Chapter 9 - The Purge of the Family
The morning sun broke through the clouds over the Romano estate, casting a cold, sharp light through the stained-glass windows of the grand dining room.
Victoria sat at the end of the mahogany table, looking frail and worn. Isabella sat across from her, chewing her lip nervously. The house was eerie in its silence; half the domestic staff had already been laid off as the family's liquid funds dried up under mounting banking pressures.
The double doors swung open. Matteo walked in.
He was freshly shaved, dressed in a sharp charcoal suit, but the look in his eyes made both women instantly sit up straight. It was not the weary, defensive look he had carried for the past week. It was the absolute, unyielding authority of a man who had made his final peace with fire.
He laid two airline tickets and two leather passports on the table in front of them.
""Pack your bags,"" Matteo said without sitting down.
Victoria gasped. ""What is the meaning of this? Matteo, you cannot treat your own mother like this!""
""You're leaving for the family estate in Sicily on the four o'clock flight,"" Matteo stated coldly. ""Both of you.""
""Sicily?!"" Isabella shrieked, jumping to her feet. ""That dusty old village? There's nothing there! No parties, no society, no shopping! I have a life here in Boston!""
""You don't have a life here, Isabella,"" Matteo said, his voice cutting through her hysterics like a razor. ""You have a parasite's existence built on the back of a woman you mocked while stealing her generosity. You took credit for her gifts, you belittled her in front of our guests, and you turned this house into a den of arrogant vipers.""
""She was a baker!"" Victoria wept, her voice trembling with indignation. ""She didn't belong with us!""
Matteo leaned over the table, placing his hands flat against the mahogany, bringing his face inches from his mother’s.
""She owned the ground you walked on, Mother,"" he growled. ""She funded your heart surgery. She paid for the necklace you proudly choked on. She protected my flank while you pushed her into the shadows. And when she walked away, your entire world crumbled in forty-eight hours because none of you know how to build anything—you only know how to consume.""
He stood upright and gestured toward the door where Marco stood with four armed security personnel.
""Your credit cards have been cancelled,"" Matteo announced. ""You will receive a modest monthly stipend paid from a trust managed by independent Swiss accountants. If you return to the United States without my written permission, that stipend stops immediately.""
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""You would abandon your own flesh and blood for her?"" Victoria cried out, tears finally streaming down her aged cheeks.
""You abandoned my wife nine years ago,"" Matteo replied without an ounce of remorse. ""And unlike Sophie, you never earned a single day of my loyalty. Get out of my house.""
