Chapter 18 - The Trap Springs Shut
Within three weeks, the Meridian Syndicate took the bait. Believing Moretti Global Ventures was vulnerable to a leveraged buyout of its European supply chains, their chief financial officer flew into the city to finalize the acquisition personally.
The meeting was scheduled in the private executive penthouse of Moretti Tower. Julian Vance—no relation to Victor, but cut from the exact same arrogant cloth—strode into the conference room with an air of absolute superiority, flanked by two corporate lawyers.
"Ms. Moretti," Julian said, offering a patronizing smile as he took a seat without waiting for an invitation. "It seems your empire expanded a bit too fast. My associates are prepared to take over your European logistics at a fraction of their market value."
I sat quietly across the table, my hands folded neatly over my lap, letting him bask in his illusion of control.
Gabriel slid a slim tablet across the obsidian surface toward Julian. "Before you talk about taking over, Julian, you might want to look at what you actually just purchased."
Julian frowned, glancing down at the screen. As his eyes scanned the document, the smug expression vanished from his face, replaced by sudden, icy dread. The assets he had acquired weren't profitable shipping lanes; they were a web of heavily regulated toxic debts and fraudulent shell companies engineered specifically to trap foreign conspirators.
"This... this is a trap!" Julian stammered, half-rising from his chair. "You manipulated the market!"
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"We didn't manipulate anything," Luca corrected smoothly, standing up to reveal federal marshals stepping out from the private elevator doors behind the conference room. "You willingly engaged in illegal cross-border asset acquisition without regulatory disclosure. International warrants have already been executed."
As the marshals placed handcuffs on Julian and his lawyers, I looked at him with absolute calm. "Tell your syndicate that the Moretti name is not for sale."
