Chapter 87

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• Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire   Chapter 111

  The morning light settled gently across Seraphina’s courtyard, filtering through the olive trees and brushing the lavender blooms.To any visitor, it would seem a scene of pastoral calm. But to Seraphina, the day felt different.The air carried a charged tension, subtle and insistent—a heartbeat out of time. Her skin prickled despite the sunshine, and she paused at the door, Lucio’s tiny hand grasped in hers, sensing his quiet reflection of her own unease.Several months of living under the Marchesi walls and haunted memories had sharpened her instincts.She had learned, under Elian’s careful guidance, to listen to rumblings in her spine. And they were rumbling now.Without words, she guided Lucio inside, into the secure room she had prepared for him. He pressed against her, trusting, innocent, while her gaze remained focused on the front gate, half expecting it to open at any moment.Once Lucio was safely inside, Seraphina moved through the house with quiet precision—slipping outside

• Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire   Chapter 110

  Lucien Marchesi hadn’t returned to Sicily in over three years.Since the day Seraphina testified against him, tearing what remained of his soul to shreds, he hadn’t dared set foot on the land where her voice echoed loudest.Not because he couldn’t—but because he feared what he might find. Or rather, whom he might not.The Marchesi empire had since evolved. Legal businesses flourished—Marchesi Tech, Marchesi Vineyards, and Marchesi Global Investments.His net worth now exceeded what Giorgio had once dreamed. Lucien was a billionaire by numbers, but empty by heart. He filled his hours with clean mergers, ethical boards, and the kind of silence that could only be bought with guilt.He had never once reached out to Seraphina. Not even through Matteo or Vincenzo. He had let her go, utterly and completely, because when she looked into his eyes that day on the witness stand, something inside him had shattered.Even now, he remembered the way her voice had cracked—not from hatred, but from he

• Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire   Chapter 109

  The news of her pregnancy had awakened something inside Seraphina that no legal victory could ever touch.She had shattered Lucien’s empire—and nearly shattered him. But the life growing within her felt like fate’s final decree: this child deserved more than a world built on betrayal.If there was ever a moment to find Lucien again, this was it.She began quietly. Friends of friends. Loose rumors. Whispers in those tight social circles Lucien once moved in.She walked the streets he had walked, stood outside the villa gates under moonlight, hoping to glimpse him in the gardens he once vowed to protect.But every night she returned home empty-handed, her heart clenched in a familiar ache.One afternoon, she befriended the florist across from her rented villa.He remembered her vaguely from Palermo but hesitated to tell her where Lucien was.She told him she was here “for family reasons,” eyes transparent with longing.He offered a bouquet of lavender and olive branches—“something delic

• Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire   Chapter 108

  The courtroom was colder than it should have been.Despite the Sicilian heat pressing in from outside, the air inside the high-ceilinged chamber clung to Seraphina like frost, wrapping itself around her bones as if trying to anchor her in place—one last attempt to stop what she was about to do.She stood at the witness box, slender fingers curling around the polished wooden edge, knuckles white.Her eyes—always so unreadable—held something fractured now, something hollow.Across the aisle, Lucien Marchesi sat silent, dressed not in one of his signature dark suits, but in a pale linen shirt and no tie. It made him look softer. Younger. Mortal.But it was his eyes that cut her down.He never looked away. He let her see how heartbroken he is through his eyes.Not when she was sworn in. Not when the prosecutor asked for the full extent of her knowledge about Lucien’s business empire. Not even when she hesitated—her lips parting to speak, her gaze flicking from her hands to him.She didn’t

• Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire   Chapter 107

  Seraphina clutched her burner phone beneath the silken folds of her nightgown. It was well past midnight, the estate draped in slumber. Only the distant hum of crickets stirred the night. She tapped a message into the secure app: Everything is ready. I’m inside.Moments later, Detective Elian Shore replied: Understand. You have everything?She swallowed hard, pressing the phone against her chest. Folders, transactions, shipping logs, SILENT contracts—so many skeletons behind every “legitimate” venture. I hate it, Elian. It killed my mother, stole my youth, buried every truth I held dear.Elian's reply was immediate but tender: Stay careful, Sera. I’m close.The glow of the screen faded. Seraphina slipped the phone into her bedside drawer and exhaled. Each encrypted line sent represented a thread cutting through Lucien’s world—his empire laid bare piece by piece. She forced her thoughts away from him, even as images of his mercy and fury danced in her mind.She rose from the bed and mo

• Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire   Chapter 106

  Hours later, Lucien and Vincenzo visited Julian. An aura of control followed them like smoke. The open dayroom had been cleaned for the meeting. A staff nurse unlocked the door.Lucien stepped in first, face expressionless. Julian’s gaze flickered up—eyes some shade of defeated admiration. If someone offered him that look before, he would have taken it.Lucien didn’t offer a hand. Instead, he spoke with marble calm.“You left alliances splintering, Julian.” His voice carried the authority of life and death resting on a single thread. “It’s the last favor those men pay you—not as hostages, but as proof. You were the architect.”Julian lifted his chin. “You know nothing of architecture.”Vincenzo leaned against the wall, coolly watching. “He gave you a chance to redeem yourself.”Julian tilted his head, meeting Lucien’s gaze. “Not redemption. A cage made of bone.”Lucien ignored that. “You used Seraphina for your selfish reason. You tortured her. You sold her.”Julian’s lips twitched. “