The order to depose Hans shot through every corner of the Rossi family like a bolt of lightning within five minutes.
At that moment, Hans was sitting smugly in Sienna's tiny apartment.
He was lounging with his legs crossed, basking in Sienna's adoring gaze.
"Hans, the five million came through. I really don't know how to thank you! You're so good to me. If Bella finds out, will she be even angrier?"
Hans scoffed, stroking her hair. "When is she not angry? Don't worry about her. Just take care of yourself and the child. If you need more money, just let me know."
After soothing his mistress, he habitually opened his phone to contact his subordinates.
But what popped up on the screen was a red warning: "Permission Denied."
The smile on Hans's face froze. He immediately switched to the family's internal communication system, only to find the same result: login failed.
A sense of foreboding gripped his heart.
Almost simultaneously, a call came in from Marco, his tone the detached chill of official business.
"Mr. Otto, regarding your removal from all family positions, someone will contact you shortly to handle the formalities."
"What removal? Who dares to depose me!" Hans shot up from the sofa, his voice distorted with rage. "Where's Bella? Have her come and tell me herself!"
Marco's voice remained utterly emotionless. "This is the decision of the acting Don, Mr. Otto. And a friendly reminder: misappropriating family funds is betrayal. According to the family code, that charge is enough to make you disappear from Chicago forever."
Hans slammed the phone onto the floor, where it shattered with a loud crack.
Just as he was seething with rage, his parents, carrying homemade pastries and red wine, rang the doorbell of the Rossi estate.
They had received a call from Hans and had come all the way from their hometown specifically to "mediate."
The moment they entered, his mother grabbed my hand. "Bella, you have such a temper. Hans told me it's all a misunderstanding. How could you destroy his apartment?"
His father chimed in from the side. "That's right. Hans just has a kind heart. You should be more generous and try to understand him."
I looked at them calmly, then handed them the tablet showing the bank transfer records Marco had just sent over.
"Take a look at this."
His mother took the tablet, puzzled.
When she saw the recipient's name, "Sienna," and the full amount of five million dollars, her face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Five... five million?!" Her voice trembled.
"That's the sum Hans secretly wired from the family treasury to his 'pitiful old friend' yesterday."
My nonchalant words landed like a bombshell.
Hans's father snatched the tablet, his lips trembling with anger. "That worthless son of ours! That worthless son! Where in God's name did he get that kind of money!"
"It's not his money," I corrected him coldly. "It's the Rossi family's money."
All the color drained from Mrs. Otto's face.
She grabbed my arm, her eyes filled with terror. "Bella, Bella, listen to me, Hans was just momentarily confused..."
Before she could finish, her phone shrieked. It was a call from her "momentarily confused" son.
With a trembling hand, Mrs. Otto answered the call and put it on speaker.
Hans's frantic roar immediately blared from the receiver. "Mom! Bella's gone crazy! She had me deposed from the family! You have to talk to her! Make her revoke the order!"
But her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word.
It was Mr. Otto who snatched the phone and roared into it, "I'm asking you, what's this about five million dollars!"
On the other end of the line, there was a deathly silence, followed by the abrupt dial tone of Hans hanging up.
