, raising her hand, and striking the elderly matriarch across the face.
“Elena needs to learn that stubbornness has consequences.”
The audio filled the room, crisp and undeniable.
Celeste spun around, staring up at the screen. All the color vanished from her face, leaving her looking like a corpse. Her mouth opened and closed silently like a fish out of water.
“No...” she whispered, stumbling backward. “No, that’s... that’s edited! That’s deepfake technology! Luca, you know my enemies are trying to sabotage our wedding—!”
“It gets better,” Luca interrupted quietly.
The video continued, showing Celeste withholding the cardiac medication, forging the continuity amendment, and violently shoving Nora against the mahogany desk.
The wedding planners let out horrified gasps, dropped their remaining folders, and sprinted toward the front doors without looking back, desperate to escape the syndicate bloodbath they had just stumbled into.
In less than five seconds, the grand foyer was empty of everyone except Luca, Celeste, Vance, the guards, and Nora.
Celeste dropped to her knees on the marble floor, her designer dress pooling around her like a broken wing. She grabbed at the hem of Luca’s trousers, sobbing hysterically.
“Luca, please! I was just stressed! The wedding pressure, the media, the estate—it was too much! I didn't mean to—please don't do this to me, my father will—”
“Your father’s shipping firm in Boston has already been audited by my financial division as of twenty minutes ago,” Luca stated coldly, looking down at her as if she were an insect on his shoe. “By morning, his company will be bankrupt, and he will be facing federal charges for corporate tax evasion.”
Celeste screamed—a raw, agonized sound of total, unmitigated ruin.
“Vance,” Luca commanded without looking down.
“Boss?”
“Take her out of my sight. Put her in the lower holding cells until the federal marshals arrive in the morning to pick her up for wire fraud, forgery, and elder abuse.”
“Gladly, boss,” Vance grunted, signaling two guards who stepped forward, hauled the sobbing, thrashing woman to her feet, and dragged her screaming down the service stairs.
May you like
The heavy iron fire door slammed shut behind them, cutting off her shrieks.
Silence rushed back into the grand foyer, heavy and absolute.
