All Chapters of The Don's Forbidden Claim: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

"What would you sacrifice to save your baby?"The question hung in the air like smoke, suffocating and thick. I stood frozen in Seraphina's study, the warmth of the fire doing nothing to chase away the chill that had settled into my bones. Dante's hand was still wrapped around mine, his grip hard enough to bruise, but I barely felt it. All I could hear was the prophecy. All I could see was the ancient woman with the cold, knowing eyes."Nothing." The word left my lips before I could think, before I could calculate, before I could do anything but react. "I won't sacrifice anything. Because the prophecy is a lie. Just like everything else you've ever told anyone."Seraphina's smile didn't waver. "You think I'm lying? You think a hundred years of planning was built on lies?""I think you're a puppet master who's been pulling strings for so long that you don't know how to do anything else." I stepped forward, releasing Dante's hand, my voice steady despite the fear clawing at my chest. "Y

"You're telling me your dead grandmother is alive, and she wants to steal our baby?"Dante's voice was deadly calm, but I could see the storm behind his eyes. We were still standing in Seraphina's abandoned study, the crushed camera under my heel, Sarah's gun still on the floor, and the weight of a century of secrets pressing down on us."That's exactly what I'm telling you." Sarah sank into a chair, her hands trembling. "Ophelia Moretti faked her death in childbirth. She's been hiding in the shadows ever since, building the Order, manipulating every family, every Don, every war. She's the one who told Celeste to create the duplicate. She's the one who ordered Matteo's death. She's the one who's been waiting for you two to fall in love so she could claim your child."Dante turned away, his fists clenching at his sides. I could see the war in his shoulders, the rage and grief and disbelief crashing together. His grandmother. The woman whose death had shaped his father, his family, his

"You're supposed to be dead."Lila turned, her smile sharp as a blade. "Death is just another door, Essa. And I've always been good at finding my way back."The side door clicked shut behind her, and I stood frozen in the middle of the victory celebration, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. Dante was at my side in an instant, his hand on his weapon, his body between me and the woman I'd mourned."How?" The word came out broken. "I held you. I felt your pulse fade. You died in my arms.""I died in the arms of the woman I was programmed to become. But the real Lila was never there." She stepped closer, and I saw it now. The differences. The way she held herself. The cold calculation in her eyes. "The Lila you knew was a construct. A persona created by the Order to get close to you. The real me has been waiting for this moment since before you were born.""You're Order." Dante's voice was ice. "You've been Order this whole time.""I'm more than Order. I'm the heir to

"Say that again. Slowly."Dante's voice was hoarse, barely a whisper, but the command in it was unmistakable. He was propped against the headboard, pale and weak, but his eyes burned with the same fierce intensity they'd always held. I sat beside him on the bed, my hand still pressed against my stomach, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat."The Serpent's soul," he repeated, each word careful and deliberate. "Lila said the Order has been trying to resurrect it for centuries. The original founder. The one who created everything. His soul was too powerful to die, so they preserved it. Waiting for a vessel strong enough to contain it."I stared at him, my mind reeling. "And they think our child is that vessel?""They don't think. They know. The prophecy wasn't about uniting families. It was about creating a body for the Serpent to inhabit. A child born of three bloodlines. A child strong enough to carry the soul of a monster." He paused, his jaw tightening. "Lila told m

"Something's wrong. I can feel it."Dante's hand froze on my stomach, his gray eyes searching mine. We were still standing in the ruins of St. Michael's, the morning sun casting long shadows across the ancient stones. Sarah was gone. The Serpent's soul was destroyed. But the flutter in my womb wasn't just the baby. It was something else. Something that hadn't been there before."What do you mean?" His voice was sharp, edged with fear."I don't know. It's like... there's someone else in there with me. Someone who wasn't invited." I pressed my hand against my belly, feeling the faint pulse that didn't match my heartbeat. "Dante, what if the ritual didn't fail? What if it just changed targets?"He pulled me against him, his arms wrapping around me like a cage. "We're going to the compound. Now. We'll have the doctors run every test. We'll figure this out."The drive back to the city was a blur of fear and grief. Sarah's sacrifice played on a loop in my mind. Her last words. Her final kis