Chapter 8 Something That Belongs To Me
Lucas POV
My eyes were glued to the phone screen, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the device.
On the screen, the press conference was chaotic as the other reporters were urging the man to quickly open the file and show the proof.
I could feel a bead of sweat rolling down my temple, despite the air conditioning in the car. This wasn't supposed to happen.
The plan was simple: play the victim, blame the dead girl, and secure the Moretti legacy. Instead, I was watching my entire life's work being threatened.
“Brother… what will happen if the truth is revealed?” Sasha whispered beside me, her voice was filled with intense worry.
I could hear the genuine terror in her voice, a far cry from the fake tears she had been shedding for the cameras minutes ago.
She was a spoiled brat, used to having everything handed to her on a silver platter, and the thought of losing our status was clearly breaking her. “If they see that contract… if they realize that it was all just a deal which she wasn't aware of … Lucas, we’ll lose everything.”
“Shut up, Sasha!” I hissed, my voice vibrating with raw anger. My mind was racing with the consequences of the truth being revealed.
If that file was opened, the Moretti Enterprises stock wouldn't just drop, we might have to declare bankruptcy as human right agencies will also get involved. Investors would flee, the bank would freeze our assets, and the Ricci family would crawl back into whatever hole they came from to save their own skins.
I didn't care about the morality of the contract. All I cared about was the profit and the power the contract brought to my company. And right now, all of it was in the hands of a scrawny reporter with a cheap suit and a folder.
I scanned the background of the live feed, my eyes searching for Brian. He was supposed to have handled this already. Why hadn't he moved? Every second that passed felt like a hammer blow to my chest.
Five minutes..Ten minutes..Still nothing. My heart started to thud with a violent and sickening rhythm.
Move, Brian…Move!
I watched as the reporter stepped forward, his face etched with a smug, self-righteous determination. He held the folder up, the light catching the edges of the paper.
This was it, the moment everything gets exposed and I lose all my years of hard work. My hand started trembling and for the first time in a long time, I felt truly afraid.
“This file contains the truth about the Ricci-Moretti alliance,” the reporter’s voice boomed through the speakers.
He reached for the flap of the folder and my stomach did a nauseating flip. I was a man who prided myself on being three steps ahead of everyone, but right now, I was a spectator to my own destruction.
I felt a surge of murderous rage directed at everyone, at the reporter, at the Riccis, and even at Bella for being the cause of this mess.
BANG!
A sharp and deafening gunshot rang out in the venue and it immediately became chaotic.
The camera jerked violently, the image blurring into a mess of ceiling lights and floorboards, as screams erupted. The crowd surged towards the exit, a wave of human bodies desperate to escape from the building.
“Did they get him?” Sasha shrieked, grabbing my arm so hard her nails dug into my skin. “Lucas, did someone kill him?”
I didn't answer, I just leaned in, my face inches from the screen. The hall was filled with panic. People were diving under tables, guards were shouting, and the podium had been knocked over.
I watched the main entrance of the building intently. I looked at every person who stumbled out of the building, searching for that specific suit and folder.
A few minutes passed and the stream of people was thinning, but there was no sign of the reporter.
Had he been hit? Was he lying in a pool of blood with the file next to him? Or had he slipped away in the chaos? The uncertainty was a physical pain in my chest. If that folder was still out there, the threat wasn't gone and it was a ticking time bomb.
The silence in the car was heavy, broken only by Sasha’s sobbing breaths. I felt like I was suffocating. I hated not being in control, everything always has to go the way I want.
My phone suddenly vibrated, and I saw Brian's name flashing on the screen. I swiped the screen swiftly.
“Report!” I barked anxiously.
“Boss, I have him,” Brian’s voice came through, sounding out of breath but steady. “I didn't shoot him, someone else fired into the ceiling to create panic. I used the stampede to snatch him near the back exit. I’ve got the man and the folder. We’re in the SUV, heading to the warehouse on the outskirts now.”
A wave of relief washed over me, so powerful it made my head spin. I closed my eyes, letting out a long, shaky breath.
He had him and the secret was still in our hands. The fear I had felt a moment ago, completely vanished, replaced instantly by a cold fury. Someone had tried to play me and destroy my hard work in front of the entire country.
“Good,” I said, my voice dropping into a low growl. “Don’t let him out of your sight. If he breathes so much on that folder, break his fingers.”
I hung up and turned to Sasha. She was staring at me, her face filled with confusion as she stared at my face. I could see the question in her eyes and I just nodded, she breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her tears.
She was the only family I have left and the only person I cared about, but right now, she was a distraction.
“Get out,” I told her.
“What? Lucas, where are you going?”
“I have to handle something personally. One of the bodyguards will take you home in the other car. Go to the mansion,and don't talk to anyone. Not even Haley
..no one. Do you understand?”
Sasha nodded quickly, her stubbornness completely gone when she saw how serious I was. She knew that the "protective brother" had been replaced by the "ruthless CEO." She stepped out of the car and hurried toward the second vehicle in our convoy.
“To the warehouse,” I instructed the driver. “And if you hit a red light, drive through it. I want to be there in ten minutes.”
As the car sped through the city, my mind began to work again. The panic was gone, replaced by a cold, analytical hatred.
This definitely wasn't a coincidence. The video of Sasha, the contract leak, was a coordinated attack.
I thought of my rivals, the businessmen I had crushed, the families I had bankrupted. Any one of them would love to see me fall, but none of them had the guts to do this.
Then there was the Ricci family. Has that old man finally grown a spine? Had he decided to blackmail me for more? If he did, I would personally ensure he ended up in the same place Bella was.
Bella.
Her name sounded weird in my mouth, she was so naive and in love, never suspected me once. She was easy to use and I had even thought of extending the contract but then I met Haley again and being with her will bring me more profit, so Bella has to go.
But who knew her death would be so chaotic, she was so quiet when she was alive but now, in death she is making waves and actually causing troubles for me…. What an annoying bitch.
By the time we reached the outskirts, the sun was setting, casting long shadows over the industrial district.The warehouse was a dilapidated building, surrounded by rusted fences and dead grass. It was the perfect place for a conversation that no one would ever hear.
As the car pulled up, Brian was already standing by the door. He held the folder in his hand, the paper slightly crumpled from the struggle.
“Inside?” I asked as I stepped out of the car.
“Tied to a chair, Boss. He’s a bit roughed up, but he can still talk.”
I took the folder from Brian’s hand and I opened it just enough to see the signatures, my own and the old man Ricci’s.
My blood ran cold at the sight of it, this was the real deal. If this had been read on live television, I would be in jail by tomorrow morning.
I walked into the warehouse, the air was thick with the smell of dust and stagnant water. In the center of the room, under a single, flickering lightbulb, the reporter was strapped to a heavy wooden chair. His face was a mess of bruises, and he was shaking uncontrollably.
I walked up to him slowly, the sound of my shoes clicking against the concrete floor echoing in the quiet building. I didn't say a word at first, I just stood there, looming over him, letting the silence and the darkness of the warehouse eat away at his resolve.
I reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look me in the eye. His pupils were blown wide with terror, and I could see the reflection of my own cold, heartless expression in them.
“You have something that belongs to me,” I whispered, my voice a dangerously low hiss and his eyes suddenly rolled and he fell unconscious.