A seat still waiting

Morning settled beautifully across Villa De Luca.

Golden sunlight poured through the towering dining hall windows, illuminating the long marble table decorated with white roses and silver candle holders. Beyond the glass walls, Velmora Hills stretched endlessly beneath the soft Italian sky, peaceful and untouched.

Inside the estate, however—

Peace never lasted long.

“Adrian, stop stealing food before everyone sits down.”

“I’m tasting it for safety reasons.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“And nobody died.”

Rosalia laughed softly while fixing the sleeve of her cream-colored blouse, watching Adrian shamelessly steal another pastry from the center tray.

Across the table, Viviana leaned against Marcello’s shoulder dramatically.

“See? This is what happens when boys grow up without discipline.”

Marcello calmly sipped his espresso.

“Our son is perfectly behaved.”

“Adrian is not your son.”

“Still perfectly behaved.”

Rosalia nearly choked laughing while Adrian pointed proudly toward his uncle.

“Finally, somebody appreciates me in this family.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Celestina sighed while sitting beside Lorenzo.

The large dining hall slowly filled with familiar voices and movement as servants brought breakfast dishes across the table:

* warm pastries,

* fresh fruit,

* espresso,

* cheeses,

* homemade bread,

* and flowers picked directly from the estate gardens.

Despite the luxury surrounding them, breakfast inside Villa De Luca always felt strangely intimate.

Loud conversations overlapped.

Someone was always arguing.

Someone was always laughing.

And somehow—

Vittorio De Luca remained at the center of it all, quietly observing the chaos with unreadable calmness while Isabella sat beside him gracefully.

“Rosalia,” Isabella spoke suddenly, “your posture.”

Rosalia immediately straightened.

“Yes, Nonna.”

Adrian smirked.

“You’re twenty-three years old and still afraid of Grandma.”

“Because unlike you, I value my life.”

Viviana laughed openly at that while Marcello rested his arm casually behind her chair.

“You know,” Viviana sighed dramatically, “this family used to be elegant once.”

“We were never elegant,” Lorenzo replied calmly.

“That is true,” Isabella admitted.

Elio entered the dining hall moments later, adjusting the sleeves of his dark shirt while carrying his phone in one hand.

“You’re late,” Rosalia announced immediately.

“I was working.”

“Impossible,” Adrian muttered. “Nobody in this family works except brother Aless.”

A quieter silence briefly followed the name.

Not uncomfortable.

Just noticeable.

Even after all these years, Alessandro’s absence naturally shifted the atmosphere around the family.

Celestina quietly reached for her coffee.

“He barely slept again,” she murmured softly.

Lorenzo glanced toward her.

“He told you that?”

“He didn’t need to.”

Rosalia frowned slightly.

“Did he answer your calls at least?”

“No.”

“That man ignores everyone equally,” Adrian muttered while reaching for another pastry.

Vittorio finally spoke.

“And yet all of you continue discussing him every morning.”

“Because we miss him ,” Rosalia answered immediately.

A faint smile almost touched Vittorio’s expression.

Almost.

Outside the windows, soft wind moved through the gardens surrounding the estate while sunlight reflected beautifully against the marble floors.

For a moment, the atmosphere felt warm enough to forget the darker reality surrounding the De Luca family.

Until Lorenzo spoke quietly.

“Security around the western properties has been increased.”

The younger ones immediately understood the shift in tone.

Business.

Danger.

Reality.

Elio placed his coffee down carefully.

“The rumors are still spreading?”

“Yes.”

Rosalia folded her arms.

“People really believe brother Ale handled everything personally?”

Marcello leaned back calmly.

“Fear makes people create stories.”

Adrian smirked slightly.

“To be fair, it also sounds exactly like him.”

Celestina shot him a look instantly.

“Adrian.”

“What? I’m just saying.”

Lorenzo remained calm throughout the conversation, but Rosalia noticed the familiar heaviness in his expression.

Responsibility.

