---- Chapter 9 Alessia POV: | let out a short, dismissive laugh. "A new house? Is that what you think my honor is worth?" | leaned forward, my eyes locking with the old Don's. "I want an annulment. | want the stain of your family's name completely erased from my life." Eleanor, her pride wounded and her family facing ruin, finally snapped. "You spoiled, notorious girl!" she spat, her face contorted with rage. "You were never worthy of the Moretti name!" My eyes glittered. It was time. "Are you so certain the child is your late son's, Eleanor?" | asked, my voice a silken, poisonous whisper. "Or even Santino's?" The effect was instantaneous. Eleanor's face went white with a sudden, dawning horror. Don Moretti flinched as if I'd struck him. He understood the profound implications of my cold suggestion-the depth of Valentina's possible deception. | pressed my advantage. "And what do you think your rivals, not to mention the press, would do with concrete proof of Santino's affair? Such a blatant violation of Omerta-our code of silence. It would be a catastrophe for your reputation." Driven by a desperate fury, Eleanor lunged at me. Don Moretti ---- moved quickly, grabbing his wife's arm and restraining her. He knew how dangerous her actions were now. "Proof?" he asked, his voice shaking. | calmly picked up a tablet from the coffee table and, with a single tap, broadcasted its screen to the large monitor on the wall. The sitting room was instantly filled with a crystal-clear, high-definition video. They watched, horrified, as Valentina's manipulations played out. The faked nightmares. The exaggerated discomforts. The deliberate, seductive gestures towards Santino when she thought no one was looking. It was a masterclass in deception, captured for all to see. Then, | played the final, damning clip. The video showed Santino and Valentina in the Moretti kitchen, just days ago. He pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. And they kissed. A long, passionate, undeniable kiss. It was irrefutable proof of his profound betrayal of our family bond. Eleanor let out a choked sob. | paused the video on their embrace, the image of their treachery frozen on the screen. "| had security cameras installed a year ago for safety," | explained calmly. "I never imagined they would end up capturing my husband's illicit business. It provides me with ---- absolute leverage, wouldn't you agree?"