Chapter 9 - The Trial of the Willow
Eleanor looked down at the pathetic, groveling man who had destroyed her entire childhood. She thought of the cold orphanages, the hunger, the loneliness, the constant feeling of being unloved and unwanted. For a second, a dark, venomous desire whispered in her ear to tell Alessandro to blow his brains out onto the concrete.
But she looked at the locket in her hand—the weeping willow. Its branches were carved to shelter, not to destroy.
""A quick death is too merciful for you,"" Eleanor said coldly, looking down at Marco with pure disgust. ""Take the ledger, Alessandro. Strip him of every cent, every title, and hand him over to the council for a formal trial under the family law. Let him spend the rest of his miserable life stripped of his pride, locked in a cage where everyone knows he was a coward who preyed on women and children.""
Marco’s eyes widened in horror. In their world, being stripped of status and sent to the deepest underground cells of the family was a thousand times worse than a clean bullet. ""No! Kill me! Alessandro, put a bullet in me, you bastard!""
Alessandro struck him across the temple with the butt of his gun, knocking him unconscious into the puddle of rain. ""Generous,"" Alessandro murmured, looking at Eleanor with a fierce, burning admiration. ""More generous than he ever deserved.""
Within twenty-four hours, the full Council of Capos was convened in the grand cathedral-like hall of the Moretti compound. This time, there was no debate.
The original ledger was slammed onto the table, bearing Marco’s forged signatures and the records of the blood money he had paid to burn the Rhode Island estate. Isabella sat at the head of the council, her face restored to the cold, sovereign dignity of a true mafia queen.
Marco was brought in in chains, his head shaved, his tailored suits gone, replaced by the grey uniform of a disgraced traitor.
""By the decree of the Moretti bloodline,"" Isabella announced, her voice booming across the silent hall, ""Marco Moretti is stripped of the name, stripped of his wealth, and banished forever into solitary confinement beneath the compound. His name will be scrubbed from the family bible.""
She turned her gaze toward Eleanor, who stood beside Alessandro.
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""And to Sophia Moretti, daughter of Chiara, we return what was stolen: the willow trusts, the council seat, and the eternal loyalty of this family.""
Every single capo in the room stood up in unison. One by one, hardened killers and powerful underbosses bowed their heads before Eleanor, recognizing the true heir of the bloodline.
