Chapter 10 - The Engagement Announcement That Changed Everything
By sunrise, Luca had made a decision.
He would not confront his uncle without evidence strong enough to withstand the scrutiny of the entire world.
Sophia agreed with the strategy, even though every instinct told her that Daniel Moretti knew far more than he had admitted.
They spent the morning with Margaret Bellamy, the independent attorney overseeing the investigation. The files were copied, documented, and secured. Margaret arranged for a forensic accountant to examine the suspicious transfers and requested that the company preserve all relevant records.
But the damage outside their walls was already spreading.
At nine fifteen, a financial news outlet published a story claiming that Luca Moretti was facing a potential investigation into charitable misconduct.
At ten, another outlet published photographs of Sophia leaving the Moretti estate.
By eleven, the headlines had become vicious.
BILLIONAIRE'S GIRLFRIEND AT THE CENTER OF CHARITY SCANDAL.
ROMANCE OR CORPORATE STRATEGY? WHO IS SOPHIA BENNETT?
One article described Sophia as an ambitious outsider who had supposedly gained influence over Luca by pretending to care about his family's charitable foundation.
She read the article twice.
Then she closed her laptop.
“I knew this would happen,” she said.
Luca stood across the office, his phone pressed against his ear while three executives waited outside for an emergency meeting.
He ended the call.
“I'm having the legal department issue a statement.”
“No.”
He stared at her. “Sophia, they're attacking your reputation.”
“And a statement from your lawyers will make it look as if you're protecting your girlfriend instead of addressing the allegations.”
“I'm not going to let them destroy you.”
“You don't get to decide what risks I'm allowed to take.”
Her words struck him harder than she intended.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Luca walked toward her.
“I know you can take care of yourself. That's not what frightens me.”
“What does?”
He looked at her as if the answer cost him something.
“Losing you because my life has become a war you never asked to fight.”
Sophia's anger softened.
She remembered the little bookstore where they had first met, the boy who had hidden between the shelves because he hated the pressure of being a Moretti, and the man who had spent years believing he had to solve every problem alone.
She stepped closer.
“I didn't ask for this war,” she said. “But I'm not staying because you have money, and I'm not leaving because you have enemies.”
Luca touched her cheek.
“Then let me stand beside you.”
“Beside me,” she repeated. “Not in front of me.”
He nodded.
It should have been a quiet moment between them.
Instead, the office door opened, and Margaret entered carrying a tablet.
“We have another problem.”
She placed it on the desk.
A formal invitation from the Moretti family office announced an emergency press conference scheduled for that evening. The statement promised a major announcement concerning the company's future leadership and the Moretti family's philanthropic commitments.
It had been organized by Daniel.
“He's trying to control the narrative,” Margaret said. “If he announces a restructuring before we understand the suspicious transfers, he could move assets or remove people who might cooperate with the investigation.”
“Can we stop him?” Luca asked.
“Not without grounds for an injunction. And even if we could, it would look like a power struggle.”
Sophia studied the invitation.
“Then we shouldn't let him be the only person speaking.”
Luca frowned. “What are you suggesting?”
“Tell the truth about the investigation. Confirm that independent professionals are reviewing the records. Make it clear that the foundation's work will continue and that nobody connected to the inquiry will be allowed to interfere.”
Margaret nodded thoughtfully.
“That would demonstrate transparency. But the press will ask about your relationship.”
Sophia felt her stomach tighten.
There was no way to avoid it. The story had already become inseparable from her name.
Luca looked at her.
“We can announce that we're together and leave it at that.”
Sophia shook her head.
“People already think our relationship is a performance. If we hide behind vague statements now, they'll believe them.”
“What do you want to do?”
She hesitated.
There were things she had never expected to discuss with Luca, much less in front of cameras. Their relationship was still young enough to surprise her. They had survived old wounds, professional boundaries, and the frightening discovery that love could make two independent people vulnerable.
She wasn't ready to turn their future into a headline.
But she was tired of allowing other people to define it.
“I want to stand beside you,” she said. “And I want the world to understand that my work at the community center is mine. My relationship with you doesn't change that.”
Luca took both her hands.
“Then that's exactly what we'll say.”
That evening, the press conference began in the main ballroom of Moretti Holdings.
Cameras flashed as Luca stepped onto the stage. Sophia followed him, dressed in a simple navy-blue dress. She had declined the stylist the company offered and chosen the outfit herself.
For a brief moment, the sight of hundreds of reporters made her want to turn around.
Then she remembered the children at the reading center, the volunteers who had stayed late to repair shelves, and the families who had trusted her with their stories.
She lifted her chin.
Luca opened with a statement confirming the independent investigation. He explained that suspicious financial records had been identified and that the company would cooperate fully with qualified authorities.
He did not name Daniel.
He did not accuse Victoria.
He promised that charitable funds would be protected and that the community center's programs would continue.
Then the questions began.
“Mr. Moretti, did you personally approve the transfers under investigation?”
“Ms. Bennett, were you given access to confidential company documents because of your romantic relationship?”
“Is this relationship a public relations strategy?”
Luca remained composed, but Sophia could feel the tension in his hand.
Then a reporter in the front row asked the question that changed the evening.
“Mr. Moretti, there are rumors that you're preparing to announce an engagement. Is there any truth to them?”
A murmur swept through the room.
Luca turned toward Sophia.
She looked back at him, startled.
He had never discussed an engagement with her. Not once.
For a second, she wondered whether Daniel had deliberately planted the rumor to provoke them.
Luca stepped toward the microphone.
“I wasn't planning to discuss my private life tonight,” he said. “But I will answer one thing clearly. Sophia Bennett is not an employee I can direct, a public image I can manage, or a person who owes me anything because of our relationship.”
He paused.
“She is the person who reminds me that doing the right thing matters more than protecting my reputation. I love her, and I respect her independence. Whatever our future holds, it will be our decision—not a business arrangement.”
Sophia felt her eyes sting.
It was not a proposal.
It was something more important: a public declaration that he would not use his power to define their love.
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Daniel Moretti entered, flanked by two board members and a woman Sophia recognized immediately.
Victoria Ashford.
Victoria wore a confident smile and carried a thin black folder.
She walked straight toward the stage.
“Since we're discussing the future of the Moretti family,” she announced, loud enough for the microphones to catch every word, “perhaps everyone should know that Luca has been withholding a significant piece of information.”
Daniel stepped beside her.
And then he placed a hand on Luca's shoulder.
“My nephew,” he said pleasantly, “I believe it's time you told everyone about the engagement agreement your father made before he died.”
Luca went completely still.
Sophia stared at him.
An engagement agreement?
Daniel turned toward the cameras.
“An agreement that could change the ownership of Moretti Holdings forever.”
May you like
And as the flashes exploded around them, Sophia realized that the next secret might not only threaten Luca's fortune.
It might threaten the future they had just begun to imagine together.
