Chapter 144: Chapter 144

The moment Luca Morano’s body began to distort, an electric shiver cracked through the night like lightning striking bone.

Romeo froze, Daisy clasped a hand over her mouth, stumbling backward as the air around them warped—heavy, charged, almost metallic, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.

Luca... wasn’t Luca anymore.

His spine arched, each vertebra pushing against his skin like something inside wanted to tear its way out. His eyes—his eyes glowed a violent, unnatural silver that drowned out every trace of warmth.

It wasn’t rage alone,It was heartbreak,It was betrayal.

It was the unbearable terror of losing Alessia.

And now, all of it had carved itself into something monstrous.

Romeo’s voice trembled.

"Luca... hey—brother listen to me. You need to breathe. You need to....."

The sound that tore out of Luca’s throat was no human sound. Not a cry, not a scream.

A growl, a guttural, brutal vibration that shook the river and made the trees bow as if frightened.

"So it’s true," he murmured, stepping forward, hands clasped behind his back like some smug prophet watching the world burn. "The beast inside you is real."

Lorenzo tilted his head, studying Luca as though he were nothing more than a fascinating experiment.

"How poetic," Lorenzo mused. "Love brought out the monster."

Romeo moved faster, shoving Lorenzo back with a force that surprised even himself.

"Shut your fucking mouth before I rip it off."

But Lorenzo didn’t back away, Enzo didn’t blink. They stood unbothered, as if Luca’s transformation thrilled them.

Daisy, clutching her necklace to steady her shaking fingers, whispered,

"Romeo... he’s not stopping. He’s really..."

"I know." Romeo’s jaw flexed.

He looked at Luca again.

The river behind him churned, waves rolling and breaking unnaturally, as if responding to his rage.

His breath came in harsh, uneven bursts. His hands once steady, deadly, controlled—now trembled violently, fingers curling like claws. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⟡fire.net

"Luca," Romeo said, stepping closer, his voice cracking.

"You have to hear me.

Alessia isn’t gone.....She’s here. We’re going to find her. But I need you, Not this—this thing."

A deep, rumbling sound answered him, Luca’s chest expanding with each monstrous inhale.

Helena stepped forward then, her cloak fluttering behind her like a shadow torn loose from the night.

"He can’t hear you," she said calmly.

Romeo’s eyes snapped to her.

"And whose fault is that?"

Helena didn’t flinch.

"He was always destined to lose control. Losing Alessia merely accelerated what was already inevitable."

Romeo lunged toward her, but Enzo grabbed him by the arm.

"Don’t waste your strength," Enzo said coldly.

"Tonight isn’t about him. It’s about her."

Daisy looked up sharply.

"The river didn’t take her. It hid her."

Romeo’s blood ran cold.

"What the hell does that mean?"

Helena glanced at Luca—still shaking, still changing, still on the edge of falling into something he couldn’t return from.

"It means she was chosen."

Daisy rubbed her arms, trying to fight off the sudden cold crawling over her skin.

"Chosen... for what?"

Helena’s stare settled on the river, her voice low and reverent.

"You’re speaking in riddles, witch. Look at him—Luca is about to kill everyone standing here."

"Which is why you must not provoke him," Helena replied sharply.

"He is the only one who can reach her. But only if the monster does not fully consume him."

Lorenzo chuckled darkly.

Helena’s lips twitched in something like amusement.

A scream split the night.

Not Alessia’s,Not Daisy’s.

The kind of scream that wasn’t meant for living things.

The kind of scream that cracked open the sky.

Romeo instinctively shielded Daisy as wind exploded outward from Luca’s body like a blast wave. Water surged up from the river, spiraling into the air before crashing down again.

Lorenzo staggered enzo staggered stepping back.

Only Helena remained still, watching Luca with something disturbingly close to awe.

"Magnificent," she whispered.

"He’s stronger than the last one."

Romeo’s head snapped toward her so fast it almost hurt.

But Helena didn’t answer.

She was staring at Luca—who had finally, violently, stopped shaking.

Silence fell, a terrible silence.

The kind that makes the soul step back.

Luca straightened slowly.

His skin pulsed with veins darker than shadow. His chest rose and fell with deep, animalistic breaths. His jaw clenched, teeth no longer fully human.

But his eyes—his eyes were the worst.

Silver,cold and unblinking.

