Lorenzo didn't wait for dawn.
The moment he hung up the phone, rage surged through his veins like wildfire. His knuckles were already bloodied from the glass he had shattered. He didn't feel the pain — only the betrayal. His father had crossed a line that could never be redrawn.
"You wanted a war, Father?" he muttered, loading his gun. "Then you'll get one."
His men watched in silence as he stormed through the mansion. The air felt thick with tension, and even the walls seemed to flinch at his fury. The guards tried to stop him at his father's door, but one glare from Lorenzo sent them backing away.
The old man stood by the fireplace, calm as ever, pouring himself a drink.
"I heard you've been busy chasing your little enemy's daughter," his father said coldly. "You've become weak, Lorenzo. I raised a wolf, not a lover."
Lorenzo's hand tightened around the gun. "And I raised myself after you destroyed everything I loved. You killed my mother for power — now you're trying to kill her too?"
His father chuckled darkly. "She's your enemy, son. You think she won't stab you in the back the first chance she gets? The girl is her father's weapon."
"She's nothing like her father," Lorenzo snapped. His voice cracked under the weight of truth. "And you… you're the only monster left in my life."
The glass in his father's hand shattered. "Careful, boy. Don't forget who made you."
Lorenzo raised his gun. "That's exactly what I'm trying to forget."
The silence broke with a single gunshot — but it wasn't aimed to kill. The bullet tore through his father's sleeve, grazing his arm, leaving smoke and fear in the air.
"I'm not you," Lorenzo said through clenched teeth. "I don't destroy what I love."
He turned and left, leaving his father frozen in disbelief.
Meanwhile, at her mansion, Alessia was pacing the floor of her room. Her clothes were still damp from the rain, her hands shaking as she replayed everything — her uncle's betrayal, the gunshots, the escape.
Her father wanted to send men after Lorenzo, but she stopped him.
"Please, papa. If not for me, then for the truth. Let me handle this."
Her voice was calm, but her eyes burned with quiet determination.
When her father finally left the room, she pulled out the coded message again and traced her fingers over the seal. Enemies in disguise, she whispered. Her uncle had turned their bloodline into a game of death.
She looked toward the window — her heart already knowing what her mind feared to admit.
"He's out there," she murmured softly. "Fighting his own blood just to keep me safe."
A tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and straightened her back.
If Lorenzo was willing to burn for her, then she would bleed for him if she had to.