The Morano mansion was cloaked in tension that refused to lift.
Every corridor whispered Luca’s na, every servant’s bow carried unease, and every rumor of betrayal gnawed at his resolve.
He had always been a man of iron—cold, calculated, unshakable.
But this ti, Fredo’s idea pierced through the armor he had built around himself.
"A fake marriage".....
Does this make sense? Will Alessia hate more? Will she co back or not, am I been right or wrong? What if the idea sses up the whole plan. I can’t afford to loose Alessia.
The suggestion lingered like poison in Luca’s veins.
At first, he had dismissed it with his usual sharpness, brushing Fredo off with a glare that could cut glass. But the more he tried to bury it, the louder it echoed.
A marriage alliance with Hikky, the daughter of a rival mafia boss—an agreent that would bring peace, silence the guns, and stabilize their fragile empire.
And yet, the cost was Alessia..... Always Alessia.
The image of her lingered in every corner of his mind. Her laughter that used to soften the steel in his heart, her anger that burned hotter than his own rage, her silence that cut deeper than bullets.
He could not shake her from his blood. No matter how many nights he drowned himself in whiskey, no matter how many battles he fought, she was there.
Luca leaned forward in his sofa chair, hands buried in his hair. For once, he was no longer the cold-blooded heir, no longer the calculating devil everyone feared.
He was simply a man, broken by the one woman who refused to forgive him.
"Fredo," he finally called him, his voice gravelly, "how can we make it work?"
Fredo’s expression softened, though his eyes flickered with the calculation only a seasoned consigliere carried. "Hikky is my distant cousin. She owes favors from the past. If this is the path you choose, I will contact her imdiately. She will listen."
Luca exhaled slowly, fists clenched on the desk. It wasn’t love, it wasn’t even loyalty, It was survival, cloaked as strategy. And yet the very thought of standing beside another woman at the altar twisted sothing inside him so violently he thought he might shatter.
But Alessia had walked away. Alessia had left him bleeding with her silence. And a man like Luca Morano could not afford to bleed forever.
"Do it," he said finally, eyes dark with resolve. "Contact her..... Contact your distance cousin -hikky"
*****
Within days, the news spread like wildfire.
Luca Morano to wed mafia princess Hikky Valente in a bid for peace.
The whispers filled every ballroom, every smoky club, every café that dared to breathe the Morano na.
The city that had once seen Alessia as the shadow at Luca’s side now feasted on her replacent.
The words hit Alessia like blades.
She stood before Daisy, fists clenched so tight her nails dug crescents into her skin.
Her chest heaved with each breath, fury and heartbreak tearing her apart.
"He wants to marry his class," Alessia spat, pacing the narrow length of the room. "After all, I was just a maid."
Her voice cracked on the last word, bitterness trembling at the edges.
Daisy rose from her seat, eyes wide with hurt. "Don’t talk like that, Alessia. Don’t reduce yourself to what they called you. You were never just a maid.Donato found you worthy than us all then he suggested you to luca and Luca.... " she hesitated, searching Alessia’s eyes, "Luca loved you. He still does. But you gave him the impression you hated him. You pushed him away. You told him not to co close."
Alessia stopped pacing, her throat tightening. The mory of her last confrontation with Luca replayed in her mind the coldness in her attitude, her words that convinced her mother to stop luca from coming after she invited him, the finality in her tone. She had thought it was strength. Now it felt like a noose around her own neck.
"I won’t beg him," Alessia said finally, her voice trembling despite her resolve. "I won’t lower myself to stand before him, not when he’s already chosen another. My pride is all I have left."
Daisy’s lips pressed into a thin line. She wanted to argue, but before she could, a noise shattered their tense silence.
A loud thump against the window.
Both won turned, startled, just in ti to see the flutter of black-and-white wings. it was the Magpie, its feathers still dull from healing, struggled against the open pane.
In its beak glimred a small wooden box—the sa box Lauretta Morano had once pressed into Alessia’s hands with trembling urgency, begging her to deliver it to her mother.
