The morning after Dante’s declaration lingered like smoke. Across Milan, headlines yelled “Moretti Confirms Engagement to Rossi Heiress.” While the media fixated on the romance of power, panic flowed beneath the surface. In boardrooms and backchannels, alliances changed, debts were called in, and Rossi Textiles started to turn again, but not under Alessia Blackthorne’s control.

Alessia stood in her penthouse, the city stretching endlessly below her. Her reflection glared back from the ...