Chapter Eight: The Rossi Empire Responds
Vittorio Rossi arrived in New York eleven days after his daughter’s arrest.
He controlled shipping interests, luxury properties, and investment funds across Europe. Newspapers called him a kingmaker.
He expected Marcus to negotiate.
He requested a private meeting at the Thorne Tower.
Marcus refused.
Vittorio came anyway.
He entered the executive conference room surrounded by attorneys and security.
Marcus sat alone at the head of the table.
“You have made your point,” Vittorio said.
“My wife is still on bed rest.”
“Isabella made a mistake.”
“A mistake is missing a meeting. Your daughter assaulted a pregnant woman and prepared a media campaign to destroy her reputation.”
Vittorio’s expression remained smooth.
“She was emotionally distressed.”
“She was organized.”
“She believed you loved her.”
“I never told her that.”
“You allowed her to hope.”
Marcus accepted the accusation.
“That failure belongs to me. The violence belongs to her.”
Vittorio placed a folder on the table.
“My family will compensate Khloe privately. Isabella will enter a treatment facility. The criminal matter will end.”
“You cannot purchase the district attorney.”
“Everyone can be influenced.”
Marcus leaned back.
“That sentence is being recorded.”
For the first time, Vittorio looked toward the ceiling.
A small red light blinked.
His attorneys began whispering.
Marcus pushed the folder back.
“You will not contact Khloe. You will not use the press against her. You will not approach our doctors, staff, or witnesses.”
“And if I do?”
“Every record connected to Belladonna Media will become public. Every payment. Every fabricated article. Every message between Isabella and Adrian.”
Vittorio’s eyes narrowed.
“You would damage your own family name.”
“My family name nearly killed my wife.”
Marcus stood.
“The Rossi partnership with Thorne Global is terminated. We are returning every investment connected to your funds.”
“That will cost you hundreds of millions.”
“Yes.”
“Your board will remove you.”
“Then they remove me.”
Vittorio stared at him.
Until that moment, he had assumed Marcus’s weakness was ambition.
He now understood that ambition had lost its power over him.
Vittorio gathered his attorneys.
At the door, he stopped.
“My daughter will not go to prison.”
Marcus’s voice remained quiet.
“That decision no longer belongs to either of us.”
Within twenty-four hours, Rossi-controlled funds began selling their Thorne shares.
The market reacted violently.
Commentators predicted Marcus would lose control of the company his family had built.
But something unexpected happened.
Employees began purchasing small amounts of stock.
Pension funds held their positions.
Three major institutional investors announced they supported Marcus’s cooperation with law enforcement.
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For years, people had respected Marcus Thorne’s power.
Now, for the first time, some respected the cost he was willing to pay for doing the right thing.
