☆Chapter 6 – The Wrath of De Luca☆

The De Luca mansion was quieter than usual.

Serafina lay in her bed, her body weak but slowly recovering.

A week had passed since she had woken up, her strength returning in increments. Her skin was still pale, her movements slower, but her mind…

Sharp.

Even now, as she sat propped against the headboard with a book in her lap, her senses were on high alert.

Lorenzo isn't here.

She hadn't seen him since that night.

Since he came back drenched in blood.

Serafina didn't ask where he had been.

She already knew.

But now…

Silence.

Lorenzo was gone.

And the De Luca estate had grown colder in his absence.

☆☆☆

"Serafina."

The deep, gravelly voice pulled her from her thoughts.

Her grandfather, Vincenzo De Luca, stood by the doorway, his imposing figure casting a long shadow across the room.

He was a man whose presence alone commanded respect—broad shoulders, graying hair slicked back, and a gaze that had seen far too much blood in his lifetime.

But when he looked at Serafina…

There was only warmth.

"Sir," she greeted softly, her tone formal despite the familiarity between them.

Vincenzo's jaw clenched, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face.

"How many times must I tell you?" His voice was gentle but firm. "I'm not sir. I'm your grandfather."

Serafina's lips curled into a faint smile, but the distance in her eyes remained.

"I know."

But she still didn't drop the formality.

Vincenzo sighed, crossing the room and sitting down beside her.

"Lorenzo asked me to stay with you," he said, his tone softer now. "Until you're fully recovered."

Serafina tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable.

Lorenzo.

"Where is he?"

The question hung in the air, heavy with unspoken tension.

Vincenzo's jaw tightened.

"He's… handling things."

Serafina didn't need to ask what that meant.

☆☆☆

Rosetti Manor.

Once a symbol of power and wealth.

Now?

A tomb.

Lorenzo stood in the heart of the Rosetti estate, his black suit pristine despite the carnage surrounding him.

Blood soaked the marble floors, bodies scattered like discarded trash.

The smell of death clung to the air, suffocating and thick.

But Lorenzo…

Unmoved.

His expression was as cold as ever, his eyes devoid of emotion as he watched his men drag the remaining members of the Rosetti family into the grand hall.

The survivors—if they could even be called that—were kneeling before him, trembling.

Begging.

"Please, Mr. De Luca… we didn't know…"

"We had no part in this!"

Lorenzo's gaze didn't waver.

Lies.

The Rosetti family had made their move.

They tried to kill him.

And they almost killed her.

Lorenzo's jaw clenched, his mind flashing back to Serafina's pale face, her fragile body lying motionless in his arms.

The memory ignited something dark within him.

They would pay.

Every.

Single.

One.

"Burn it."

His voice was low.

Deadly.

"Sir?" One of his men hesitated.

"Burn it to the ground."

Lorenzo's tone left no room for argument.

Within minutes, flames consumed the Rosetti estate.

But Lorenzo wasn't done.

The head of the Rosetti family, Victor Rosetti, was dragged before him, bloodied and beaten.

A proud man once.

Now reduced to a sniveling, broken mess.

"You thought," Lorenzo's voice was quiet, almost conversational, "that you could touch what's mine…"

Alessandro coughed, blood splattering from his lips as he tried to speak.

"L-Lorenzo… it was a mistake… p-please…"

Lorenzo crouched down, his eyes cold and unfeeling.

"A mistake?"

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"You poisoned her."

Victor's eyes widened with panic.

"I—I didn't… I swear, it wasn't me—"

Lorenzo's lips curled into a cruel smirk.

"But it was your name on the order."

Victor's face paled.

"I… I can fix this… please…"

Lorenzo's expression didn't change.

There was no fixing this.

"I want you," Lorenzo murmured, his tone deadly calm, "to watch."

Victor's breath hitched.

"Watch as everything you built…"

Lorenzo gestured to the burning estate behind him, flames consuming generations of Rosetti wealth and power.

"Turns to ash."

And then—

He slit his throat.

☆☆☆

By the time the night was over, the Rosetti name was nothing more than a whisper of the past.

Their empire?

Gone.

Their legacy?

Erased.

Lorenzo stood at the edge of the burning estate, the heat of the flames licking at his skin.

But he didn't feel it.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

On her.

Serafina.

He had done this for her.

To protect her.

To ensure that no one would ever dare lay a hand on her again.

And yet…

His heart was still heavy.

Because no matter how much blood he spilled…

It wouldn't erase the image of her lying on the floor, pale and lifeless.

☆☆☆

Back at the De Luca mansion, Serafina was growing restless.

Her body was healing, but her mind was sharper than ever.

She was aware of the movements around her.

The shift in power.

The fear that now lingered in the air.

Lorenzo did it.

He didn't just retaliate.

He annihilated.

The Rosetti family was no more.

And the whispers that reached her ears told her enough.

"Lorenzo De Luca…"

"He killed them all."

"Burned their estate with the family still inside."

"Even Victor Rosetti…"

"Gone."

Serafina's eyes remained fixed on the chessboard in front of her, her grandfather sitting across from her.

"Your father did what he had to do," Vincenzo said quietly, watching her carefully.

Serafina's fingers hovered over her queen piece, her expression unreadable.

"I know."

Her tone was calm.

But inside…

She felt it.

The weight of it all.

Lorenzo had destroyed an entire family.

For her.

What have I done?

☆☆☆

Lorenzo returned that night.

Serafina heard him before she saw him.

The heavy footsteps.

The slight creak of the door as it opened.

And when she looked up…

There he was.

His suit was immaculate again, the blood gone.

But his eyes…

Darker.

Colder.

Serafina's throat tightened.

Lorenzo didn't speak.

He didn't need to.

He simply walked to her side, his movements precise and controlled.

Without a word, he knelt beside her bed.

His hand brushed lightly against her wrist, checking her pulse.

Steady.

His touch lingered a second too long.

But still…

Silence.

Serafina didn't speak either.

They didn't need words.

The blood on his hands spoke loud enough.

Lorenzo had burned down an empire for her.

And in that moment, as their eyes met in the quiet of her room…

Serafina knew.