The same expression Alessandro carried now.

The realization made her quieter.

Marcello noticed it first.

“You’re thinking too much.”

Rosalia sighed softly.

“I just don’t understand how brother Ale does it.”

Nobody answered immediately.

Because the truth was complicated.

Power inside the De Luca family was never simply inherited.

It was carried.

Protected.

Survived.

Lorenzo finally leaned back slightly in his chair.

“When you grow up carrying responsibility for an empire, eventually it becomes difficult to separate work from life.”

Rosalia looked toward her father carefully.

“You understand him the most, don’t you?”

A softer silence followed.

Lorenzo’s eyes briefly shifted toward the empty chair near the end of the table.

The chair nobody intentionally left empty.

Yet somehow always remained untouched.

“Yes,” he admitted quietly.

Because years ago—

He had once become consumed by responsibility the same way Alessandro was now.

The only difference was:

Lorenzo eventually found balance.

Alessandro had not.

Viviana suddenly sighed dramatically.

“This family seriously needs happiness.”

Marcello looked offended.

“I make you happy.”

“You make me stressed.”

“That’s still emotional stimulation.”

Rosalia burst out laughing while Isabella shook her head fondly.

“I truly wonder how you two survived marriage.”

“Passion,” Marcello answered proudly.

“Delusion,” Viviana corrected.

Even Vittorio exhaled something suspiciously close to amusement.

Adrian leaned back lazily.

“At this point we should all just accept brother Aless is secretly married to Noctis Dominion.”

“Honestly?” Elio added calmly. “I think the company sees him more than we do.”

“That’s depressing,” Rosalia muttered.

Celestina remained quieter now.

Her fingers slowly traced the edge of her coffee cup while the family continued talking around her.

Lorenzo noticed immediately.

He always noticed.

“You’re worried again.”

Her eyes lifted toward him softly.

“He lives alone.”

“Celestina—”

“He barely comes home. He barely rests. Even when he visits, it feels like half his mind is somewhere else.”

Nobody interrupted her.

Because underneath the warmth and teasing, they all understood the truth.

Alessandro carried isolation around him like armor.

Rosalia lowered her gaze slightly.

“He used to smile more.”

That sentence quietly silenced the table.

Even Adrian stopped joking.

For a brief moment, the enormous dining hall felt strangely still.

Only the sound of distant fountains outside filled the silence.

Then finally—

Celestina asked quietly:

“Do you think Alessandro is happy?”

The question lingered heavily between them.

Not because nobody cared.

But because nobody truly knew the answer.

Lorenzo looked toward his wife carefully before reaching for her hand beneath the table.

Softly.

Comfortingly.

“I think,” he began quietly, “Alessandro is carrying a weight he believes belongs only to him.”

Celestina remained silent.

Lorenzo’s expression softened slightly as old memories crossed his mind.

“When my father first handed me responsibility for this family, I became the same way.”

Vittorio glanced toward his son but said nothing.

“I isolated myself,” Lorenzo continued quietly. “I worked endlessly. I thought protecting the family meant sacrificing everything else.”

Rosalia listened carefully now.

Even Adrian stayed silent.

“But then,” Lorenzo said softly while looking at Celestina, “I found people who reminded me I was still human.”

Celestina’s eyes softened slightly.

“And Alessandro will too?”

Lorenzo gently squeezed her hand.

“Yes.”

The answer came with certainty.

Not hope.

Not guessing.

Certainty.

“Maybe not today,” he continued quietly. “Maybe not soon. But one day, someone will walk into his life and remind him that power is not the only thing a man should live for.”

A deep silence followed those words.

Warm.

Emotional.

Almost prophetic.

Outside the estate windows, sunlight stretched across Velmora Hills beautifully while the fountains shimmered beneath the morning sky.

And somewhere beyond those same hills—

Something beautiful was happening ^

Fate was already moving closer toward the De Luca family.

Neither side knew it yet.

But eventually—

Their worlds would collide.

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