Chapter 6 - The Unseen Sovereign
While Mercer Group imploded under the weight of its own debts, Serena sat in the private courtyard of the Moretti estate in Kiawah Island, forty minutes south of the city.
The estate was a sprawling compound surrounded by ancient live oaks draped in Spanish moss, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Security personnel moved quietly through the grounds, but inside the brick walls of the garden, the atmosphere was serene.
Serena was wearing a comfortable linen dress, sitting at a wrought-iron table, sketching flowers in a small leather notebook.
Leo Moretti walked into the courtyard, holding a glass of iced tea and a tablet.
"Mercer signed the restructuring paperwork an hour ago," Leo reported, sitting across from her. "He gave up fifty-one percent of his voting shares to the Valenti Trust to keep the firm from going into liquidation. He's no longer the chairman."
Serena’s pen didn't pause. "And Leonard Voss?"
"Indicted on seven counts of wire fraud and illegal land acquisition," Leo smiled dryly. "He tried to board a private jet to Costa Rica this morning. Federal agents picked him up at the airport. Claudia is currently staying in a cheap motel near Savannah, trying to reach her father, who isn't answering his phone."
Serena stopped sketching. She looked out toward the blue horizon where pelicans flew in formation over the surf.
"Elias?" she asked gently.
Leo’s expression softened slightly. "He's still at the office. He didn't go home. Marcus Reed says he spent the night sleeping on his office couch, reviewing old financial files from four years ago."
"He's trying to find where I hid the money," Serena said, a faint, melancholic smile touching her lips. "He thinks I must have been using his accounts to transfer Valenti funds."
"Did you?"
"No," Serena said, looking Leo in the eye. "Every dollar I spent during those four years came from his salary. I wanted to live on what my husband provided. I wanted to be his wife, Leo. Not his sponsor."
"He was an idiot, Princess," Leo said firmly. "A blind, arrogant fool who didn't know he was holding a diamond because he was too busy looking for gold-plated plastic."
Footsteps sounded on the stone path.
Damiano walked into the garden, dressed in casual linen trousers and a white shirt, carrying a thick leather dossier bound with a gold ribbon.
"Serena," Damiano said, placing the dossier on the table before her. "The council of European families has sent their representatives to New York. They have learned that you have returned from your retreat."
Serena looked at the gold crest on the dossier. The Valenti family seal—a double-headed dragon holding a sword over a globe.
"They want me to return to Milan?" she asked.
"They are demanding it," Damiano said quietly. "Without a Valenti sitting on the sovereign council, the northern Italian shipping routes are turning chaotic again. The syndicate needs its ruler, Serena. You gave Mercer four years of peace. Now, your people need you."
Serena touched the cold gold ribbon on the dossier.
She had spent four years trying to run from this weight. She had tried to hide in a quiet suburban kitchen, making coffee, pulling weeds from a garden, hoping that love could anchor her to a normal world.
But the normal world had judged her, found her "ordinary," and cast her aside.
May you like
She looked up at Damiano, her eyes clear, sharp, and completely devoid of doubt.
"Tell the council I will arrive in Milan on Monday," Serena said, her voice ringing like a iron bell. "And tell them the Sovereign House of Valenti is no longer hiding."
