Gianna sat rigid in her seat, her mind racing as the auctioneer opened bidding on the Palazzo Corporation stake. This was it—the opportunity she'd been hoping for all evening. Three percent of a global empire. Access to networks that could transform her modest accounting firm into something truly significant.But she didn't have forty million euros. Didn't have half that amount. Her company was successful, but not at that level. She'd come here hoping to make connections, not to actually purchase a piece of the Palazzo Corporation.Her phone buzzed in her lap.Gianna glanced down, expecting perhaps a message from her office or a social media notification. Instead, her banking app showed an alert that made her entire body freeze.INCOMING TRANSFER: €50,000,000Fifty million euros. Deposited into her personal account. Right now. During the auction.Gianna stared at the screen, her mind refusing to process what she was seeing. This had to be a glitch. Some kind of banking error. Like whe

The bidding war had continued with ferocious intensity. Every time someone thought they'd reached the limit, Gianna's calm voice would cut through the tension with another increase."Forty-two million!" Kevin Romano called out desperately."Forty-five million," Gianna responded without hesitation."This is madness," Rocco muttered to his father. "Where is she getting this confidence? This money?"Giovanni didn't answer, too focused on calculating whether the Benedetti family could afford to push higher. Forty-five million was already stretching their liquid assets dangerously thin."Forty-six million!" Giovanni tried, hoping Gianna would finally hit her limit."Forty-eight million," Gianna countered smoothly.At this point, most of the competing families had stopped bidding entirely. They sat in their seats eyeing Gianna with naked jealousy and envy, unable to compete with her seemingly limitless resources."Who does she think she is?" someone whispered venomously."This is humiliatin

Giovanni Benedetti stormed out of the orphanage in a barely controlled fury, his usually composed demeanor shattered by the evening's humiliating outcome. His family had been systematically beaten—first by Vincent's inexplicable dominance of the early auctions, then by Gianna's stunning victory in acquiring the Palazzo Corporation stake.The Benedetti patriarch didn't even wait to reach his car before pulling out his phone. His driver opened the door, but Giovanni waved him off impatiently, pacing near the vehicle as he dialed."Antonio," Giovanni said the moment the call connected. "We need to talk. Immediately."Antonio Romano—Kevin's father and one of the city's most powerful patriarchs—answered with concern evident in his voice. "Giovanni? What happened at the charity event? Kevin just texted me saying something went wrong.""Wrong?" Giovanni's laugh was bitter and harsh. "That's putting it mildly. The entire evening was a disaster for both our families.""Explain," Antonio comman

Gianna stood with her mother near the edge of the courtyard, still processing the humiliation of being blocked from approaching Stephani. The victory of winning the auction felt increasingly hollow with each passing moment.Then she heard footsteps approaching rapidly—angry, purposeful strides that made her turn with growing apprehension.Kevin Romano stormed toward her, his face flushed with fury. For the first time since Gianna had known him, his carefully maintained composure had completely shattered. The charming, confident businessman was gone, replaced by someone barely controlling violent rage."Gianna Moretti," Kevin spat her name like a curse.Gianna's instinct was to be defensive, to throw up her usual walls. But she caught herself, remembering that Kevin had supposedly been the one who'd saved her Strong Inc contract. He'd helped her when she desperately needed it, had used his connections to restore a deal that Rocco had sabotaged.She owed him courtesy at minimum. Maybe e

At the charity gala, Stephani's personal aide—a sharp-eyed woman named Elena who'd served the Palazzo family for years—moved through the crowd with practiced efficiency. Her task was simple: gather information about Vincent Moretti. Everything and anything people knew or had heard.Elena approached clusters of guests with casual questions, her tone light and friendly, as if she were simply making conversation rather than conducting intelligence gathering."That handsome young man who won so many auctions," Elena said to a group of Romano family associates. "Do you know anything about him?"One of the men snorted derisively. "Vincent Moretti? He's nobody. Literally nobody.""He must be somebody," Elena pressed gently. "He spent over twenty million euros tonight.""On behalf of someone else, obviously," another man replied dismissively. "There's no way someone like that has his own money. He's probably representing some investor who wanted to remain anonymous.""Or he's a con artist who