CHAPTER 100: SHADOWS IN THE CRADLE

The night inside the Morano mansion shimmered with a quiet that was almost deceptive like calm water hiding an undertow.

The chandeliers above glowed with golden light, spilling across the marble floors. Outside, rain whispered against the windows, soft and rhythmic, as though time itself had slowed to watch what was about to unfold.

Alessia had returned home, her expression was pale.

The maids watch her as no one could predict what was wrong, they couldn’t ask either.

Her white silk robe clung delicately to her body, the faint curve of her belly wasn’t too revealing.

She traced her fingers over it absentmindedly half wonder, half fear.

Behind her, Luca’s footsteps were soundless. The scent of his cologne, cedarwood and dark spice filled the air before his presence did.

He stopped just inches behind her, his breath ghosting over her neck.

"Still awake?" he murmured.

Alessia didn’t turn. "How can I sleep," she whispered, "when I know that box might carry answers to everything... or destroy us entirely?"

Luca’s lips curved against her skin. "The Morano men don’t believe in destruction," he said softly. "We turn ashes into empires."

She turned to face him then those eyes, dark and glimmering, softened only when they met hers. "But what if this time the ashes come from love?" she asked, her voice trembling with something fragile. "What if opening that box burns us both?"

He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, his thumb tracing her jaw. "Then we burn together, amore mio," he said.

That broke her. The walls she had built since Bianca’s betrayal, since Seraphina’s deceit, since every whispered threat in the halls they crumbled with one look from him.

She rose to her toes, pressing her lips to his .... soft at first, then deeper, hungrier. Luca’s hands slid to her waist, drawing her closer, grounding her in the heat of his body. The world outside ceased to exist.

When he finally pulled back, his voice was a whisper wrapped in command. "Come," he said. "It’s time."

*********

In the study, the air was thick with the scent of leather and old secrets.

On the grand mahogany table sat the box ancient, carved from black oak, its edges etched with strange silver lines that pulsed faintly under the lamplight.

Luca hesitated before touching it. "It feels alive," he murmured.

Alessia nodded. "Because it is. My Mother said the box reacts only to bloodlines touched by fate."

Her gaze snapped up. "Bloodlines?"

He took her hand, pressing a small golden dagger into her palm. "We open it together. My blood and yours."

The blade’s tip shimmered as they each made a shallow cut.

A drop of blood from both fell onto the box.

The silver engravings flared to life, snaking across the wood like living veins until the lock gave a low click.

A soft hum filled the room . Low, vibrating, unearthly.

Luca pushed the lid open.

Inside, wrapped in red silk, lay a single key. Black as night.

And beneath it , was a letter.

Alessia’s heart raced. She picked it up carefully, unfolding the delicate paper.

The writing was unmistakable elegant, authoritative.

"From Bianchi Sr.," Luca whispered.

She read aloud: "To whoever finds this, know that the key you hold is not to a door, but to a name. The one who bears it will either destroy the Morano line or save it from its curse. The answer lies beneath the house, where love was first broken and loyalty first betrayed.

~The red moon blood child.... ".

Her breath hitched. "Beneath the house?"... "The red moon blood child "....

Luca’s eyes darkened. "The catacombs," he said quietly.

"That’s my father’s forbidden chambers." Alessia said slowly.

The air turned heavy their gaze locked, fire meeting ice, power and fear intertwining.

And then, without warning, the lamp flickered. Once, twice then darkness.

Alessia gasped, Luca reached instinctively for his gun, his senses sharpening like a predator’s.

A faint light appeared not from the lamp, but from the key. It pulsed faintly, rhythmic as a heartbeat.

"Luca..." Alessia whispered. "It’s... reacting."

The glow brightened then dimmed suddenly, as if sensing something beyond their understanding.

Luca stared, realization dawning in his eyes. "Someone else has touched its twin."

"The duplicate?" Alessia breathed.

He nodded grimly. "yes... ."

Her pulse spiked. "Then whatever happens next

..... "

"..... has already begun," Luca finished, his tone shadowed with foreboding.

They stood there, silent, as thunder rolled across the night sky, unaware that far from them, in another part of the city, another story was unraveling.

*******

Daisy’s apartment was drenched in moonlight.

The shadows stretched long and crooked across the floor, the wind humming a tune that sounded almost human.

She sat on the couch, laptop open, the vial still glinting beside it. Bruno, her old lab dog, snored softly on the rug.

