Chapter 4 - The Patriarch's Collapse
Vincent stood in the corridor as if all the bones in his body had turned to dust.
"Over two million dollars..." Vincent breathed, his hands clutching his own head.
"I sat in my penthouse believing Claire had refused to talk to me out of stubborn pride, while my son was starving in small apartments because of your greed!"
"Vincent, please!" Sophia sobbed, falling to her knees on the cold floor, clutching his trousers.
"I love you! I gave you eighteen years of my life! I raised Ethan for you!"
Vincent kicked his leg back with sudden, violent disgust, tearing his trousers from her grip and sending her sprawling onto the stone tiles.
"Do not touch me," Vincent roared, the sound echoing through the faculty building and causing two campus police officers to rush down the corridor.
"Officers!" Vincent shouted at the approaching guards, pulling out his black titanium corporate card.
"My name is Vincent Moretti. Call the Cambridge Police Department immediately and request Detective Vance from the financial fraud division. I want this woman taken into federal custody for grand larceny and wire fraud."
"Dad, no!" Ethan yelled, rushing to his mother's side on the floor. "You can't arrest Mom in front of everyone!"
"Your mother committed a federal felony every month for two hundred and sixteen months, Ethan," Vincent said coldly, not sparing his younger son a single glance.
"She belongs in a prison cell."
The campus officers moved in swiftly, helping Sophia to her feet and escorting her toward the administration office while she wept hysterically, covering her face from passing students.
Ethan followed them with tears of humiliation streaming down his cheeks, his dream of a celebratory Harvard weekend turned into a public nightmare.
When the hallway cleared, only the three of us remained in the quiet corridor.
Vincent turned back to Noah and me, his eyes red, sunken, and brimming with an ocean of unspeakable agony.
He took two trembling steps toward Noah, falling to both knees right onto the cold granite floor.
The most feared billionaire in the Midwest was on his knees before his son, weeping openly into his hands.
"Noah... my boy... forgive me," Vincent wept, his shoulders shaking with violent, racking sobs.
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"I was a fool. A blind, arrogant fool. Please... let me be your father. Let me give you everything I stole from you."
Noah looked down at the weeping titan at his feet, his expression completely calm, untouched by the billionaire's millions or his tears.
