Chapter 254 THIS FAMILY.

Chapter 254 THIS FAMILY.
\~~~ALESSIA.

"Can I have a moment with him?"

The words left my mouth before I could stop myself.

The room fell silent immediately.

We had just finished discussing Shane's fate, and everyone had already started getting up from their seats.

Romano paused, Viktor looked toward me and even Raina blinked in surprise.

For a brief second, nobody said anything.

Then my eyes found Luciano.

He was sitting beside Raina, one arm draped over the back of her chair as though he had no intention of letting her leave his side for the rest of the day.

Honestly, he probably didn't.

Raina noticed me looking and offered me a small smile.

I smiled back before turning my attention to Luciano again.

"Please."

He studied me quietly and then finally nodded.

"Five minutes."

Viktor immediately moved toward the door.

"I will take her."

I followed him without another word.

The walk to the holding room was quiet and my stomach twisted the closer we got there.

Not because I was afraid, at least, not anymore, but because I suddenly realized this would probably be the last time I ever saw Shane.

The last conversation and the last chance to say everything that had remained unsaid.

Viktor opened the door.

"I will be outside."

I nodded, stepped inside and the door shut behind me.

And suddenly, it was just the two of us.

Shane looked up immediately and for a second, genuine surprise crossed his face. “

Then something softer followed. Hope.

"You came."

I hated that those two words still managed to make something inside me ache.

Not because I loved him. I never did.

"You look terrible," I said honestly.

A humorless laugh escaped him.

"I have been told that already."

Neither of us smiled as the silence stretched.

Then I pulled out a chair and sat across from him.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

I simply looked at him and gone was the confidence, the ambition and the arrogance.

The man sitting before me looked exhausted, defeated, broken, and strangely enough, I felt nothing.

No satisfaction, or hatred.

Nothing.

Eventually, Shane broke the silence.

"You came to tell me how much you hate me?"

"No."

His brows furrowed.

"Then why are you here?"

I folded my hands together.

"Because I wanted to understand something."

He looked confused.

"What?"

I held his gaze.

"You hated Luciano."

His jaw tightened instantly.

"You know why."

"No."

The answer came immediately.

His expression darkened. "Of course you would say that."

I shook my head.

"No, Shane."

I leaned forward slightly.

"I know what you told yourself."

"You spent years convincing yourself Luciano stole everything from you."

"He did."

"No."

His eyes flashed. "No?"

"No."

I held his gaze steadily.

"You spent so long staring at the throne that you forgot to look at the man sitting on it."

That made him go quiet.

Because somewhere deep down, he knew there was truth in that.

"You don't know Luciano."

A bitter laugh escaped him.

"And you do?"

"Yes."

The answer shocked him and I could see it.

Good because I was tired of people pretending they understood my brother.

"You spent years obsessing over him."

I shook my head.

"I spent years living with him."

His jaw clenched.

"You have no idea what he took from me."

"And you have no idea who he is."

The room grew quiet again and for a second, neither of us spoke.

Then I sighed softly.

"You know what the saddest part is?"

He didn't answer.

"You and Luciano are actually very different."

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "Really?"

"Yes."

I sat back in my chair.

"Because despite everything Luciano has done..."

My lips curved slightly.

"He loves very fiercely."

Shane looked away but I continued anyway.

"Do you know what he did after Gabriel died?"

There was silence.

"He spent the entire ride home worrying about Raina."

A small smile tugged at my lips.

"He practically carried her everywhere."

That made Shane look back at me.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to understand something."

I swallowed.

"The man you spent years hating isn't the man you think he is."

I thought about yesterday, about the way Luciano had looked at Raina, about how he couldn't go an hour without checking on her and about how he had spent years treating me exactly the same way.

Protective, annoying, overbearing, and loving. Always loving.

And suddenly I laughed softly.

Shane frowned.

"What?"

"Do you know Luciano still checks my security reports?"

