Chapter 11 - THE COURTHOUSE AND THE VICTORY
The day of the custody hearing, the Chicago courthouse was swarming with reporters.
Luca held my hand tightly as we pushed through the flashbulbs. Isabella walked between us, holding her uncle Roberto’s hand.
Inside the courtroom, Vanessa sat at the plaintiff’s table.
She looked immaculate in a white designer suit, playing the role of the heartbroken, loving stepmother perfectly. Her expensive lawyers sat beside her with mountains of paperwork.
When the judge entered, the room fell silent.
Vanessa’s lawyer stood up immediately.
“Your Honor,” the slick attorney began. “We are here to protect a child from a dangerous crime syndicate. My client, Vanessa Bellini, stepped in to act as a mother figure to Isabella Moretti. Now, Luca Moretti has broken their engagement and replaced my client with a twenty-five-year-old housekeeper who manipulated him for money.”
I felt my face burn with anger, but Luca squeezed my hand.
“Vanessa loves this child,” the lawyer lied smoothly. “And we have text messages proving Luca is unfit.”
The judge adjusted his glasses and looked at our table.
“Mr. Moretti, what is your defense?”
Our lawyer stood up.
“Your Honor, we do not need to argue. We simply ask you to listen to our witnesses regarding Vanessa Bellini’s true nature.”
The judge nodded. “Call your first witness.”
The heavy oak doors at the back of the courtroom swung open.
Carmela walked in.
She was dressed entirely in black, looking every bit the terrifying matriarch of the Chicago underworld.
Following behind her were four other incredibly powerful women.
Vanessa’s lawyer paled.
Vanessa literally gasped out loud, shrinking back into her chair.
Carmela took the stand.
She didn't wait for the lawyers to ask questions. She looked directly at the judge.
“That woman,” Carmela pointed a single, diamond-ringed finger at Vanessa, “is a cruel, manipulative fraud.”
“Objection!” Vanessa’s lawyer shouted.
“Sit down!” Carmela snapped at the lawyer, her voice echoing like a gunshot.
The lawyer actually sat down.
“I was at the engagement dinner,” Carmela continued to the judge. “I watched Vanessa Bellini publicly humiliate Isabella. I watched her rip a microphone from a crying child’s hands. I watched her try to force this young woman,” she pointed to me, “to her knees. And I watched Vanessa plant a diamond bracelet in Emily’s pocket to have her arrested.”
The judge’s eyebrows shot up.
“Are there others who corroborate this?” the judge asked.
The four other wives stood up in the gallery simultaneously.
“We swear to it, Your Honor,” they said in unison.
Vanessa panicked. She stood up.
“They’re lying! They’re mafia wives! They’re protecting Luca!”
Carmela smiled coldly. “We protect children, Vanessa. You protect your bank account.”
The judge slammed his gavel.
He glared at Vanessa and her legal team.
“Case dismissed,” the judge barked. “Miss Bellini, if you ever file a frivolous claim in my court again, I will hold you in contempt. Security, escort her out.”
A cheer erupted from our side of the courtroom.
Isabella jumped into Luca’s arms, crying happy tears. “We won! Daddy, we won!”
I hugged Roberto, who was laughing with relief.
As we walked out of the courtroom, Vanessa was standing in the hallway, looking utterly defeated. Her lawyers had already abandoned her.
She looked up at me. The hatred in her eyes had been replaced by empty despair.
“You took everything from me,” Vanessa whispered.
I stopped. I didn't feel angry anymore. I just felt pity.
“You took it from yourself, Vanessa,” I said softly. “You chose money over kindness. You chose power over family. Enjoy whatever you have left.”
I turned my back on her and walked away.
That night, back at the mansion, we celebrated. Roberto cooked a massive, authentic Neapolitan feast in the kitchen.
Luca opened a bottle of vintage wine.
He poured me a glass and raised his own.
“To Emily,” Luca toasted, his eyes shining with love. “The woman who saved this family.”
“To Emily!” Roberto and Isabella cheered.
I blushed, taking a sip of the sweet wine.
After dinner, Isabella fell asleep on the couch, her head resting in my lap.
Luca sat beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close.
“I have one last surprise for you,” Luca murmured.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, thick envelope.
He handed it to me.
I opened it carefully.
Inside were three first-class plane tickets.
Destination: Naples, Italy.
“Roberto is going home next week,” Luca explained softly. “And I want to go with him. I want to show Isabella where her mother grew up. And I want to stand in the church where your grandmother prayed, and marry you.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks.
May you like
I looked at the tickets. I looked at the sleeping child in my lap. I looked at the man who loved me.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Let’s go home.”
