Chapter 7 - The Banishment

Downstairs in the grand foyer, the atmosphere was thick with panic and disbelief.
Signora Moretti stood rigidly beside her packed trunks, her silver cane tapping furiously against the marble. Bianca was pacing back and forth, her face flushed with hysterical anger.
"He’s insane!" Bianca shrieked, throwing her hands in the air. "Throwing his own mother and sister out into the rain for a dirty little maid! Have you lost your mind, Richard? Tell him he can't do this!"
Richard Hale stood motionless near the front doors, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression completely blank. "Mr. Moretti’s word is law in this house, Miss Bianca. You should know that better than anyone."
At that moment, Alessandro descended the grand staircase. He wasn't wearing his heavy coat; his white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the lean, lethal power of a man who ruled empires from the shadows.
Signora Moretti stepped forward, her chin held high, attempting one final, desperate play of maternal authority.
"Alessandro! You are letting a common whore dictate how you treat your own flesh and blood! When the board hears about this—when our associates find out you exiled your family over a servant—"
"Your associates don't matter anymore, Mother," Alessandro interrupted, his voice cutting through her threats like a knife. "Your accounts have been frozen. Your credit cards have been deactivated. The monthly stipends tied to the Moretti estate trust have been permanently revoked."
Signora Moretti gasped, her aristocratic composure finally shattering completely. "You... you wouldn't."
"You wanted her thrown out into the cold with nothing?" Alessandro asked, stepping closer until he towered over them both. "Consider it a family tradition. You will take the midnight train to the dilapidated brownstone in upstate New York that hasn't seen a coat of paint in thirty years. That is your new home. You will live on a fixed municipal allowance, and you will never, ever set foot within fifty miles of this estate again."
"You can't do this to us!" Bianca screamed, lunging forward in blind fury. "We are Morettis!"
"You were Morettis," Alessandro corrected coldly, signaling to Richard and the guards. "Get them out of my sight."
Within minutes, the heavy iron doors opened, and the two women were escorted out into the pouring rain, shoved into the back of a nondescript black sedan without fanfare, luxury, or mercy.
May you like
The Moretti estate fell completely silent once more.
But this time, the silence wasn't oppressive. It was clean.