He Married Another So I Accepted My Arranged Husband Chapter 20
That evening, I said to Desmond, “I need to go back to New York.”
He replied, “I’ll go with you.”
“My business here is settled. I’m free for the next two months.”
“After this is over, we can travel. Consider it our honeymoon.”
He pulled me into his arms.
So this was what he had been busy with these past few days—clearing his schedule for me.
We returned to New York quickly.
The arbitration was held at a neutral club. Advisers from the Conti and Moretti sides, the heads of both Families, and mutually recognized witnesses were all in attendance.
This wasn’t just about money anymore. It was about Talia deceiving allied Families at a public wedding and using a sham marriage for personal gain.
I saw her again.
It had only been a month, but she looked hollowed out.
Seated with the Moretti contingent, she completely lost her composure and pointed a shaking finger at me.
“You bitch, Indigo.”
“This is all your fault. I lost my job. No one in the business network will even speak to me.”
“I don’t care how they rule. I’m not giving you a single dollar.”
The scandal had grown too large.
Her former company had fired her, unwilling to employ someone who had publicly deceived allied Families.
After that, every job she’d applied for required a guarantee from the Moretti Family. Her father had refused, and no one was willing to take a risk on her.
So she directed all her hatred at me.
But this was all her own doing.
After the surveillance footage played, the Moretti boss said nothing in his daughter’s defense.
He watched her hide the blade and slice the gold thread, then listened to the audio of her claiming my photos were fake, and his expression grew darker by the second.
The arbitration panel ordered Talia to compensate me for the dress, publicly retract her accusations, and relinquish the Northstar equity she had gained through the fraudulent marriage.
She still refused.
So the Moretti boss stood and publicly revoked her authority to speak or sign on behalf of the Family, and he froze all accounts the Family managed for her.
Before leaving the club, I heard one last piece of news.
Salvatore had filed to dissolve his marriage to Talia and was willing to surrender all his remaining shares in Northstar’s liquidation.
Talia had refused to sign.
The two of them were still fighting over a marriage certificate that was now worthless.
While Desmond and I were on our honeymoon, more news arrived.
Talia couldn’t bear the life of an outcast, stripped of her standing.
She had jumped from her apartment building.
Salvatore became the subject of gossip once again. He had already been removed from the Ferraro line of succession and would never wear the signet ring again.
For a moment, I felt a pang of sadness.
Not for any lingering feelings.
Only because a life had been extinguished.
But those two people were part of my past.
They had nothing to do with me anymore.
Leaning against Desmond, I opened the appointment email from Conti Group.
After reviewing my entire portfolio of work at Northstar, the group’s technical committee had officially offered me the position of chief engineer of its European logistics systems division.
At the bottom of the email, I signed my name.
*Indigo Conti.*
Outside the window was an unfamiliar coastline. Desmond didn’t speak for me, and he didn’t try to decide my next move.
I closed the laptop and, for the first time, felt a future that was quiet and clear.
But a few seconds later, an encrypted email from an adviser arrived.
*Northstar’s liquidation committee is refusing to recognize your fifty percent equity. The Ferraro and Moretti families both sent representatives. They’re still fighting over your share.*