CHAPTER 99: THE DANGEROUS CAUGHT

The room pulsed with silence... thick, trembling silence that felt alive.

The muzzle of the gun tremor between Bianca’s fingers as it pointed straight at Seraphina’s face.

Her chest rose and fell, but her eyes, those stormy emeralds... never blinked.

Seraphina’s lips curved into a slow, infuriating smile. "You know, cara mia, you really shouldn’t play with fire you can’t control,.... So.. What did you want? "

"Quit," Alessia said. Her voice was sharp, commanding, and shaking with the fury of a storm barely caged. "Whatever plan you have, whatever twisted revenge you are craving... quit it now. Because the Morano Empire is mine."

For a brief second, Seraphina’s laughter cracked through the tension like shattered glass. "Yours?" she repeated, her tone laced with disbelief and cruel amusement. "You have some audacity, Bianca. You truly do. Do you forget who taught Luca everything he knows? Who stood by his father when he built this empire brick by bloody brick?"

She took a slow step forward, unbothered by the gun aimed at her heart. "You call me an outsider, but I’m more family than you could ever be. You disappeared from the morano for years... You are just the new flame.. The naive girl who thinks coming back will make her changes the mafia."

Seraphina’s eyes darkened. "You are wrong. Love doesn’t change i... it redefines it. And I’m not naive anymore."

Before Bianca could answer, a loud metallic clang erupted.

The sound of a thick iron door slamming down filled the chamber, sealing off the only exit.

Dust and small stones rained from the ceiling as the second door, the entryway collapsed beneath a shower of little rocks.

"What the hell was that?" Bianca’s shrill voice pierced the chaos. She stumbled backward, her hair clinging to her face. "See what you caused... " she screamed at Seraphina.

"No, you caused it.. " Seraphina shot back, her patience finally cracking. "You are the reason we’re always one step from death. You and your stupidity selfishness always"

Seraphina out of fury, she smirk, sharp and added venomous. "Oh, I’m sure you also don’t know, anything that involves you ends in betrayal. You are the snake that bites her own tail."

Bianca clenched her fists, stepping closer until their faces nearly touched. "And you are the spoiled little brat who thinks she can manipulate everyone and get away with it."

Seraphina took a step back, her finger twitching on the trigger. "Enough... " she shouted, her voice echoing off the stone walls.

But before any of them could move, the air shifted, eerily still.

Then came the sound.

A footsteps.....

Very Slow but heavy, echoing in the darkness beyond the fallen doors.

Each step made the women’s breaths quicken. Panic rippled through the room like a sudden fever.

Bianca’s hand shook as she reached for Seraphina’s arm. "Tell me that’s not lorenzo," she whispered.

Seraphina’s voice lowered to a rasp. "hopefully,,, that shouldn’t be Lorenzo catching us red-handedly in his chambers."

The footsteps grew louder, scraping against the stone floor.

A shadow moved just beyond the cracks in the broken wall. The dim flicker of light caught what looked like boot. Dark, worn, coated in dust and ash.

Bianca’s knees buckled. "We are trapped," she murmured. "Trapped until he finds us."

******

Across the mansion, the air was just as tens.. but for different reasons.

Chloe, one of the Morano maid, was crying uncontrollably in the servants’ quarters.

She shoved Sirah against a chest of linens, her voice breaking with hysteria.

"Why are you crying, Chloe?" Sirah asked, startled, her tone cutting through the sobs. "Have you finally realized your mistakes? Or are you just feeling the weight of your evil?"

"Hell No... " Chloe wiped her face with trembling hands. "It’s not about guilt, it’s about truth.. About reality."

"Then talk," Sirah demanded.

"I... I went to the shopping mall earlier," Chloe stammered. "To get some new clothes... and maybe leave the Morano house for good." Her eyes darted nervously. "But when I tried to make payments, my account was empty. Insufficient funds. I checked twice, the security was asked to throw me out, I felt so humiliated."

Sirah frowned. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"I checked the transaction history, Sirah... " Chloe’s voice cracked. "Bianca made a fake credit alert last week. She made it look like she sent me money for a job well-done but it was all fake. Fake... "

Sirah’s mouth fell open. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. She made me do a dangerous dirty job for her, by spilling substance in Alessia.... And now, this is the fake price I get. She’s making use of her ways - through us.

Sirah interrupted her.. "Not us, but you. You chooses to be used for evil and now you have been paid with nothing. Everything is empty. "

Fredo from a corner overhead their discussion. He had suspected something fishes when he saw Chloe burst into the gate, crying profusely and trying to hide behind a fake smile.

As if summoned by the mention of his name, a deep voice thundered from the hallway. "Seize her" he said as he suddenly stood in front of them.

The sound of boots echoed, and several men rushed in.

Sirah screamed as Chloe was grabbed by her arms.

"Please! Let me explain!" Chloe cried.

"I’m not among, Sirah said"... I’m innocent . she pleaded.

But Fredo’s eyes were cold, merciless. "I will put a message across to my boss now," he said. "You have said enough."

