Chapter 19 - The Last DucaLorenzo had spent years believing the war was over.

It wasn't.

It had simply changed shape.

The final confrontation would not happen in a basement.

Not in a chapel.

Not behind a locked door.

It would happen in the place where his father had built the first foundation of the Circle.

The old Duca estate.

Lorenzo arrived with Mara, Vivien, Daniel, and Elena.

His mother remained at Ravenwood with Emma.

Before leaving, Emma hugged him.

"Come back."

"I will."

She looked into his eyes.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Then she whispered:

"Don't forget the door."

Lorenzo smiled.

"I won't."

Inside the estate, Samuel waited.

Lucia was beside him.

She looked exhausted.

"Let her go."

Samuel shook his head.

"You still don't understand."

"I understand perfectly."

Lorenzo stepped forward.

"You want the empire."

"I want what your family stole."

"What did we steal?"

Samuel laughed.

"The truth."

He opened a hidden door.

Inside was a room filled with files.

Hundreds.

Maybe thousands.

Every name connected to the Circle.

Every politician.

Every judge.

Every businessman.

Every murder.

Every bribe.

Samuel pointed toward the shelves.

"Your father kept everything."

"Why?"

"Because he intended to destroy everyone."

"And you stopped him."

"I protected the system."

Lorenzo looked at Lucia.

"What does she have to do with it?"

Samuel smiled.

"Everything."

Lucia stepped forward.

"My father wasn't Daniel."

Lorenzo stared.

"What?"

Lucia looked at him.

"Our father was Samuel."

Silence.

Lorenzo couldn't breathe.

Samuel smiled.

"Your mother and I were together before she met your father."

Lorenzo's world shifted.

Lucia continued.

"Your father knew."

"He raised you anyway."

She nodded.

"He loved me."

Lorenzo looked at Samuel.

"You destroyed your own daughter."

Samuel's face hardened.

"She was never supposed to survive."

Lucia stepped backward.

"You see?"

She looked at Lorenzo.

"That's why I ran."

Lorenzo moved between them.

"You don't get to decide who lives anymore."

Samuel reached for his weapon.

Mara fired first.

The gun fell from his hand.

Security rushed into the room.

Samuel was arrested.

But before they took him away, he looked at Lorenzo.

"You think you've won?"

Lorenzo stared at him.

"I have."

Samuel smiled.

"No."

He nodded toward the shelves.

"Look at the final file."

Lorenzo opened it.

The final page contained one name.

His own.

Underneath it was a date.

Tomorrow.

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And a handwritten sentence.

THE LAST DUCA MUST DIE.