Chapter 8 - The Shipping Heiress
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The next afternoon, the grand gates opened to admit a sleek silver limousine.
Bruno Castellano personally escorted the first candidate into the mansion: Vivian Rossi, the twenty-six-year-old daughter of New York’s primary maritime shipping magnate.
Vivian was breathtakingly beautiful, dressed in an immaculate Italian silk suit, carrying a designer handbag that cost more than a nurse's annual salary. She walked into Alfonso’s dark bedroom with supreme confidence, her heels clicking sharply against the floorboards.
Enzo stood silently near the window, his arms crossed over his chest, while Bruno made the formal introductions.
"Don Alfonso," Vivian said, taking a seat beside the bed with perfect posture. "It is an honor to meet you. My father sends his highest regards."
Alfonso merely nodded, watching her with heavy, expressionless eyes. "Tell me, Miss Rossi... why should my grandson marry you?"
Vivian smiled, a polished, practiced expression that did not reach her eyes.
"A union between the Marquetti family and Rossi Shipping would consolidate the entire Eastern seaboard," she explained smoothly, as if delivering a corporate boardroom presentation. "We control the docks; you control the inland distribution. It is a seamless merger of strategic assets."
"Assets," Alfonso repeated softly. "I see."
"With my family’s network, Enzo’s legal exposure would drop by thirty percent," Vivian continued, glancing at Enzo with a cold, calculating appreciation. "It is the most logical choice for both our bloodlines."
Alfonso turned his head toward the window, closing his eyes. "Thank you, Miss Rossi. You may leave."
Vivian’s smile froze for a moment, clearly surprised by the brief audience, but she stood up gracefully, bowed her head, and exited the room alongside Bruno.
May you like
That night, at precisely eight o'clock, Vivian’s luxury car passed a modest commuter bus at the estate gates.
Adeline stepped off the bus, pulled her worn coat tighter against the chilly evening wind, and walked up the stone path to begin her night shift. She knew nothing of the shipping heiress or the corporate proposals made in that room hours earlier.