And with that, the door slammed behind them, leaving Sirah frozen in a storm of dread.

*******

Meanwhile, in the upper wing of the hospital, calm and serenity painted a different scene.

"The babies are healthy," the doctor said softly, smiling as he folded the ultrasound report.

Alessia’s eyes glistened with relief.

Her hand brushed over her belly, a soft tremor in her touch. "Thank you," she whispered, her heart full, her mind still wrapped in disbelief at how life, fragile and fierce had chosen to bloom inside her.

Luca’s arms wrapped around her from behind.

His lips brushed her ear, his voice low, warm, dangerous. "Tonight," he whispered, "we open the gift box."

Alessia turned slightly, her brows drawing together. "The one your mother passed down to mine?"

"Yes," Luca said, pressing a kiss to her neck. "The one Seraphina stole before she vanished. It’s time to see what she was so desperate to see, that made her stole the box"

Alessia’s lips parted. "And if what’s inside changes everything?"

"Then," Luca murmured, his breath tickling her skin, "we change too, nothing will change inside."

Before Alessia could respond, Daisy entered quietly, her face lit with a knowing smile. "I see love’s still alive in this place," she teased.

Luca chuckled and left to answer a call outside.

The moment the door clicked shut, Daisy’s playful expression faded into something sharper strategic.

"We played the game well," Daisy said in a whisper.

Alessia tilted her head. "What game?"

"The one they don’t know exists," Daisy replied, eyes gleaming. "The CCTV footage. The one you and I installed around the house after the poisoning incident. It’s our secret."

Alessia smiled faintly. "So, everything’s was been recorded, but the maids had no idea."

"Every betrayal," Daisy said. "Every lie, Every whispered names."

They exchanged a handshake silently, powerful, unbreakable.

A few minutes later, Luca returned, the darkness in his tone making both women straighten. "The culprit has been found," he said. "Even though we already knew who she was."

He paused, his gaze landing on Alessia. "Henceforth, no one must know if you lost the baby or not. The pregnancy stays secret. Not even family can know."

"But why?" Alessia asked.

Luca’s jaw tightened. "Because power comes from mystery. If they think you are broken, they will always attack. But if they don’t know where to strike..." He leaned closer, his eyes fierce. "We win."

He placed a kiss on her forehead, then added in a softer tone, "Try, by all possible means, to hide your pregnancy until it begins to show. And when it does—we will decide who gets to live with that truth."

*******

Far away, across the borders of reality and myth, the wind of Virenkai howled like a mourning beast.

In the ancient castle, The King of Virenkai stood before a glowing map drawn in silver ink.

The parchment pulsed faintly, like a living thing, veins of blue light crawling across its surface.

Beside him, Queen Maelis watched silently, her hand on his arm. "It’s fading," she said, her voice trembling.

The king nodded grimly. "The map leading towards the black book. It was a duplicate of this one. The real one is tied to the Black Book’s magic. And now the light is dying."

He exhaled heavily, his gaze falling to the faint trails disappearing into darkness. "If the last light fades," he said, his tone heavy with finality, "the Black Book will vanish. Forever."

His wife’s eyes softened. "Then Donato must hurry up and find the great black book."

The king nodded. "He must act before the next blood moon rises.

Otherwise, all of them.. Luca, Alessia, even Morano itself, will be swallowed by the curse."

Outside the chamber, a shadow moved.

Donato’s figure, weary but resolute, paused by the corridor as he overheard the words. His hand clenched into a fist.

I will not fail this time.

******

The night had fallen, Daisy walked briskly down the cobblestone street toward her apartment, the wind curling through her hair.

In her hand was a small glass via, half-filled with a translucent substance. Donato’s gift.

She turned it in her fingers, watching it catch the glow of the street lamps. She began to remember what he said to her after giving her the substance earlier that day....

"It will help Alessia, get over the poison she drank. This is the cure,".

she whispered to herself. "Soon.... It will show me your truth."

Her mind flashed to his eyes those dark, guilt-ridden eyes when he handed her the vial.

"Trust me one last time, Daisy. If this works, you will understand everything".

Daisy’s lips curved a smile across her cheeks "Trust?" she muttered under her breath. "He destroyed that long ago."

She reached her door, pulling out her keys. "Still..." she sighed, pushing inside, "...if this really holds power, maybe... just maybe... He will earn back half of what you lost."

Inside her apartment, the lights flickered as she placed the vial on the table.

Her heart pounded.

Tomorrow, she would take it to the lab and test it, Study it,maybe even feed a drop to her lab dog, Bruno, to see if it was safe. She smiled faintly at the thought.

"If it’s harmless," she said aloud, her tone defiant, "it will buy your trust back, Donato. She said and spoke like Donato was beside her, But it would bring back trust again but not all of it but maybe fifty percent out of zero."

The window rattled as thunder cracked outside.

The night wind howled through the alley like a whisper of warning.

Daisy turned toward the sound.

And there across the street, barely visible in the dark, A shadow moved.

Watching her....