Chapter 10 - The Secret in the Garden
Three months later, the Duca estate was quiet once more, but it was a different kind of quiet—warm, alive, and breathing.
The charred remains of the west wing had been torn down, replaced by a sprawling glass conservatory filled with orchids and jasmine—Isabella’s favorite flowers. The city had returned to its delicate balance, and the name Duca was once again spoken with a mixture of absolute fear and unbreakable reverence.
On a warm autumn afternoon, Lorenzo walked hand-in-hand with a three-year-old girl down the garden path near the old iron fence.
Emma wore a brand-new cardigan—no holes at the elbow—and carried a small wooden basket filled with fallen leaves.
"Sir?" Emma asked, looking up at him with those sharp, observant dark eyes.
"Yes, Emma?" Lorenzo smiled, a rare, genuine warmth softening the hard lines of his face.
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"Do you think monsters ever come back after you chase them away?"
Lorenzo stopped, looking past the iron fence toward the horizon where the city skyline met the golden rays of the setting sun. He tightened his grip on her small hand, thinking of the empty graves, the shattered syndicates, and the miraculous miracle that had brought his family back from the dead.
