Chapter 20: Broken shackles
The forest was not kind to liars.....
Enzo stumbled through the underbrush, the sharp bite of thorny vines dragging across his skin, blood blooming beneath his torn coat. The mist clung to him like judgment—silent, heavy, unrelenting.
He had boarded the private jet two nights ago, bribing Luca’s old army contact with the last of his black market crypto. The plan had been simple: fly low, land quiet, disappear into the mountains where the Moranos wouldn’t find him.
But fate doesn’t follow man’s plans.
The pilot had dropped him in a nearby village, but the woods swallowed him before he reached shelter. His compass spun uselessly. His phone was dead. The whispers in the trees grew louder with every step, pulling him deeper into something not meant for human eyes.
Then—he saw it.
An ancient gate, glowing faintly in the dark, wrapped in vine and dusted with silver light. It didn’t belong to this world. Enzo’s knees hit the moss, breath caught in his chest. A strange wind howled past him—and the gate creaked open.
He lifted his eyes and saw him.
Donato.
Dressed in black and crimson, the mafia heir stood between glowing pillars, sword sheathed at his hip, and power humming in his presence.
Enzo’s voice cracked. "Donato...?"
The younger Morano stared, stunned. "What the hell—Enzo?!"
He stumbled toward Donato with a forced smile. "Luca... Luca sent me. Said the heir shouldn’t wander strange lands alone."
Donato narrowed his eyes. "Luca sent you?"
Enzo nodded quickly, voice dry. "I caught a ride on his contact’s jet. Landed nearby. Got lost. The forest—it’s... unnatural."
Donato exhaled hard and embraced him. "Damn. You look like hell."
Beyond the gate, the Queen and Princess of Virenkai stood still, their guards tensing, hands on sword hilts. The Princess approached slowly, her eyes trained on Enzo with a quiet sharpness.
"He came through the whispering woods," she said. "That forest only lets the fated pass."
The Queen spoke next, her tone regal but edged. "There’s blood on his path. And a lie in his lungs."
Donato frowned, stepping protectively in front of his cousin. "He’s my blood. He means no harm."
The Princess tilted her head. "He means to hide. But truth reveals itself under the blood moon."
Enzo swallowed hard. "I come in peace. I swear it."
The Queen gave a single nod. "He may stay. But let him know: if he lies again... the forest will not return him."
Enzo lowered his gaze.
Because he had already lied.
Luca hadn’t sent him.
He had run.
And in his desperation, he left a message of his final confession on a burner phone he’d tossed into a storm drain outside the estate.
It reads :
" Master Luca... I don’t know if you’ll ever forgive me. I didn’t mean to go this far. The greed... it consumed me. I was weak. You were always the stronger one. I should never have doubted you. If this is the end, then let it be on my terms. I’m sorry."
*****
Back at the Morano Estate...
The moment Alessia saw Bianca walking into the estate with her mother beside her, stiff and regal in a high-collared coat, something in her heart twisted.
She had prayed this day wouldn’t come.
She’d hoped Bianca would take the settlement and vanish, leaving the past sealed behind silence. But deep down, Alessia knew. A woman like Bianca—burned, bruised, but never broken—wouldn’t let go that easily.
Especially not when she carried a child in her womb.
Luca’s child.
Her husband’s blood. A potential heir.
Alessia’s hand instinctively moved to her belly. She wasn’t pregnant. Not yet. But something maternal within her recoiled at the idea of another woman carrying Luca’s legacy.
A child born from betrayal.
She stood beside Luca in the drawing room, her hand gripping his a little too tightly. His thumb traced slow circles on her palm, calm on the surface—but she could feel the storm raging beneath his stillness.
Luca sat in his late father’s armchair, A silent mountain of power. Alessia was beside him, her fingers entwined with his, but her other hand rested subtly on her stomach, protective, uncertain.
Across from them, Bianca stood with her mother. The absence of Bianca’s father was both deliberate and deafening.
Her mother’s face was carved in cold politeness, but Bianca was shaking.
And then Bianca finally spoke.
Her voice was gentler than expected, cracking around the edges like old glass.
"I didn’t come here to fight," she began, standing in front of Luca like she’d done many times in the past—before Alessia, before the lies. "I didn’t come to beg, either."
"I’m here to give you clarity ".
Her mother stood a step behind, arms crossed, judgment masked behind a polished expression.
"I came... to tell the truth. To speak what my pride once silenced."
Luca’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Then speak."
Bianca looked at Alessia for a long, agonizing second. Her gaze wasn’t cruel, but it carried a thousand unsaid things. Then she returned her focus to the man who had destroyed her heart but gifted her the only thing she had left—life.
"You said you’d give me a settlement. A house. Security," she said. "You promised this child would have dignity."
"I did."
"Well," Bianca breathed, voice growing steadier, "I don’t want your money."
Alessia blinked, heart skipping.
"I want the child."
"I have loved you in the past and I still loved you, in a part of me I hate. But what we had... It’s over. You and Alessia are written in the stars too cruel for me to read. But this baby... This child... It has your blood and mind ".
Luca’s jaw tightened.
"I have decided to keep the baby. No more lawyers. No more deals. No more hush money or clean exists ".
The words landed like gunfire.
Luca shifted, caught off guard. Alessia’s grip faltered. Her other hand came to her lips as tears brimmed, unspilled but threatening. Her worst fear had been spoken aloud, slicing through the fragile peace they’d tried to build.
Bianca stepped closer. "I’ve decided to keep it. I’m not disappearing, Luca. I’m not some side Chapter in your life. This child—our child—deserves to know who their father is."
"You expect me to... what?" Luca asked coldly, "Raise a bastard alongside my wife?"
Bianca’s lips trembled. "I expect you to be a man."
"This child will grow up knowing who you are. I’ll raise it with pride. If you want to be part of my life, fine. If you don’t, I’ll survive. But I’m not terminating it. I’m not erasing it".
Silence thundered through the room.
"I won’t be silenced. I won’t be bought. This baby has your blood, Luca, and I’ll raise it alone if I must."
Alessia’s shoulders shuddered. A hot tear slipped down her cheek, then another. She turned her face slightly away, but Bianca saw.
"I’m not here to hurt you, Alessia," Bianca added gently. "I’m here because this baby needs me to stand."
Alessia could barely hear anymore. Her ears rang. Her chest was caving in. She wanted to run , To scream, or to vanish. Instead, she stood frozen, crumbling in silence.
Tears rolled down Alessia’s cheek as she walk away slowly
Luca couldn’t bear to see Alessia cry.
"Once the child is born, I will get a paternity test to be sure it’s mine"....