Chapter 6 - The Empty Throne
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Three days had passed since Sophia walked out of the Romano estate.
Adrian looked like a man possessed.
Dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes, and his expensive suit was rumpled.
He had not slept more than two hours a night.
Every room in his vast mansion seemed to echo with her ghost.
Without her, the domestic rhythm of the estate had completely disintegrated.
The gourmet chefs he hired quit after two days because nobody knew the temperature settings for the antique French stoves.
His mother’s fever had spiked twice, and the family doctor was threatening to report him for elder neglect.
Worse, the Romano finances were bleeding.
A shipment of high-end luxury vehicles had been impounded at the docks because the proper import waivers were missing.
Adrian had screamed at his shipping director for three hours.
The director had finally broken down and yelled back.
“Mrs. Romano always filed those exemptions two weeks in advance!”
“She personally verified the serial numbers with the harbor master!”
“You told us she was just your wife, boss, but she was the only one who actually kept this place running!”
Adrian had struck the man across the face and thrown him out of the office.
Now, Adrian sat alone in his leather chair, drinking neat bourbon from a crystal tumbler.
His phone buzzed on the blotter.
It was Marco, his most ruthless tracker.
Adrian snatched the device and pressed it to his ear.
“Did you find her?”
“We found her car, boss,” Marco reported hesitantly.
“Where is she?” Adrian roared.
“She isn't with the car, Mr. Romano.”
“The vehicle was abandoned at a long-term parking lot near O’Hare Airport.”
“She bought three different commercial flight tickets under fake names to Miami, Denver, and Seattle.”
“She threw us off her scent completely.”
Adrian crushed the glass in his hand, letting the shards bite into his skin.
He didn't care about the pain.
He didn't care about the blood dripping onto his mahogany desk.
Sophia had outsmarted his entire security division without firing a single bullet.
Suddenly, his study door swung open without a knock.
His underboss, Sal, stepped inside with a look of pure panic on his weathered face.
“Adrian, we have a catastrophic problem,” Sal breathed.
Adrian looked up, his eyes bloodshot and lethal.
“What now, Sal?”
“The North Atlantic Maritime Board just called an emergency press conference.”
“They announced the winner of the multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical transport contract.”
Adrian set his broken glass down, his posture stiffening.
“Who won it? Did the Lucchese family underbid us?”
Sal swallowed hard, clutching a printout of the morning press release.
“No, boss.”
“The contract was awarded to an independent logistics firm formed seventy-two hours ago.”
“They partnered directly with the Moretti family.”
Adrian’s heart seized in his chest.
“Who is the chief executive of the firm?” Adrian growled, his voice trembling with dread.
Sal held out the paper with trembling fingers.
Adrian looked down at the photograph printed on the front page of the financial gazette.
Standing at the podium in a pristine white designer power suit was Sophia.
Her dark hair was swept up with commanding elegance.
Her jawline was held high, her eyes blazing with diamond-hard confidence.
Beside her stood Victor Moretti, applauding like a man who knew he had just won the world.
Beneath the image was a bold headline that shattered Adrian’s entire reality.
Sophia Vance-Romano Appointed CEO of Vanguard Maritime; Crushes Romano Bids in Historic Upset.
Adrian dropped the paper.
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His knees felt weak beneath him.
The woman he had called the shame of his name had just brought his entire empire to its knees.
