Chapter 10 - Margaret Speaks
For a long second, no one moved.
Warren stared at Margaret as if seeing a ghost in a blue dress.
“You,” he said, and even now the word sounded like an accusation.
Margaret stood straighter than Giulietta had ever seen her. “Yes. Me.”
Preston looked between them, shaken. “Mom?”
She didn’t even turn to him at first. Her eyes stayed on Warren. “You told the world I was unstable. You told our son I abandoned him. You paid lawyers, doctors, and everyone else who could make your story sound respectable.” Her voice trembled only once. “But you never taught me how to stop remembering.”
Warren’s face hardened again, reaching for old reflexes. “You have no idea what you’re walking into.”
Margaret gave a small, almost pitying smile. “No, Warren. You don’t.”
Sofia placed the tablet on the vanity and played one clip after another.
Preston threatening control.
Warren’s hallway shout.
The belt.
The swing.
Then Sofia opened the document folder and handed Warren a copy of the Marconi Household Charter. “Before you speak again,” she said, “you should understand that your son’s signature this morning made him subject to the trust protections of Luca Marconi.”
Warren skimmed the pages. His expression cracked.
“This is a trick.”
“No,” Giulietta said. “It’s called reading.”
Preston grabbed the pages from his father. “What is this?”
Enzo answered flatly. “It means you weren’t marrying a helpless widow. You were entering the legal household of her son’s estate. And the second you threatened that estate’s guardian, every claim froze.”
Preston’s mouth opened, then shut.
Warren tried to lunge toward Giulietta, but two security men blocked him before he crossed the rug.
“I’ll tear this whole thing apart,” he snapped.
Margaret finally looked at Preston. “I used to think your father made you cruel.” Her eyes filled, but her voice stayed steady. “Then I heard you just now. He didn’t make you. He taught you. And you said yes.”
Preston’s face collapsed—not into remorse, but rage.
May you like
That was when the knock came at the suite door.
The deputy district attorney had arrived.
