Chapter 3 - The First Call
We walked down the grand marble staircase ten minutes later, carrying our suitcases.
The dining salon was still in chaos. Guests were standing in awkward clusters, trying to pretend they were enjoying their wine while casting furtive glances toward the front foyer. Adrian was standing near the fireplace, downed a glass of scotch, while his mother paced back and forth, lecturing guests on "the stress of managing difficult staff."
When Adrian saw us coming down the stairs, he scowled and stepped forward.
"Elena, stop this absurd scene," Adrian commanded, trying to regain control in front of his peers. "You're acting like a child. Put the bags away. Your mother can take a taxi back to Parma in the morning."
I didn't answer him. I kept walking toward the heavy carved oak front doors.
Before Adrian could reach me, the loud, insistent chime of a cell phone cut through the salon.
It was Matteo Castiglione’s phone.
Matteo, a tall, impeccably dressed man in his early thirties who was set to marry Adrian’s sister Bianca, pulled the phone from his jacket. He looked at the screen, his eyebrows rising in surprise.
"Excuse me," Matteo said, stepping away from Bianca to answer. "Father? I'm still at the Moretti villa..."
Matteo listened for three seconds.
The color instantly drained from his face.
"What do you mean, frozen?" Matteo exclaimed, his voice ringing across the silent room. "The liquidity line was secured by Adrian! ... What? Revoked?"
Matteo spun around, his sharp eyes locking onto Adrian with sudden, murderous fury.
"Adrian!" Matteo shouted, abandoning all high-society etiquette. "What the hell did you do?"
Adrian blinked, startled. "Matteo, what are you talking about?"
"My father just received an emergency notification from Zurich!" Matteo yelled, marching across the marble floor. "The ten-million-euro expansion loan for Castiglione Logistics was pulled two minutes ago! The bank cited a total default on the Moretti collateral guarantee!"
Bianca, Adrian's sister, gasped, rushing to her fiancé's side. "Matteo, darling, what is happening?"
"What's happening," Matteo hissed, pushing Bianca’s hand off his arm, "is that my family's business is legally compromised as of five minutes ago!"
Before Adrian could formulate a response, a second phone began to ring.
This time, it was Count Sforza—the patriarch of Sforza Media and the father of Giuliana, who was engaged to Adrian’s cousin Lorenzo.
Count Sforza pulled out his phone, answered it, and listened in total silence for ten seconds. His face went from pale to deep crimson.
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When he lowered the phone, his eyes were cold as surgical steel.
"Lorenzo," Count Sforza said, his voice flat and deadly, turning toward Adrian’s cousin. "Get away from my daughter."