Romeo pulled Daisy behind him.

"Luca,please stop sir ...Alessia wouldn’t want this. You don’t want this."

Luca blinked once. The world held still.

And then... He vanished.

A blur, faster than sight,faster than instinct.

Romeo barely had time to register movement before Luca was standing beside Enzo, fingers wrapped around his throat like steel.

Enzo choked, feet leaving the ground as Luca lifted him effortlessly.

Lorenzo reached for his gun—

Lorenzo’s body flew across the riverside, slamming into a tree with a sickening crack.

Romeo swore, running toward Lorenzo—but Luca moved again, slamming Enzo into the ground with such force the earth itself split, cracks spreading like lightning beneath them.

Romeo grabbed Luca’s arm.

The look in his eyes wasn’t human.

For the first time in his life, he truly feared the mafia boss Don Luca Morano.

Not feared of losing him but feared being killed by him.

"Luca..." Romeo whispered, voice trembling despite himself. "Alessia needs you. If you kill them, we’ll never find her."

Luca’s breathing hitched.

For a fraction of a second, a flicker—just a flicker—of humanity sparked in his monstrous gaze.

But then Helena spoke.

Her voice sliced through the wind.

His head snapped toward her.

"She is in the river. But she will not return unless you go to her."

"You can choose what you are, Luca. A monster... or a man worthy of the woman he loves."

He dropped Enzo, letting him collapse with a groan.

Then he turned toward the river.

Romeo exhaled shakily, guiding Daisy behind him as he approached slowly.

"Luca. Listen to me. If you go in as you are now—"

"He must," Helena interjected sharply.

"The river responds to power. Not weakness."

Daisy shook her head fiercely.

"No. No, he can’t. He’ll lose himself."

Helena looked at her with a strange softness.

Luca took a step into the river.

Steam rose around him. The surface rippled violently, as if resisting him... or calling to him.

"Luca. Don’t you dare..."

Luca turned his head slightly, eyes meeting Romeo’s.

For a moment—just a moment—his gaze softened.

A silent thank you, a silent goodbye.

Then he walked deeper.

The river rose around him, swallowing his legs, his waist, his chest.

Romeo grabbed Helena by the shoulder.

"If he dies in there....."

"He won’t die," she whispered.

"But he might not return as the man you knew."

"Why? Why is this happening?"

Helena’s eyes gleamed with a truth she had waited too long to unleash.

"Because Alessia is not just his love."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Helena lifted her chin.

Romeo shook his head.

Helena’s voice dropped to a whisper that made Daisy’s skin crawl.

"To awakening the Morano bloodline."

The ground shook again.

The river began to glow, cold and alive .

Romeo’s heart pounded.

But Luca was already disappearing into the light, swallowed by the river that had chosen him.

Daisy sobbed into her hands.

Lorenzo groaned weakly from the ground.

Enzo dragged himself upright, blood dripping from his lips as he stared in horrified fascination.

Helena stepped toward the river, cloak billowing around her like smoke.

Romeo grabbed her arm.

Helena smiled patiently.

The river exploded upward, a roaring tower of water spiraling into the sky, illuminated from within by blinding silver light.

Romeo shielded Daisy, Enzo’s jaw fell slack.

Lorenzo’s eyes widened.

And from inside the storm—

A sound emerged, A heartbeat.

Softer,familiar and fragile.

Romeo tried to run toward the river.But then...The light cracked.

Split and turned black.

A voice echoed through the night.

A voice that did not belong to any of them.

A voice ancient, commanding, hungry.

"THE CHOSEN MUST FALL."

Romeo froze and Daisy screamed.

Helena’s eyes widened not with triumph but with fear

The river went still...Deadly still.

Then—Something opened beneath the water.

Something vast,Something wrong.

"What the hell is that...?"

Helena whispered back,

"The one thing even I feared."The water convulsed.

A massive shadow surged upward.

Romeo stepped back, heart slamming against his ribs.

Daisy’s knees buckled, Enzo staggered and Lorenzo cursed under his breath.

And then—A hand burst from the water.

Not Lucas,Not Alessia’s.

Its skin was black,its fingers too long, its nails like blade.

It clawed onto the riverbank and pulled something enormous behind it.

"No... no... no..." But it was too late.

The creature rose, towering, dripping black water.

Eyes glowing the color of death.

It turned its head toward them and SMILED....