Chapter 2: Of Roses and Ruins
275 Words
Luca Morreti lived in the echoes of power. Son of Silvio Moretti, CEO of Moretti Global, he was taught to charm, conquer, and never apologize. But Jessica wasn’t like the women in his father’s world. She didn’t lean in—she leaned away. And that’s what drew him in deeper.
He started skipping meetings, ignoring calls. His father noticed.
“You’re distracted,” Silvio warned.
“I’m living,” Luca replied, pouring another glass of wine and texting Jessica to meet him at the Tiber river.
There, under moonlight, she told him she used to be a pianist. Her hands, delicate and precise, mimed across an imaginary keyboard. Luca listened like a man being taught how to feel.
She never told him her last name. He didn’t ask. He liked the mystery, the thrill of something untainted by his family’s legacy.
But secrets have weight. And one night, while Jessica slept in his arms, he traced her collarbone with his fingertips and whispered, “I’d give up everything for you.”
She didn’t respond.
That same week, Luca received an anonymous envelope. Inside was a news clipping: “Moretti Corp accused of embezzlement, leading to suicide of Daniel Laurent.”
Daniel Laurent—Jessica’s father.
Everything cracked.
He confronted her. “Is this true?”
She stared at him with tearless eyes. “Yes.”
“And you knew who I was?”
“I knew from the first moment.”
“Then why—”
“Because I wanted to see if your blood is poison too.”
She left.
And Luca stood in the ruins of the only real thing he’d ever wanted.
- Writer
