CHAPTER 3 — THE RING BEFORE THE TRIAL

Three nights later...

The abandoned cathedral outside Manhattan became the courtroom of the Moretti family.

Every captain stood in silence.

Leon knelt at the center.

His expensive suit was torn.

His face swollen.

He never begged.

He knew Vincent wouldn't spare him.

"You betrayed blood."

Vincent's voice echoed beneath the ancient stone ceiling.

"You used my son as bait."

Leon laughed bitterly.

"You stopped thinking like a king the moment that maid entered your life."

"I should have killed her months ago."

The room became deathly still.

Marco quietly stepped backward.

Everyone knew what would happen next.

Vincent walked forward.

He pulled something from his pocket.

Not a gun.

A simple gold family ring.

The ring passed from father to eldest son for generations.

Gasps spread across the room.

Only one woman had ever worn it.

Vincent's late wife.

Hours earlier...

While Lily still slept in the hospital...

He had gently slipped the ring onto her finger.

Not as a marriage proposal.

As a promise.

A promise that anyone who touched her again would become his enemy.

Vincent looked down at Leon.

"You asked why I changed."

He spoke calmly.

"No."

"I remembered what humanity feels like."

One gunshot echoed through the cathedral.

Leon collapsed without another word.

Vincent holstered the pistol.

"The matter is finished."

No one questioned him.

Not because they feared him.

Because they understood.

The maid who had taken three bullets for the future heir had become untouchable.

Not by title.

But by loyalty.

And in the Moretti family...

Loyalty meant everything.