But her mind wasn’t on the screen. It was on the window.

The shadow was still there.

It hadn’t moved since she first saw it. A tall silhouette, lean, standing just beyond the streetlamp’s reach.

The longer she stared, the more it seemed to watch her back.

Daisy rose, heart pounding. "Okay..." she whispered to herself. "Let’s play your game."

She reached for the curtain cord but stopped halfway.

No sudden movements, she thought. Whoever it was... maybe Romeo, maybe an enemy, she wouldn’t show fear.

Instead, she switched on her desk lamp, flooding the room with light.

The shadow vanished instantly.

She froze.

Then, slowly, she walked toward the window , her bare feet silent against the floor.

She looked down into the street.

There was nothing.

Her reflection stared back at her pale, anxious, fragile.

And then, as she turned to step back....

The reflection moved.

Her own mirrored self turned its head a fraction slower, a fraction wrong.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no..."

The lights flickered again once, twice and when they steadied, the reflection was gone.

The glass was empty.

Her knees weakened. "Oh my God..."

Suddenly, her phone buzzed violently against the table.

Unknown Number.

Her shaking hand reached for it, thumb hovering before she answered.

"Who is this?" she demanded.

A man’s voice, very low, almost familiar filled her ear. "You shouldn’t have try to test the vial, Daisy."

She froze. "What... what are you talking about?"

"You think Romeo gave you medicine," the voice said. "But he gave you the beginning of the curse. Don’t test it. Don’t touch it again."

Her heart hammered. "Who are you?"

And there was silence.

Then the line went dead.

Her gaze darted to the vial. The substance inside shimmered faintly, almost like it was breathing.

She snatched it up, throwing it into the sink. "No more games," she hissed. "No more lies."

But as she turned the tap, the water refused to run.

Instead, the vial rolled to the drain clinking once then cracked open.

The translucent liquid spread slowly, curling through the sink like veins of smoke.

And from it faintly, impossibly came a whisper.

"Daisy..."

It was her name.

Spoken in Romeo’s voice.

Her body went cold.

She stumbled backward, her hand covering her mouth. "This can’t be happening..."

The lights went out completely this time.

She was swallowed by darkness.

And then a hand touched her shoulder.

Daisy screamed and passed out from fear...

*******

The footsteps drew closer, slower and heavy deliberately.

A shadow slid across the cracked floor before a figure emerged through the falling dust.

It was lorenzo.

His eyes gleamed like cold steel beneath the faint, flickering light.

The sight of him froze both women in place.

"There was a cut..." Seraphina whispered, her voice trembling despite her poise.

As if in answer, the iron cage creaked.

The small rocks that had sealed their exit shifted, rolling away one by one as though obeying some unseen force.

Seraphina exhaled sharply, the corner of her mouth twitching into a smirk. "Well," she murmured, brushing dust off her coat, "I may just take my leave."

"Not so fast," Lorenzo’s voice cut through the room, low and dangerous each word soaked in quiet menace.

He took another step forward, shadows coiling around him like loyal soldiers. "I don’t stoop low," he said, tilting his head slightly, "but I must confess... I came here to steal something far greater than gold."

His lips curved into a thin, knowing smile. "Knowledge."

Seraphina’s brow arched, her tone dripping with irony. "Knowledge can always be taken. After all, it never ends... does it?"

Bianca adjusted her fitted suit, unbothered, her chin lifting with practiced arrogance. "Fate," she said coolly, "has its strange ways, hasn’t it? Seems it’s brought us together again."

She crossed the room with deliberate grace, heels clicking sharply against the marble. "What if," she continued, pausing to sit on the edge of the stone table, "we stop pretending to be enemies... and work as a team instead?"

Her fingers snapped sharp and confident. "Think about it. Lorenzo, you want Alessia. Seraphina, you want Alessia too, don’t you?"

Her smirk deepened. "And I want Luca. And the Morano Empire."

She leaned back, eyes glittering with wicked allure. "So why not make this simple? We work together. No double-crossing. No blood until it’s necessary. Just... one final dance."

A thick silence followed.

Seraphina’s jaw tightened before she finally nodded once. "Fine," she said, her tone edged with warning. "No dirty games. We all get what we came for, once i get Alessia i will get luca and the morano empire." Seraphina said with a smile.

Lorenzo’s smirk widened.

Slowly, he reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing the hard lines of his face, the face once thought lost to the grave.

"The smarter one wins," he said with his voice bold.