His confusion deepened.

"What?"

"He does."

I rolled my eyes.

"Every week."

That actually earned a faint look of disbelief.

"He doesn't trust anybody."

"He trusts Viktor,” he hissed.

"That's because Viktor is Viktor."

Despite everything, I smiled.

And for the first time, Shane looked genuinely lost.

Because none of this matched the image he had built inside his head.

My smile slowly disappeared. "Do you know who killed Luca?"

The question hit him like a slap.

His entire body stiffened.

"What?"

I held his gaze.

"Do you know who killed him?"

His face hardened immediately.

"Luciano."

"No."

The answer came softly.

"No?”

I nodded slowly. "No."

For several seconds, he simply stared and then he laughed.

"Stop."

"I killed him."

The room fell silent and his face drained of color instantly.

"What?"

"I killed him."

The words felt heavy.

Even now, years later.

They still did.

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"You are."

His voice cracked.

"You're lying."

I shook my head.

Then finally said the thing I had carried for years.

"Luciano took the blame."

I watched disbelief spread across his face.

Then confusion.

Then horror.

"He knew what would happen to me if people found out."

My throat tightened.

"He knew what this world would do to me."

Shane stared, unable to speak or move.

"He protected me."

The room remained painfully quiet.

"He took the blame for something he didn't do."

I swallowed.

"Because he loved me."

Something inside Shane seemed to crack.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

His voice sounded desperate now.

"He wouldn't..."

"Exactly."

I cut him off immediately.

"Exactly."

Tears burned my eyes.

Not from sadness but from years of frustration.

"You spent years calling him a monster."

I shook my head.

"Do you know what monsters do?"

My voice hardened.

"They don't destroy their reputation to save their little sister."

The room went silent again.

"He never treated me like a half-sister."

I wiped quickly beneath my eye.

"Never."

My chest tightened.

"I had no claim, inheritance or seat in the empire."

I laughed softly.

"And somehow I was still his family."

Shane lowered his head.

I continued.

"You worshipped Luca."

That made him flinch.

"You built your entire life around avenging him."

My voice grew colder.

"But Luca wasn't a hero."

His head snapped up immediately.

"He was my father."

"And he was mine too."

The words came out sharper than I intended.

The room fell silent. "He failed me."

I swallowed.

"He failed Luciano."

"He failed all of us."

My hands curled into fists.

"You know who spent years cleaning up the mess he left behind?"

I didn't wait for an answer.

"Luciano, my brother.”

Every single time, every disaster, every mistake and every consequence was cleaned up by my brother.

Luciano.

And somehow Shane had hated him for it.

For carrying burdens that weren't even his.

I suddenly stood and the chair scraped softly against the floor.

Shane looked up immediately.

"For years I thought you would love me if you eventually meet me."

“You don’t get to say that when the first thing you did when you met me was harm me. You don’t even like the Moretti name that much to begin with.”

I breathed out

"I think you loved what it represented."

"A connection to this family."

His eyes lowered.

"A place closer to the throne."

Still, he sat in silence.

"You looked at Luciano and saw a thief."

I felt my throat tighten.

"I looked at him and saw a brother."

My eyes burned. "And that is why one of us ended up loved."

The words hung heavily between us.

"And the other ended up alone."

For the first time since entering the room… Shane looked truly broken.

I took a deep breath.

Then moved toward the door.

"Alessia."

I stopped.

His voice sounded small.

"What?"

A long silence followed and he said, "I wish things had been different."

I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head.

“I never did. I didn’t have a good impression of you from the start.”

Slowly, I opened the door.

Then I looked back one final time.

"The difference between you and Luciano..."

His eyes met mine.

"...is that when Luciano was given a family, he chose to keep it."

Silence.

"And when you were given one..."

My throat tightened slightly.

"You chose a throne."

His face fell and I held his gaze for one final second then smiled softly.

"Goodbye, Shane."