Library
Search
Home / Mafia / The Scar Beneath The Veil / The Open Gate

Share

The Open Gate

Author: Rhantee
last update Last Updated: 2026-01-22 20:56:31

The decision to host the "Builders’ Feast" was the final sledgehammer blow to the old Valenti way. For decades, the estate had been a black hole on the map—a place where people went to work, but never to stay. Now, Amara and Emiliano were inviting the very hands that laid their bricks to sit at their table.

​But before the feast could begin, there was the daily reality of the "External World." The transition from the high-altitude steel of the construction site back to the social corridors of t
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Previous Chapter Next Chapter
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • The Scar Beneath The Veil   The Rite of the First Stone

    The air at the Valenti estate was thick with a new kind of gravity. Lorenzo was thirteen—the age of transition, where the "Guardian" protocol was no longer a childhood game, but a dawning responsibility. The boy who once collected sea-glass had become a young man of steady gaze and silent strength, standing a head taller than his mother and possessing a voice that had begun to find its bass.​But as the "Senior" shifted toward adulthood, the "Juniors"—Dante and Lucia, now five—and the "Grace," Bianca, now nine, ensured the house never became too solemn.The occasion was the Centennial Foundation Gala, a formal event held in the mansion’s restored Great Hall. It was Lorenzo’s official introduction to the families, the architects, and the builders who made up the Valenti world.​Lorenzo stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his first charcoal-grey suit. He looked every bit the heir to an empire, but his pockets were still stuffed with a few smooth Amalfi pebbles—a tether to his younge

  • The Scar Beneath The Veil   The Amalfi Caravan

    ​The return to the Amalfi coast was no longer the quiet, contemplative retreat it had been when Lorenzo was an only child. It was now a logistical "Full Pack" deployment. The Valenti family didn't just travel; they migrated.​Two SUVs were required: one for the humans and the "Architecture of Survival" (diapers, strollers, and Lorenzo’s growing library), and a second for Aegis and Lyra, who traveled like royalty in a climate-controlled rear cabin.When they arrived at the white-stone cottage, the air was immediately filled with the scent of salt and the sound of bells. The twins, now two years old and possessing a terrifying amount of "locomotive energy," didn't wait for a tour.​Dante, clutching his father’s hand, immediately pointed toward the silver pebbles of the cove. "Big water, Papa! Dante go!"​Lucia, meanwhile, had discovered that the cottage had a terrace with a low stone wall. She was already trying to find a way to climb it to see the seagulls. "Birds! Mamma, look! Flying

  • The Scar Beneath The Veil   The Second Shield

    The first year of the twins’ lives had been a masterclass in adaptation. While Dante and Lucia were now walking—a chaotic, uncoordinated scramble that kept the entire household on high alert—the "Human System" of the Valenti estate felt like it was missing a final structural component.​Aegis, now a dignified and seasoned protector, was beginning to show the strain of being a singular anchor for four children. He was patient, but he could not be in the East Wing with the twins and the garden with Lorenzo at the same time. The "Symmetry of Four" required a Secondary Shield.​Emiliano and Amara decided that if the twins were to grow up as a unit, they needed a guardian who would grow with them. On a crisp autumn morning, a new variable was introduced to the estate: a female Golden Retriever puppy named Lyra.​Unlike Aegis, who had been calm and observant from the start, Lyra was a whirlwind of copper fur and unbridled curiosity. She didn't walk into the mansion; she bounced into it.​Th

  • The Scar Beneath The Veil   The First Birthday and the Junior Command

    The first birthday of Dante and Lucia was not a grand corporate event. There were no press releases or tactical security briefings. Instead, the South Wing was a vibrant mess of streamers, half-eaten cupcakes, and the joyful, high-pitched chaos that only one-year-olds can produce.​However, the true test of the Valenti architecture arrived that evening. For the first time since the twins' birth, Emiliano and Amara had to leave the estate for a mandatory state dinner—a rare "Legacy" obligation that required their presence.​"We’ll be back by midnight," Amara said, her hand lingering on Lorenzo’s shoulder. She looked stunning in dark silk, but her eyes were fixed on the nursery monitor. "Matteo is on the perimeter. But inside these walls, Lorenzo, you are the Senior Guardian."​"I have the protocol, Mamma," Lorenzo said, standing tall. At nine, he had grown into a boy of remarkable composure. "Bianca is in charge of 'Morale.' I am in charge of 'Operations.' And Aegis is the Shield."The

  • The Scar Beneath The Veil   The Architecture of Chaos

    Six months had passed since the high-stakes vigil of the medical suite. The "glass houses" had been packed away, and the clinical silence of the South Wing had been utterly annihilated by the reality of four children under one roof. If the Valenti estate was once a fortress of solitude, it was now a vibrant, noisy, and beautifully disorganized hive of life.​The twins, Dante and Lucia, had grown from fragile "variables" into robust, vocal toddlers-in-training. Dante was a mirror of his father—sturdy, serious, and prone to observing a toy for ten minutes before deciding exactly how to dismantle it. Lucia was a spark—a tiny, laughing echo of Amara’s quick silver energy, constantly reaching for the light.The "Human System" of the house now required the strategic precision of a military campaign. The morning ritual began not with a security briefing, but with the "Diaper and Bottle Protocol."​Amara stood in the center of the redesigned nursery, a twin on each hip. She moved with a pract

  • The Scar Beneath The Veil   The Symmetry of Four

    The tension in the South Wing had become a physical weight, a thick silence that even the hum of the medical equipment couldn't penetrate. For three weeks, Amara had been the center of a silent storm, her body a battlefield where she fought to give the twins just one more day, one more hour of development.​Then, in the deepest part of a Tuesday night—the same hour Lorenzo and Bianca had claimed for their arrivals—the "Architecture of the Wait" finally gave way.This was not the gentle transition of the previous births. Because of the placental complication, the room transformed into a theater of high-stakes engineering. Matteo secured the hallways, while the medical team, hand-picked by Emiliano for their steady nerves, moved with the synchronized speed of a pit crew.​Emiliano stood at the head of the bed, his large hands anchoring Amara’s shoulders. He wasn't the Master Builder of skyscrapers tonight; he was the bedrock.​"Look at me, Amara," he commanded, his voice a low, groundin

More Chapters

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status