LOGINThe monastery was unusually quiet.Not peaceful.Waiting.Everyone could feel it. Storms always came after silence.Lorenzo stood in the war room studying tactical maps while Gabriel traced every financial transaction linked to the Swiss account.Nothing. Every trail disappeared into dead ends.Matteo tossed another file onto the wooden table with a heavy thud. "Dante is a ghost."Gabriel sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "Ghosts leave footprints.""This one doesn't."Lorenzo finally spoke, his voice low and calculating. "Then stop looking for footprints. Find what he's protecting."Gabriel looked up, blinking. "That's... actually a good idea."Matteo smirked, leaning back against the desk. "Our Boss is thinking like a husband now."Lorenzo raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly does that mean?""You've become patient.""I've always been patient."Matteo burst into laughter. "No. You used to solve problems with bullets. Now you solve them because your wife would be disappointed."Even Lor
Silence filled the war room. No one spoke. The glowing computer screen still displayed the transaction details:> **€250,000,000**> **Status:** Transferred / Completed> **Account Holder:** Lorrie Elmundo Dimitri> Lorrie stared at the screen as though it belonged to someone else. "I didn't do this." Her voice barely rose above a whisper."I know," Lorenzo answered without hesitation.She slowly turned toward him. "You... believe me?"His gray eyes never wavered. "I don't need evidence to know my wife."Those words broke something inside her. The fear she'd been holding back dissolved into tears, and she stepped into his arms without thinking. He held her tightly, resting his chin lightly against her hair."They're trying to divide us," she murmured."They won't."Across the room, Matteo quietly looked away. Gabriel cleared his throat. "I'll... give you two a minute.""No," Lorenzo's voice remained steady. "Stay." He looked at everyone gathered around the table. "This is exactly what
The war room remained silent long after Dante's message ended. No one moved. No one spoke.Lorenzo stood perfectly still, his gray eyes fixed on the dark screen. His voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke: "He wants my wife."Matteo slammed his fist onto the table. "Over my dead body."Gabriel quickly pulled up the diagnostic windows for Dante's transmission. "I've already started tracing the signal.""Anything?" Lorenzo demanded."It's bouncing through twelve different satellite relays," Gabriel muttered, tapping furiously on his keyboard.Matteo groaned, crossing his arms. "So... nothing."Gabriel sighed. "He wanted us to try."Lorrie quietly stepped into the room, her footsteps soft against the stone floor. "I heard everything."Lorenzo immediately walked toward her, his jaw set. "You shouldn't be here.""Why?""Because from this moment... you don't leave my sight."She looked straight into his eyes. "I won't hide.""You won't have a choice."She folded her arms, raising an
Smoke billowed heavily across the monastery courtyard as frantic cries echoed in every direction."Medic!""Secure the perimeter!""Watch the rooftops!"Lorenzo's first instinct wasn't to chase the shadows responsible for the attack. It was to find Lorrie. He tightened his arms around her, shielding her frame, until he felt her shift against him."Lorrie."She coughed softly, pushing gently against his chest. "I'm... okay."He pulled back just enough to examine her face in the hazy light. A small, superficial cut marked her forehead, but nothing more. Only then did the heavy weight in his chest lift enough to let him breathe."I'm fine," she whispered, looking up at him."You don't look fine."She smiled weakly. "I'm alive.""That's all that matters."Matteo emerged from the settling smoke, his dark tactical gear covered in white stone dust. "The Chancellor!"Everyone turned toward the center of the courtyard. The spot where Theodore Blackwood had been standing just moments prior was
# Chapter Ninety-Four: No One Takes Mrs. DimitriThe monastery courtyard fell completely silent.On one side stood the Shadow Wolves, their automatic rifles raised with lethal precision. On the other stood the Royal Guard in polished ceremonial armor, handles on their sidearms. Between them stood Lorenzo Dimitri.Victor Hale slowly, deliberately unfolded the royal decree. "By the authority of the Royal Council of Arden, Princess Aurora is hereby ordered to return to the Royal Palace until the succession hearing is concluded." He looked directly past Lorenzo's shoulder to lock eyes with Lorrie. "This is not an arrest. It is royal protection."Matteo let out a harsh laugh from the flank. "Liar."Victor ignored him entirely. "Princess Aurora, we ask that you come with us willingly."Lorrie didn't move an inch. Instead, she looked up at Lorenzo. His face remained an unreadable, chiseled mask, but his hand quietly reaching back for hers betrayed everything he was feeling. She slipped her f
The recorder clicked. Then... absolute silence.Lorenzo stared down at the small cassette player lying inside the polished wooden box. His father's voice still echoed heavily in his mind.> *"There is one fundamental truth about your marriage contract that you were never meant to know..."*> "Lorenzo?"Lorrie's gentle voice pulled him back from the precipice of his thoughts. He looked up, but his face remained a completely unreadable mask.Gabriel stepped forward, picking up the recorder with practiced, careful movements. "The tape snapped.""Can it be repaired?" Lorenzo asked, his tone flat."I'll have our forensic team try immediately."Lorenzo nodded once. "Do it. And don't let anyone outside this room know what was on that recording."An hour later, the dismantled recorder sat beneath the harsh lights of Gabriel's workbench. Tiny pieces of magnetic tape lay scattered beneath the lens of a high-powered microscope.Gabriel sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "Whoever prepared this... wa







