Chapter 139 Coronation.
Third Person POV
The ceremony was beautiful.
Candlelight flickered across hundreds of faces. The Five Families sat in their designated sections, watching with interest as Gavin Cross bound himself to Sophia Moretti.
The hall was silent except for the officiant’s voice droning on about unity and alliance and blood.
No one noticed the figure moving through the shadows at the back of the hall.
The person moved with purpose, walking between the pillars that lined the outer edges of the space. Heading toward the raised platform where Zeus sat in his throne-like chair.
The old man wasn’t watching the ceremony. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing labored. The cancer was winning. Everyone could see it.
The figure approached and stopped just behind Zeus’s chair. He leaned down to talk to him.
“Zeus,” the voice whispered.
The old man’s eyes opened. It was sharp despite the pain ravaging his body.
“Give her back to me.” The person said calmly. “The wedding is done and you have gotten what you wanted. Don’t give her to Stephan.”
Zeus turned his head slightly. Not enough to see the speaker’s face. Just enough to acknowledge their presence.
“So you finally chose to return as well,” he said quietly.
The ceremony continued at the altar. No one was paying attention to the dying man in his chair.
“Why do all of you want her?” Zeus continued. “If I wasn’t already dead, I would have kept her for myself. A pussy that good would have been nice.”
The figure behind him tensed but said nothing.
“For your request…no.” Zeus’s voice hardened despite its weakness. “She’s been promised to Stephan. He’ll watch her better. You are much too soft.”
“Please…”
“If Gavin should get his hands on her, we are all dead the same minute. I can’t risk that.” Zeus waved a dismissive hand. “Now let me enjoy my son’s wedding in peace.”
The figure straightened. Stood there for a moment longer. Then disappeared back into the shadows.
Zeus returned his attention to the altar. To his son standing beside Sophia.
Soon, this would all be over.
Soon, the empire would have its king and he could rest peacefully. At the altar, the officiant turned to Sophia.
“Sophia Moretti,” he intoned. “Do you take Gavin Cross as your husband? To honor and protect? To bind your families in alliance and blood?”
Sophia’s smile was radiant. She looked at Gavin with eyes that said she’d won. Finally won after twenty years of waiting.
“Well,” she said, her voice was loud throughout the hall. “It’s about time.”
Then, she faced the crowd saying louder: “I do.”
The hall erupted in applause.The officiant raised his hands for silence
“By the power vested in me by the Five Families, I now pronounce you…”
“Wait.”
Zeus’s voice was weak but commanding. Everyone turned. He stood up slowly and gestured to someone who had been standing quietly by his side.
A servant appeared carrying a mantle. Deep crimson. Embroidered with gold thread in patterns that represented each of the Five Families.
The mantle of leadership.
The symbol of Zeus’s authority.
The hall went absolutely silent. Zeus took the mantle with trembling hands. Walked toward the altar with steps that cost him visible pain.
But he made it and stood before Gavin.
“You have returned to your family,” Zeus said. Loud enough now for everyone to hear. “You have accepted your destiny. You have bound yourself to the alliance.”
He lifted the mantle.
“Kneel.”
Gavin’s jaw clenched. But he lowered himself to one knee.
Zeus placed the mantle across his shoulders. The weight of it settled like a crown.
“Rise,” Zeus commanded. “Rise, Lord of the Five Families. My heir. My son.”
Gavin stood slowly. The mantle hung from his shoulders, marking him.
Claiming him.
Making him what he’d always been meant to be.
Zeus stepped back. Then, with visible effort, he lowered himself to one knee.
The hall gasped. Lord Zeus. Bowing to someone.
It had never happened. Not in forty years of rule.
“All hail Gavin Cross,” Zeus said. “Lord of the Five Families. King of this empire.”
And one by one, every person in that hall went to their knees.
Giovanni Moretti. Dmitri Volkov. Chen Wei. Rashid Al-Hashim.
The heads of the Five Families.
All kneeling.
All bowing.
To Gavin.
Sophia stood beside him, her expression ecstatic. This was everything she’d wanted. Power. Position. A husband who commanded empires.
Gavin stood perfectly still. Looking out over the sea of bowed heads.
His face was expressionless. But his eyes…his eyes burned.
He turned slowly. Taking in the entire hall. Every person on their knees. Every head bowed.
The room held its breath.
“My first law,” Gavin said.
His voice was cold and absolute. The voice of someone who had just been given ultimate authority and knew exactly how to wield it.
“If anyone should lay a hand on Melissa Hayes, they will die.”
Zeus’s head snapped up. His eyes widened.
Gavin continued, his voice echoed around every corner of the hall.
“If anyone should think about harming her, I will take them off the face of this earth. If she is touched, threatened, or used as a pawn…” his eyes found Stephan in the crowd “…I will destroy you. Slowly. Painfully and completely.”
He looked at Zeus. Held the old man’s gaze.
“I’ve done what you asked. I came home. I married Sophia. I accepted the mantle. I am the Lord of the Five Families.” His voice dropped, became even more dangerous. “Don’t cross me.”
The silence in the hall was deafening.
No one moved. No one breathed. Zeus stared at his heir. At the son he’d raised and lost and finally reclaimed.
And slowly…very slowly…he smiled.
“So there is still fire in you after all,” Zeus said quietly. “Good. A king without teeth is no king at all.”
He gestured to the crowd. “You heard your lord. Melissa Hayes is under his protection. Anyone who touches her answers to him.”
Zeus’s smile widened. “And trust me when I say…you don’t want to answer to Gavin Cross.”
The old man turned and walked back to his throne. Each step labored. Each breath a struggle.
But he was smiling.
Because he’d won.
He’d brought Gavin home. Made him king. Bound him to the family.
And if Gavin wanted to protect the girl?
Well. That just meant he cared about something.
And people who cared about things could be controlled.
Zeus lowered himself into his chair. Waved a hand.
“Continue the celebration,” he commanded. “We have a new king. And a new queen.”
He looked at Sophia. “Congratulations, my dear. You finally got what you wanted.”
Sophia’s expression was complicated. She’d won Gavin. But the first thing he’d done as king was declare Melissa untouchable.
Protected by his authority.
Safe from Stephan. Safe from Zeus. Safe from everyone.
Including her.
The celebration began. People approached the altar to congratulate the new king and his bride.
But Gavin wasn’t looking at any of them.
He was looking at the screen on the wall.
The one that showed Melissa’s room.
Empty now. The chair she’d been strapped to was vacant.
Where was she?
Zeus followed his gaze.
“She’s being moved to better quarters,” the old man said. “As befitting someone under the king’s protection.”
“Where?” Gavin demanded.
“The north wing. ” Zeus’s smile turned sharp. “She’s safe, my son. You made sure of that with your little declaration