Chapter 9
9
When Dante returned to Harbor Club, dawn was just beginning.
The hall that had been bright with chandeliers the night before now had only half its power. The liquor cabinet behind the bar was sealed. Every live Pier 7 monitor had turned red. Cargo ships sat on the gray-blue water like steel coffins waiting for orders that would never come.
Enzo stood at the front desk, his face worse than the night outside.
“Boss, the bank just froze three operating accounts. After the cold-chain license was revoked, the insurance company refused to pay. The port is demanding that we replace the guarantee within twenty-four hours, or the first shipment will be seized for investigation.”
Dante said nothing. He walked straight to the top-floor office.
The moment he opened the door, he stopped.
The family navigation chart had been taken down from the wall. The private safe on the desk was open. Every file linked to the Moretti medical fund was gone. Only one notice had been left behind.
[Aviana Moretti has revoked all anonymous guarantees for Marcelli Harbor Club.]
[Related accounts, licenses, and access channels are terminated effective immediately.]
Isabella followed him in. When she saw the notice, she could not hold back.
“So this place really wasn’t built by you?”
Dante turned sharply.
“Shut up.”
Isabella laughed, her voice shaking.
“You used to bring me here and say this was the Marcelli empire. You let me step on her navigation chart and said she didn’t deserve to touch your things. Now look at it, Dante. Even the lights here were on because of her.”
Dante swept the cups off the desk.
Glass shattered across the floor.
Enzo’s phone rang again.
He glanced at it, and his voice dropped lower.
“The Vitale family sent a message. The pre-engagement party is canceled. They said Miss Isabella’s behavior last night caused uncontrollable risk. Vitale will not back Marcelli’s port crisis.”
Isabella’s face went white.
“My father wouldn’t do that.”
Enzo did not dare look at her.
“The message came from Mr. Vitale himself.”
Dante gave a cold laugh.
“Did you hear that? Even your family doesn’t want you.”
Isabella stared at him.
“They don’t want you. Without Moretti’s guarantee, without Ghost Surgeon, without Pier 7, you can’t even hold one decent route.”
Dante stepped closer.
“If it weren’t for you, I could at least still coax Ava back.”
“Could you?” Isabella lifted her chin. Tears hung on her face, but her words only got sharper. “She gave you a chance. On her birthday, she asked if you remembered what day it was. I was the one who replied to that message for you.”
Dante stopped moving.
Enzo raised his head.
Isabella saw his expression and suddenly laughed.
“You didn’t know? She waited for you all night. You were drunk and only said her birthday was coming up. I replied for you and told her you would come home.”
Dante’s face changed slowly.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because you said she was easy to coax.” Isabella stepped up to him. “I wanted to see how much she could take.”
The office door opened.
The Moretti lawyer walked in with two port auditors behind him.
“Dante Marcelli, under the guarantee revocation terms, the medical cold-chain areas of Harbor Club will be taken over by Moretti for audit. Hand over your access card within ten minutes.”
Dante did not move.
The lawyer turned a tablet toward him.
I was on a video call.
I sat in the airport lounge, with the field medical team’s gate behind me. My surgical case was at my feet. The old pocket watch was fastened to my wrist.
Dante looked at the screen, his voice hoarse.
“Aviana.”
I did not answer his emotion.
“The access card.”
He stared at me for a long time. At last, he took the black card from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
The auditors took it at once.
I looked at Isabella.
“Your wedding dress and jewelry will be valued and recovered by the accounting team. The top-floor suite at Harbor Club is closed from this moment on.”
Isabella’s lips turned pale.
“You can’t humiliate me like this.”
“When you put on that wedding dress, didn’t you enjoy being seen?”
She could not answer.
Dante suddenly spoke in a low voice.
“I’ll go to the airport to see you.”
“You can’t enter the boarding area.”
“Then I’ll wait for you to come back.”
I looked at him.
“Dante, I’m not coming back.”
An announcement sounded behind me.
Dr. Ward walked up beside the camera.
“Ghost Surgeon, it’s time to board.”
Before I closed the laptop, I looked one last time at Harbor Club on the screen.
“You said I was only practice.”
I ended the video.
“Now it’s your turn to practice losing me.”