The maid’s hand was badly burned, yet she risked her job to stop the engagement cake from being cut—and what was hidden inside changed everything. / Chapter 37 / 49

Chapter 37 - The Iron Will of Moretti

"The triumvirate," Luca muttered, standing beside Lily and looking down at the photograph. "The entire Syndicate wasn't a collection of warring families. It was an orchestrated monopoly created by three men who staged fake blood feuds to manipulate international supply chains."

"And the Silent Flame?" Lily asked, turning the page.

Beneath the photograph was a handwritten ledger with a terrifying notation dated three weeks prior:

*Consignment delivered to the Grand Gala of the European High Council. Target: All seven regional delegates. The purge begins when the cake is served.*

Lily gasped, the blood draining from her face. "The engagement cake at our party... Aurelia wasn't trying to poison you to win you back, Luca. Aurelia was carrying out Lorenzo’s orders to test the delivery method! The real target is the Annual Council Gala in Rome—tomorrow night!"

Luca’s eyes hardened into pure flint. "Lorenzo isn't running away. He’s heading to Rome. If he wipes out the entire Council in one strike using Elena’s poison, there will be no one left to challenge his resurrection. The entire criminal and financial infrastructure of Europe will fall directly into his hands."

"And he's going to use my grandmother's name to do it," Lily said, her voice shaking with righteous fury. "He’s going to frame the Valenti family, claiming an old blood debt was settled, wiping out any trace of his own involvement while taking total control from the shadows."

Luca turned to Marco, his voice carrying the absolute, unquestionable authority of the Don of the Moretti family.

"Assemble the Vanguard," Luca commanded. "Ready the private jet at Catania. Contact our contacts in the Roman underground and tell them the dead have risen—and we are going to bury them for good."

"Yes, Boss," Marco replied, bowing his head and exiting the room at a sprint.

Luca turned back to Lily, cupping her face in his hands once more. "You stay here. Villa Moretti is heavily fortified now. You will have fifty armed guards watching every breath you take. You will be safe."

Lily pulled away, stepping back with an expression of fierce, unbending resolve.

"No, Luca," she said, her voice ringing clear in the silent study. "I am not staying behind to wait for news of your death like a fragile doll. Lorenzo wants Elena’s heir? He wants the Silent Flame? I know the formula better than anyone alive, because my grandmother taught me the balance of the ingredients before I even learned to write."

She stepped closer, placing her scarred hand over Luca’s heart. "You fight with bullets and blood, Luca. But against this poison, you need a chemist. You need me."

Luca looked into her eyes, searching for hesitation, fear, or doubt. He found none. What he saw was the daughter of an empire, forged in fire, unyielding and magnificent.