"Damn bird.." Daisy cried, rushing forward and slamming the window shut before the creature could escape with the treasure.
Her chest heaved as she turned back to Alessia. "Where did you even get this bird from again?"
Alessia, cheeks flushed, hurried to rescue the box from the magpie’s grip. She tucked it against her chest protectively. "I found it helpless. Broken wings, Daisy. I couldn’t just leave it to die." She placed the box safely back in her mother’s room, her smile softening as she glanced at the restless magpie. "It’s only playing. Magpies steal things by nature—it’s who they are. It ans nothing."
But Daisy shook her head, her face pale. "No, Alessia. You can’t see what I see. That bird... I feel it has a mission. It doesn’t belong here. There are ons written all around us and you’re ignoring them."
Alessia’s brow furrowed, confusion darkening her gaze. "A wounded magpie isn’t sent on missions, Daisy. It’s just recovering. Stop frightening yourself."
But Daisy’s fear was real. She grabbed her brown box of belongings, her hands shaking. "You’re blind to the handwriting on the wall. I won’t stay here and wait for doom to fall."
"Daisy... " Alessia’s voice cracked as her friend stord out the door. "Please, don’t leave ."
But the slam of the door was her only answer.
****
Far from the walls of the Morano estate, another hunt was underway.
In the outskirt of Virenkai, Princess Elowen tightened her cloak against the sharp wind, her golden hair whipping against her face as she guided her guards through the ancient forest.
At her side trotted hulking hounds—creatures bred not rely to hunt, but to sll the faintest trace of human blood across miles of wilderness.
The trail was fresh.
Four footsteps.
Two belonging to Donato Morano, and two belonging to Enzo.
The prints told a story in silence—brothers in arms, or traitors in disguise?
Then the trail splintered.
Dried blood stained the leaves, sared into the soil. The hounds’ growls deepened as they circled the spot, nostrils flaring with frenzy.
Elowen’s heart clenched. "The blood... it’s Donato’s."
Her voice was barely a whisper, but the n around her stiffened as though thunder had spoken.
She turned sharply. "Search the area. If his body is here, we will find it. Spare no ground."
Two guards obeyed, scattering into the shadows of the trees. Elowen’s gaze hardened as she studied the second trail—the one that veered away, opposite to Donato’s direction. Fresh, deliberate, as though soone had led him astray.
"Enzo," she muttered, suspicion sharpening her tone. She gestured to the rest of her n. "With . We follow the other path."
****
Back in her quiet world, Alessia sat alone, staring at the restless magpie perched on her shoulder.
Everyone had left her. Everyone had chosen their side, their war, their pride. She was the one misunderstood, the one accused, the one abandoned.
But this creature, broken yet resilient, stayed.
She stroked its small head gently, a sad smile curving her lips. "Just you and against the world, Lulu."
"Lulu, is the pet na she has given to the magpie bird".
The bird cooed softly, pressing into her cheek. For the first ti in days, Alessia felt sothing almost like peace.
Later, she carried the magpie to the garden, her footsteps slow, her heart heavy.
The air slled of rain, the earth damp and trembling beneath the weight of clouds.
"Magpie," she whispered, setting it on her arm. "Fly high for ."
The bird fluttered, wings beating against the wind. It soared upward, unsteady but determined, each dip and rise a symbol of its will to survive.
Alessia’s eyes welled with tears as she watched.
"See? You can do it..." she whispered, hope threading her voice.
But then....
Bang.
The shot split the air like lightning.
The magpie shrieked, feathers scattering, before falling lifelessly to the ground.
Alessia gasped, stumbling forward, her hands trembling as she gathered the fragile body. Blood sared her palms, warmth fading too quickly.
Her eyes darted wildly and froze.
Across the garden, gun still smoking in his hand, stood "Luca Morano".
Her heart stopped.
Her grief twisted into sothing sharper, deadlier. Her trust, already broken, now shattered into pieces that would never be nded.
The man she had once loved had killed the only friend she had left.
Her hatred for him solidified in that single breath.
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