CHAPTER 101: LEDGERS OF LIES

"The smarter one wins," Lorenzo said, his voice bold.

Seraphina and Bianca had just allied with him.

The sound of his voice hung in the air like a trigger pulled but not yet fired.

Bianca’s smirk froze. Seraphina’s heart skipped a beat.

"I must say," Seraphina said finally, masking her unease behind a bitter smile, "you wear resurrection well."

Lorenzo’s gaze swept the room, taking in every flicker of fear, every subtle shift of dominance. "You talk too much, Seraphina. You always have."

She crossed her arms, unfazed. "And you always thought silence made you powerful. But tell me, Lorenzo, what brings the dead back to life? Revenge?"

"Justice," he said simply. "And Alessia, he wants me dead but I will always conquer till I have my woman back."

Bianca’s expression darkened. "So it’s true," she said. "You really came back for her."

He didn’t deny it. "She was the only one who ever looked at me without calculating what she could gain."

Bianca laughed softly, the sound sharp as glass. "Then you have come back to the wrong war. That woman isn’t yours anymore. She’s Luca’s."

Lorenzo stepped closer until his presence pressed against the air like a blade drawn across silk. "Luca," he murmured, his tone laced with venom. "The man who his bother destroyed his own legacy by choosing my woman for him and he forcefully took my woman ."

Seraphina tilted her head. "You are sure she didn’t choose him?"

His eyes flicked toward her, cold and unyielding. "Love doesn’t choose, Seraphina. It remembers."

For the first time, neither woman had a reply.

The air between them flew gently.

An invisible line drawn between vengeance and obsession.

Bianca finally broke it with a calculating smile. "So what do you want from us?"

Lorenzo’s smirk returned. "Information. Access, Silence."

Seraphina arched a brow. "You will need to be more specific."

"I want everything the Moranos have kept buried," he said, voice low, steady. "Every hidden account, every alliance, every weakness Luca pretends doesn’t exist. I will dismantle him. piece by piece... until he’s standing where I stood."

Bianca’s lips curved. "In a grave?"

He met her gaze without flinching. "No. In guilt."

That silence again, thick and dangerous.

Then Bianca leaned forward, her tone teasing but her eyes cold. "What’s in it for us?"

Lorenzo’s smirk was razor-thin. "You get the empire . I get Alessia."

Seraphina let out a soft laugh. "And when you get her?"

He looked away, his jaw tightening. "Then I will decide whether to forgive her... or destroy her too."

That answer unsettled even Bianca.

Seraphina studied him for a long moment, then finally nodded. "Fine. We work together. But remember this, if you betray me, Lorenzo, I won’t shoot you. I will make you beg for it."

He smiled faintly. "Then I will make sure you never get the chance."

********

Rain battered against the windows as night bled into dawn.

Alessia sat at the edge of the bed, lost in thought.

Her fingers traced the rim of her teacup, but her mind wasn’t on the drink.

It was on the letter.

The box, the key.

And Luca.

He would barely spoken since the box was opened.

His silence was heavier than anger, quieter but sharper.

She turned when she felt him enter the room.

His shirt sleeves were rolled up, his expression unreadable, but there was a storm behind those dark eyes.

"Did you sleep?" he asked.

Alessia shook her head. "Did you?" she asked him in return.

He didn’t answer. He walked toward the window, hands in his pockets, watching the rain.

"You are hiding something," she said finally, her voice quiet but steady.

Luca turned slowly. "We are both hiding things, Alessia."

The truth hit her like a physical blow. "You think I don’t know that? I have watched you avoid questions for weeks. You are protecting something or someone."

He met her eyes. "I’m protecting you."

"From what?" she asked.

He didn’t answer. The silence stretched too long, too heavy.

"From who, Luca?" she pressed.

His gaze darkened. "From ghosts that should have stayed dead, from people willing to have you because they know what you are."

She froze. "You mean Lorenzo."

The way he looked at her then told her everything she needed to know.

"Luca..." she whispered, trembling. "You knew he was still alive and haunting for me?"

"I suspected," he said softly. "There were movements. Transactions under his name. But no proof Until now."

Her breath caught. "And you didn’t tell me?"

"I was trying to protect you." he said to her

"Protect me?" she repeated, tears stinging her eyes. "By lying to me?"

He moved closer, his voice low, pleading. "If you knew, you would have gone looking for him. And he’s not the man you remember, Alessia. He’s dangerous now."

She laughed bitterly. "And you think you’re not?"

The words hit him hard.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then he whispered, "Everything I have done was to keep this family from collapsing."

"And yet it’s collapsing anyway," she said quietly.

Her voice cracked at the end, and before she could stop herself, a tear rolled down her cheek. Luca reached out instinctively, but she stepped back.

