Lahat ng Kabanata ng The King’s Broken Oath: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

Dawn had not fully broken when Lidia slipped from the thin mattress and stood barefoot on the cold floor.The mirror across the room no longer showed the girl Bruno had kept in his mansion.Short black hair clung to her jawline. The fake scar near her eye looked raw and permanent. The oversized clothes hid every familiar curve. Even her posture had changed—shoulders squared, chin lifted, breath steady.She tied her laces with hands that did not shake.Not today.Today was not about fear.Today was about survival.She wrapped a scarf around her neck and paused, pressing two fingers to her stomach. A dull ache still lived there, like a warning bell. Her jaw tightened.You don’t get to stop me, she told it silently. Not now.The door creaked.Erika stood there in her sleep shirt, hair wild, eyes half-open.“…You’re really doing this,” she murmured.Lidia looked back. “If I don’t, I die the next time they find me.”That woke Erika fully.She crossed the room and pulled Lidia into a hug so

The door closed behind them with a muted click, sealing the night outside.Erika leaned her back against the wood as if it were the only thing keeping her upright. Her fingers stayed curled around the handle for several seconds before she finally released it. The hallway light cast a thin yellow line across the floor, stopping just short of Lidia’s feet. The silence inside the apartment felt unnatural—too clean, too empty—like a room that had forgotten how to breathe.Lidia stood in the center of the small living space, her shoulders stiff beneath the oversized jacket Erika had given her. The jacket slipped from her arms and pooled at her feet, but she did not move to pick it up. Her gaze was fixed on the wall, unblinking.They did not speak at first.The apartment carried faint smells of lemon tea, soap, and sweat from the day’s training. Outside, distant traffic murmured like a restless animal. Inside, the ticking clock sounded louder than it should have.Erika crossed the room and

Vivian had returned like a ghost with teeth. Speaking of wars and victories, of humiliating Lorenzo, of ending conflicts—but beneath her words, Gennado heard something sharper.She wanted Bruno.Not as a ruler.As her son.And that was something Gennado could not fight with guns.If she reached Bruno first…If she spoke of blood and motherhood and stolen years…Would Bruno listen?Would he believe her?Would he turn away from the man who raised him?The thought made Gennado’s jaw tighten.He had taken Bruno from one woman once.He could not survive losing him to another.And then there was Lidia.His gaze slid back to Elena’s photograph.Her child.His child.The girl who had walked into Bruno’s house like fate wearing servant’s clothes.Lidia was Elena’s blood.And Elena had been his greatest secret.His greatest mistake.His greatest loss.She had vanished without a body, without a goodbye, without truth. For years he had mourned her quietly, believing the underworld had swallowed h

The call to Vivian was short.Gennado did not dress it in poetry or apology. He stood by the tall window of his study, the city spread beneath him like a chessboard already soaked in blood.“He has agreed,” he said into the phone. “Same place. Same date.”On the other end, Vivian’s breath did not change, but something shifted in the silence between them.“I knew he would,” she replied. “Bruno has always been curious about the truth. Even when it hurts.”Gennado closed his eyes.“Do not wound him more than this already will.”A pause. Then, softer, “I did not come back to destroy my son.”The word son scraped something raw inside him.“We shall see,” Gennado said, and ended the call.Bruno left the Deluca estate without looking back.The iron gates opened for him like obedient jaws, but his mind was nowhere near the road ahead. The city blurred past his window, neon and shadows smearing into one long ribbon of unrest.Lidia.The name burned in his head.Gennado’s blood.And him,Son of

Bruno stilled.Her next words were calm.Deadly.“You end this war with Lorenzo…”Her gaze sharpened.“Or I tell him the truth.”The air between them froze.“…that his son is the man trying to kill him.”Gennado inhaled sharply.Bruno didn’t move.For a few seconds, the restaurant noise seemed to fade completely.When Bruno finally spoke, his voice carried pure ice.“You’re threatening me.”Vivian didn’t deny it.“I’m saving you.”Bruno’s chair scraped loudly as he stood.His eyes burned with something darker than anger.“If I call off the war,” he said quietly, “every man in this city will think I’m weak.”Vivian said nothing.Bruno’s voice grew harsher.“And Lorenzo?”A bitter smile appeared on his lips.“He gets to keep his crown.”He leaned down slightly toward her.“That crown belongs to the man who built this empire.”His eyes flicked briefly to Gennado.“Not the coward who tried to murder his own child.”Vivian’s face tightened.Bruno straightened.“This conversation is over.”