Everyone was seated. Soon, the Don's aide, Marcus, collected the portfolios from both me and Lucia.

During the long wait before the results were announced, the atmosphere in the hall grew tense.

The room was filled with Moretti capos, leaders of allied crews, and even representatives from the Five Families, all standing around with champagne, talking in low voices.

“You hear? This Brooklyn docks contract controls the smuggling routes for the next ten years.”

“Miss Lucia came prepared this time. I heard she hired a team of Wall Street’s top analysts.”

Just then, one of Lucia’s biggest sycophants raised his voice and asked with a grin, “Lucia, give us a hint. What kind of profits is your proposal projecting for the Family?”

Lucia swirled the red wine in her glass, her eyes sweeping over the crowd.

“Not much,” she said confidently. “A conservative estimate is a net profit of 300 million in the first year alone.”

A collective hiss of astonishment filled the room.

Three hundred million!

That was far more than any project in the Moretti Family’s history. It was a record-breaking figure.

“As expected of Miss Lucia! A natural-born leader!”

“The Don has a worthy successor!”

Basking in the flattery, Lucia’s ego swelled. She raised an eyebrow, her malicious gaze cutting through the crowd to land on me in the corner.

“Oh, but we’re only talking about me,” Lucia said, sashaying over to me on her high heels, deliberately drawing everyone’s attention. “Olivia, what about your proposal? How much do you think you’ll bring the Family?”

All eyes snapped to me, filled with judgment, disdain, and morbid curiosity.

I set down my glass of water and looked up calmly, meeting her gaze. “My proposal,” I said flatly, “is projected to be worth ‘about’ the same. Around 300 million.”

The word “about” was all the confirmation Lucia needed. A triumphant certainty flashed in her eyes. To her, this was just me setting the stage for the switch.

She smiled at me, her voice dripping with meaning. “‘About’ 300 million? Heh, Olivia, I can’t wait to see it.”

“It seems the future heir to the Family will be decided between us after all.”

“All the big players from New York’s families are here today to witness the birth of the next Don of the Moretti Family. I hope you’ll be able to handle the outcome, Olivia.”

She could hardly wait to see the look of despair on my face when the Don opened my portfolio and found a blank page.

Which was exactly what I wanted.

I lowered my head slightly to hide the cold smile on my lips. “I’m looking forward to it, too.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The heavy sound of a cane striking the floor echoed through the hall.

The noisy room fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Don Vincenzo emerged from the back, his expression severe.

His sharp gaze swept the room, softening almost imperceptibly when it landed on Lucia.

“Today, we decide the future heir of the Moretti Family,” Vincenzo’s voice was deep and resonant, carrying an authority that could not be questioned. “To ensure fairness, I will open both proposals here and now, and after careful consideration, I will announce the result myself.”

He reached out and picked up the first file, the one with “Lucia” written on it.

“First, Lucia’s proposal.”

Vincenzo’s face held a confident smile.

I knew that, if things went as they always did, he would praise Lucia to the high heavens, even if my proposal was clearly superior.

But this time, he was in for a disappointment.

The moment the Don pulled out the paper, the hall erupted in a collective gasp.

It was a blank sheet.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Don Vincenzo stood there, pinching a blank sheet of paper between his fingers. The confident smile on his face was gone, replaced by a stiff, unnatural line.

His sharp eyes flashed with disbelief, quickly followed by a dark, suppressed fury.

The surrounding family heads and capos looked at each other, their whispers of flattery turning into a low, confused buzz.

“It’s blank? How can it be blank?”

“Didn’t Miss Lucia just say it was worth 300 million?”

Amid the chaos, Lucia’s smirk was chilling. “You’re a cold piece of work, Olivia. I thought you might hand in a weak proposal, but a blank page? That’s bold.”

Vincenzo’s brow furrowed. “Lucia, what is the meaning of this?”

Lucia stood tall, her voice ringing with conviction. “That is not my real proposal! It was Olivia! She used that ‘Switching System’ to swap my proposal for hers!”

Her words sent another shockwave through the room.

“Switching System? What’s that?”

“Has Miss Lucia lost her mind?”

Hearing the doubt, Lucia doubled down, her voice rising in a desperate accusation. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear on my life that everything I’m about to say is true. Three days ago, I found out Olivia was bound to a Switching System and that she planned to switch our proposals.”

“She’s always been jealous of my talent, jealous that the Don favors me as his heir! That’s why she resorted to such a dirty trick to ruin me!”

She let out a cold laugh, thinking she had me cornered. She looked around the room. “If you don’t believe me, just think about it. The second I said my proposal was worth 300 million, she immediately said hers was ‘about the same.’ Is that a coincidence? No! She has a guilty conscience and was trying to cover for the work she was about to steal!”

Her story, while bizarre, had a twisted logic that began to sway the crowd.

Many of the family members who already favored her started looking at me with suspicion.

Faced with the mountain of doubt, I just stood there, my expression unchanged.

“Lucia,” I said with a soft sigh, “don’t you think inventing something as absurd as a ‘Switching System’ is a little pathetic?”

Lucia gritted her teeth. “You know perfectly well if it’s a lie or not!”

“Oh, do I?”

I met her furious gaze and walked to the center of the hall.

“For the past few days, you’ve been partying with a different man every night. You haven’t even set foot in the study. You haven’t written a single word. So what ‘$300 million proposal’ are you even talking about?”

I tilted my head, my voice full of pity.

“Just admit it. You’re used to getting things without working for them, and you screwed up when it mattered most. You don’t have to make up such a clumsy excuse for your own laziness.”

“Shut up!” Lucia shrieked like a cornered animal. “I went out because I didn’t want to work my ass off just for you to steal it!”

She looked pleadingly at the Don and Emma, then took a deep breath, reclaiming her usual arrogance.

“Olivia, do you really think anyone will fall for your pathetic attempts to discredit me? I am the Don’s most cherished daughter. I have no reason to frame you! Even if I lose this bid today, the Don and Emma would never let me suffer!”

As if on cue, Emma, who had been watching coldly, stood up.

She shot me a disdainful look, then gently patted Lucia’s hand and announced to the room,

“Lucia is right. Regardless of the outcome today, Vincenzo and I have already decided to give Lucia the new territory we acquired in Queens as a gift for her to manage independently.”

Don Vincenzo spoke up, his voice heavy with undeniable favoritism. “That’s right. Lucia’s abilities are beyond question. One small accident means nothing.”

The comments exploded:

[The Don is so protective of Lucia! He’s just giving her territory to set her up as the next Don!]

[That’s the kind of special treatment Lucia gets! How can the villainess even compete?]

With the Don and Emma backing her, Lucia’s confidence surged.

She looked at me, a sly grin spreading across her face.

“Olivia, you say I’m framing you. Then I dare you to show everyone your proposal right now.”

“I’ll tell you the truth—my proposal is a blank page. You schemed and plotted to switch it, so all you got was a blank page!”

She then scanned the room, her eyes meeting every person’s.

“And I ask you all to be my witness. If Olivia’s proposal is also a blank page, it will prove that everything I said is true!”

In an instant, every eye in the room was on me.

Some were curious, some were suspicious, and some were just enjoying the show.

The Don nodded at Marcus. The aide bowed slightly and, as everyone held their breath, slowly opened the portfolio with my name on it.

But when he pulled out the contents for all to see, the hall erupted in a gasp ten times louder than before.

My proposal wasn’t blank. It was a thick stack of papers, detailed down to the last line.

And on the line for projected profit, the number was a staggering one billion dollars.