"Don’t," she said. "Not now."

He froze. The distance between them once full of passion was now a battlefield.

Alessia turned away, clutching her robe around her. "I can’t keep doing this, Luca. Secrets, half-truths, lies. It’s eating us alive."

He exhaled heavily, his hand running through his hair. "Then tell me one truth," he said. "Do you still love me without wax?"

The question shattered her resolve.

She closed her eyes. "Love isn’t the problem," she whispered. "Trust is."

And with that, she walked out.

*********

Luca stood alone in his study, the rain finally easing outside.

A single light burned above his desk, glinting off the pistol beside a stack of papers.

He stared at a photo of Alessia, smiling, years ago, before all of this began.

His phone buzzed.

An unknown Number.

He answered without hesitation. "Who is this?"

A voice, deep and steady, replied: "Long time, brother."

Luca froze.

The glass in his hand slipped and shattered on the floor.

"Lorenzo," he breathed.

The voice on the other end chuckled softly. "You took everything from me. Now, I’m coming home to take it back."

The line went dead.

Luca stood there, jaw clenched, breathing hard.

Outside, thunder rumbled again.

And in the hallway, unseen, Alessia stood by the door , the only word she grabbed was ’brother’...

Her eyes filled with tears. Her lips trembled.

"Brother?" she whispered.

The glass key on the table gleamed faintly under the light, catching the reflection of her face broken, terrified, and suddenly realizing...

She had been living with two lies all along.

"Who is the brother"... She asked herself. Her memory reflects back to when luca said "we are hiding things from each other "...

"What is he really hiding from her" she asked herself and then walk away.

*********

The grand hall of the Morano mansion was heavy with silence.

The kind of silence that made the chandeliers tremble as if even the air feared to breathe.

Alessia sat in her chair poised, pale, and unreadable while Luca stood beside her, his presence dark and commanding.

Every maid in the corridor stood frozen behind the velvet curtains, peeking with wide, terrified eyes.

Before them knelt Chloe and Sirah, two trembling maids whose uniforms were stained with fear.

Luca’s voice sliced through the stillness, deep and cold as steel.

"Why," he began slowly, "did you poison my woman’s drink?"

His gaze locked on Chloe like a predator eyeing its prey. "Who do you work for and what were you paid?"

Chloe’s lips quivered. "I... I’m sorry, sir," she stammered, her knees shaking so violently that even the tiles beneath her seemed to tremble. "I was tempted by the devil, sir. I didn’t mean to... "

"Answer the question," Luca snapped, his tone laced with thunder.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. "It was someone from within this mansion," she whispered. "Someone who pretends to love Madam Alessia, but... doesn’t."

Alessia’s brows drew together, confusion rippling across her beautiful face. "Who?" she asked softly, though her voice carried enough weight to silence every whisper in the hall.

Chloe swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. "It... it’s your best friend Daisy, Madam."

The moment the name left her lips, a gasp broke from the line of maids watching behind.

Even the air seemed to recoil.

"Daisy?" Alessia repeated, her voice tightening.

"Yes," Chloe said quickly, gripping her hands together. "She sent me on a secret mission. Sh... she pretends to be your friend, but she’s jealous. She said Madam’s beauty and happiness should be taken away. She... she wanted your babies gone..... "

Alessia froze for a brief moment, heart-stopping moment, everything blurred around her...

"Her babies".

Luca’s face darkened with a fury that made the air feel heavier. "Do you know what you are saying?" he demanded. "You are accusing someone who’s served the morano house, loyally for years."

Chloe sobbed harder. "I swear, sir, I’m not lying. I only did what she ordered. She promised to protect me."

But behind her, Sirah’s eyes widened, panic rising in her chest like a flood.

Liar, she screamed silently in her mind. You are digging your own grave, Chloe.

Because Sirah knew the truth.

It wasn’t Daisy. It never was but Bianca.

She wanted to speak her lips trembled on the edge of confession but fear sealed her throat shut.

If she told the truth, Chloe would be ruined.

But if she stayed silent, Daisy would take the fall for something far darker.

Luca turned his gaze toward her. "Sirah," he said, his tone low, deliberate. "You have been quiet, Too quiet, Tell me..."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is Chloe lying?"

Sirah’s fingers tightened against her skirt.

Sweat dripped down her temples.

Her heart pounded so loud she could hear nothing else.

What should I do? she thought. If I speak, I will destroy Chloe... but if I don’t, Daisy might be black mail forever by the moranos, she is madam Alessia’s best friend, Chloe is also my best friend but Daisy is innocent and Chloe isn’t...

She was still lost in between her thoughts when Luca’s voice jerked her back to reality

"I demand an answer now".... Luca said.