Chapter 10 - The Ultimate CrownBefore Julian could react, Adrian didn't wait for his men.
Pushing through the agonizing pain in his legs, Adrian threw his full weight forward, lunging across the foyer with reckless abandon. He slammed directly into Julian, tackling the traitor hard against the marble floor.
Julian’s cane clattered across the tiles, the silver wolf head snapping off upon impact.
"This is for Gabriel Romano," Adrian snarled, pressing his boot firmly onto Julian’s throat while keeping his rifle trained on the remaining mercenaries, who immediately dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.
Marco and his men swarmed the foyer, disarming the intruders and dragging them away into the darkness of the lower holding cells.
Silence descended upon the mansion once more, broken only by the heavy, ragged breathing of Adrian as he stood over the defeated Julian.
Slowly, Adrian looked up from the floor, his eyes meeting mine across the grand foyer.
He didn't use his wheelchair to get back up. He pushed himself off the floor, gritting his teeth against the pain, and walked—one steady, agonizing, triumphant step at a time—toward the grand staircase.
I didn't wait for him to reach the top. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could, throwing myself into his arms.
Adrian caught me, burying his face in my neck as we both collapsed gently onto the carpeted steps, laughing and crying all at once.
"You walked," I whispered, touching his cheek in disbelief.
"For you," Adrian murmured, pressing his lips passionately to mine. "For our son. For our family."
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Upstairs, the nursery door clicked open, and the faint, sweet sound of our baby crying out for his parents drifted down the hall.
We weren't just survivors anymore. We were rulers of a new empire, built not on blood and betrayal, but on an unbreakable love that had survived the darkest corners of the underworld.
