BLOOD AND VOWS
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
INTO THE VAULT
“Some places aren’t built to hold gold or secrets. They’re built to bury sins.”
The vault was never just a vault. It was never merely a structure of stone, steel, and false silence beneath the council’s northern grounds. It had always been something older than its blueprints, older than the money it held and older than the men who built their power around its contents. Alessio had seen the schematics once, years ago, when his father showed him a faded map in a quiet room and said, “There’s more than money buried down there. There’s memory. And memory doesn’t forgive.” Now, as he stood outside the ancient security gate with Emilia on one side and Tomaso