Semua Bab Velvet Chains: Bab 141 - Bab 150

The silence in the opera house was deafening.Sera’s hand trembled as the ring settled into place, glinting like a curse under the fractured sunlight. Cael’s expression barely shifted, but the twitch in his jaw gave him away. His cane clicked once against the marble floor—a heartbeat too loud.Valerio’s voice remained unflinching. “You came for power. You walked into this place thinking you still had leverage. But now she’s mine. Fully. Legally. Publicly.”“You married her?” Cael asked quietly.“No,” Valerio said, turning toward Sera. “But I will. And the entire city will watch.”Sera's breath caught in her throat. This wasn’t part of the plan. At least... not the way he said it. His tone wasn’t strategic. It was dangerous. Personal.Cael’s gloved hand curled into a fist on top of his cane.“Do you know what I hate about you, Thorne?” he whispered, voice laced with venom. “You think everything can be owned. You think a ring changes what’s underneath.”“I don’t own her,” Valerio replie

The silence inside the penthouse was deceptive—elegant, thick like crushed velvet, cloaking the chaos that throbbed just beneath the surface.Sera stood at the tall window, her reflection a ghost in the glass. Below, Eros City glittered in the distance, indifferent to the storm gathering behind her ribcage. She had barely slept since the ambush. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the flash of metal, the scream of tires, the sound of Valerio’s voice as he roared her name, pulling her to safety through the chaos.Behind her, the door opened with a soft hiss.She turned.Valerio stepped in, dressed in all black—button-down shirt tucked into tailored pants, his holster strapped across his chest. But it wasn’t the outfit that made her breath catch. It was his face. The icy calm in his eyes. The kind of calm that came before a kill.“They found the body,” he said. “One of my own. Luca.”Sera felt the words hit like a slap. “What?”“He was the mole.”“No…” Her lips parted in shock. “But

The house was silent, almost too silent for a mansion that once pulsed with power and intimidation. Sera stood at the window of Valerio’s study, her eyes scanning the courtyard below. Men moved like shadows—armed, tense, on high alert.She didn’t need to look behind her to know Valerio was watching her. She could feel his presence like a storm cloud forming behind her spine—thick with worry, with restraint.“He’s in our walls,” Valerio said finally, his voice low, grave.Sera turned slowly. “Lucien.”Valerio nodded. “Someone’s been feeding him information from the inside. That’s how he got past the docks’ security. That’s how he knew where we were hiding the weapons.”Sera crossed her arms. “So who is it? Who do you suspect?”A bitter smirk curled his lips. “Everyone. That’s the problem.”She stepped closer. “Then we start at the top.”He watched her carefully, his jaw clenching. “You mean my captains.”“I mean the people closest to you. We gather them. One by one. We pressure them. S

The silence in Valerio’s office was louder than a gunshot.Sera stood in the center of the room, her arms wrapped around herself as if trying to keep her heart from falling apart. Across from her, Valerio leaned against his desk, eyes shadowed, jaw tight. He had just confessed everything—about the traitor, about the real reason his father died, about the bloodstained family legacy he never wanted her to see.And still, she hadn’t moved."Say something," he murmured, voice raw.Sera looked up slowly, her throat dry. "How long did you know?""A while," he admitted. "But I needed proof before I made a move. It wasn’t just about revenge anymore. It was about protecting you.""From your own family," she whispered. “From the people who raised you.”He nodded once, every inch of him heavy with guilt. "From a world I was born into and never wanted to bring you into."Her gaze softened, but her heart still ached. "But I’m in it now. We both are. There’s no going back, Valerio.""I know," he sa

A cold wind swept across the courtyard as Sera stood under the silver glow of the moon, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. The night felt heavier than usual—like the air carried every secret they had tried to bury. Behind her, the Thorne mansion stood solemn and quiet, but there was an energy stirring in its walls. Change. Closure. Something final.Footsteps echoed behind her, heavy and unhurried.She didn’t need to turn around to know it was Valerio.“You always find me when I want to be alone,” she murmured, voice distant.He came to a stop beside her, close but not touching. “Maybe it’s because I know that when you want to be alone… you need someone most.”She closed her eyes, breathing in the weight of that sentence. “You remember that night in Milan? When we danced in the rain like idiots on the rooftop?”“I remember every second.” His voice was hoarse, like it scraped against the memories too. “You looked at me like I was your whole world. And I was too much of a coward to