I knew something was off long before I found proof.
His schedule didn't make sense.
Late-night calls in Italian.
Conversations he cut short when I walked in.
And the way people in suits started appearing around campus.
So I did what I always do. I investigated.
It took me three days. Three days of digging through corporate records, international filings, and financial patterns.
And then— I found it.
Moretti Holdings.
A multi-billion-dollar global company.
Official CEO: Anonymous.
Unofficial controller? Luca Moretti.
I stared at the screen, my heart doing something unfamiliar.
Not fear. Not excitement.
Something… unstable.
He wasn't just hiding something. He was living an entirely different life.
I confronted him that night.
On the empty football field.
"You lied to me." He didn't deny it.
"That depends on what you think you know."
"You're the CEO of Moretti Holdings." Silence.
Then— A slow exhale.
"…You're smarter than I expected," he said.
"That's your response?" I snapped. "Not even denial?"
"What would be the point?" he replied calmly.
I stepped closer. "Why hide it?"
His jaw tightened slightly. "Because people stop seeing me," he said. "They see money. Power. Expectations."
"That doesn't give you the right to manipulate people."
"I didn't manipulate you."
"You withheld the truth!"
"Yes," he said sharply. "Because I wanted one place—one—where I wasn't treated like a transaction."
That stopped me. Because I understood that.
Too well, I must add.