The Billionaire Don Chose His Broken Maid Over His Scheming Heiress Fiancée, and His Entire Empire Exploded

Dante Moretti walked through the threshold.

He didn't have his coat on. His black dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his tie missing, and his dark eyes burned with an animalistic fury so raw that the temperature in the marble foyer plummeted. Behind him stood six armed men in tailored charcoal suits, their hands resting noticeably beneath their jackets.

Dante stopped dead in his tracks.

His eyes locked onto the steel handcuff clamped around Elena's wrist, then traveled to the bruise forming on her arm where the Bennett guard had gripped her, and finally fixed on Vanessa holding the canary diamond.

"Take that iron off her wrist," Dante said.

His voice wasn't loud. It was barely above a whisper. But every person in the foyer—including the police detective—froze in terror.

"Mr. Moretti," the detective cleared his throat, trying to maintain authority. "This woman was apprehended with stolen goods belonging to Miss Bennett—"

"I didn't stutter, Detective," Dante cut him off, stepping forward. With every step Dante took, the air grew thicker, heavier, deadlier. "Unlock it. Right now."

The detective swallowed, glancing at Vanessa, then back at Dante’s unforgiving stare. Realizing that the six men behind Dante had already shifted into firing stances, the detective nervously pulled his key, inserted it into the cuff, and released Elena’s wrist.

The steel fell away. Elena rubbed her reddened skin, trembling, but unable to take her eyes off Dante.

"Dante, darling, this is ridiculous!" Vanessa shrieked, her voice high and panicked. "She stole my grandmother's pendant! She’s an ex-con, a thief! I caught her red-handed!"

Dante didn't even look at Vanessa. He walked directly to Elena, taking her bruised wrist in his warm, powerful hand. He inspected the red marks left by the Bennett guard, his jaw clenching so hard that a muscle ticked beneath his scar.

"Did he touch you?" Dante asked her gently, his tone completely different from the venom he had unleashed seconds ago.

"He held me while they put the necklace in my pocket," Elena whispered truthfully.

Dante let out a slow, terrifying breath. He turned to Marco, his security chief. "Break both of his hands and throw him off my property."

The Bennett guard's eyes widened in horror. "Wait! You can't do that! I work for Senator Bennett!"

Before the man could draw a weapon, Marco and two Moretti enforcers tackled him to the marble floor, disarming him in seconds and dragging him through the service exit. His muffled screams echoed from the rear courtyard moments later.

The police detective backed toward the door. "Mr. Moretti... we were just responding to a 911 dispatch..."

"Get out of my house," Dante ordered without turning around. "And tell your precinct commander that if another city officer enters my gates without my personal clearance, I will pull my contributions to the mayoral campaign and release his precinct's gambling ledger to the press."

The detective didn't wait for another warning. He and his partner retreated out the front doors, fleeing into their cruiser and speeding away down the driveway.