Chapter 7 - The Man Who Came Back
The bullet passed through Adrien’s side.
Danielle stayed beside his hospital bed until dawn.
When he opened his eyes, she was asleep in a chair with her fingers wrapped around his hand.
He smiled.
“You’re late for work.”
Danielle’s eyes flew open.
“You idiot.”
“Good morning.”
She hit his shoulder.
He winced.
Her face collapsed.
“Oh God. I’m sorry.”
“Worth it.”
Then she kissed him.
A nurse entered, saw them, and quietly backed out.
Adrien’s recovery took weeks.
Victor disappeared.
But his empire began collapsing.
The recorded confession reached federal investigators through Adrien’s attorney. Accounts were frozen. Associates turned witness. Companies abandoned him.
Adrien made another decision.
He began dismantling the criminal side of the Moretti organization.
Danielle stared at him when he told her.
“You’re serious?”
“I’m tired.”
“Of what?”
“Being the man everyone expects me to be.”
She sat beside him.
“And who do you want to be?”
Adrien looked at her.
“I’m trying to find out.”
He converted questionable holdings, sold properties, separated legitimate companies, and cooperated through attorneys where necessary.
It cost him money.
Power.
Relationships.
For the first time in his adult life, Adrien discovered how much easier it was to build fear than to dismantle it.
Danielle remained.
But not as his secretary.
When she returned to Moretti Holdings, her old chair had disappeared.
She stood outside his office.
“Where is my desk?”
“Gone.”
“Why?”
“You don’t work there anymore.”
Her face fell.
Adrien handed her a folder.
Danielle opened it.
CARTER-MORETTI FOUNDATION.
She stared.
“What is this?”
“Your new job.”
“You fired me?”
“I promoted you.”
“To what?”
“President.”
The foundation would support families burdened by medical debt, workplace exploitation, and financial emergencies.
Danielle looked at him.
“This is because you saw my bills.”
“It started there.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“What did you do with my bills?”
“Nothing.”
“Adrien.”
“Define nothing.”
“You paid them.”
“I may have accidentally purchased the debt.”
She stared at him in horror.
“You bought my medical debt?”
“It seemed efficient.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I strongly dislike you until lunch.”
“I can work with that.”
She kissed him anyway.
Then his office windows exploded.
Adrien threw her down instinctively.
But no second shot came.
Instead, a phone began ringing on Danielle’s abandoned desk.
A phone that had been disconnected weeks earlier.
Adrien answered.
Victor’s voice said only four words.
May you like
“You forgot your mother.”
Adrien went white.
