Chapter: Ch. 24 : La Chasse SacréeQuatre jours.Quatre jours d'une nouvelle routine épuisante. Mon monde s'était réduit aux quatre murs de ma chambre, mais mon esprit s'était élargi.La douleur dans mon dos n'était plus un feu. C'était une tirade sourde et rageuse. Les points de suture avaient disparu, je les avais retirés moi-même le deuxième jour, en utilisant le miroir et la pointe de la nouvelle dague. La peau en dessous était une carte plissée, laide, d'un rouge violent, de ma faiblesse. Un rappel.Je ne me contentais plus de marcher le long du périmètre de ma chambre. Je le parcourais comme un prédateur.J'avais passé des heures avec la dague. Son poids me paraissait bien dans la main. Naturel. Je m'exerçais à des mouvements de poignet rapides, des gestes de poignard vifs, transférant mon poids d'un pied à l'autre. J'étais maladroite. J'étais faible. Mais j'apprenais.Je guérissais, aussi. La vitesse "anormale" était troublante, même pour moi. Chaque repas que Wendy m'apportait, je le dévorais. Chaque décoction
Last Updated: 2026-09-18
Chapter: Ch. 23 : Neuf jours.La première chose que j'ai enregistrée en me réveillant, c'était le silence.C'était un genre de silence différent de celui des derniers jours. Ce n'était pas le silence lourd et douloureux d'une chambre de malade. C'était un silence froid, vide, creux.Il était parti.Je n'avais pas besoin d'ouvrir les yeux pour le savoir. L'air, qui avait crépité de son pouvoir et s'était imprégné de la lavande de Quinn, n'était plus que... de l'air. Immobile et rassis.Mon lit était froid. Ma chambre était redevenue une cellule.Il l'avait pensé. Chaque mot.J'étais son pion, et il m'avait remise dans la boîte, verrouillant le couvercle de l'extérieur.Mes yeux se sont ouverts d'un coup.La lourde barre était toujours visible, haut sur la porte. J'étais toujours prisonnière.Une prisonnière avec une échéance.« Pleine lune », ai-je murmuré, les mots griffant ma gorge à vif.Cette pensée m'a envoyé un frisson nouveau et différent, qui n'avait rien à voir avec la froideur d'Ares et tout à voir avec u
Last Updated: 2026-09-18
Chapter: Ch. 22 : Le Pion et le JoueurJe n'ai pas eu à attendre longtemps.Dix minutes après que Livia soit sortie en trombe, la porte s'est rouverte. C'était Wendy, le visage couleur de vieux parchemin. Elle tremblait si fort que la boîte en bois orné qu'elle tenait s'entrechoquait.« Mademoiselle », chuchota-t-elle, la voix brisée.« Dis-moi », dis-je. Ma propre voix était calme. Elle semblait lointaine, comme si elle venait de quelqu'un d'autre.« Le médecin Elias... il... il était furieux. » Elle posa la boîte sur la table, mais recula précipitamment, comme s'il s'agissait d'un serpent lové.« Il a dit... » Elle déglutit, les yeux écarquillés de terreur. « Il a dit que ça s'appelle la Ronce Blanche. C'est... c'est un poison. »« Pour me tuer ? » demandai-je, sur un ton conversationnel.« Non ! » s'exclama-t-elle, puis se plaqua une main sur la bouche. « Non », murmura-t-elle, « pire. Il a dit... il a dit que ça ne vous tuerait pas. Pas rapidement. Ça ne fait que... arrêter... ça... »« Crache le morceau, Wendy. »« Ça
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Ch. 21 : Le Parfum du RivalJe me suis réveillée au son d'un bol qui cliquetait contre un plateau en bois.Ma première pensée n'était pas la panique. C'était une évaluation sourde et systématique de la douleur.Mon dos était un mur solide et palpitant de feu. Mon épaule me faisait mal d'une douleur profonde et grinçante. Mais c'était différent. Hier, la douleur avait été une chose sauvage, hurlante, d'un blanc incandescent. Aujourd'hui, c'était un rugissement contenu et furieux.C'était gérable.J'ai laissé échapper un faible gémissement, et le cliquetis s'est arrêté.« Mademoiselle ? » La voix de Wendy était hésitante.J'ai entrouvert les yeux. La pièce était lumineuse, le soleil entrait à flots par les hautes fenêtres. Le matin. J'avais dormi toute la nuit.« Je suis réveillée », ai-je murmuré d'une voix rauque. Ma gorge était comme du papier de verre.Wendy s'est précipitée vers moi, le visage pâle mais les yeux brillants. « Vous avez dormi presque quatorze heures. Le médecin Elias vient tout juste de partir.
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Ch. 20 : Le Prix de la GuerreÀ l'instant où j'ai tourné le coin, la massive arche de pierre de la Grande Salle me dérobant à leur vue, les fils invisibles qui me maintenaient debout furent tranchés. Ce ne fut pas une libération douce. Ce fut un effondrement catastrophique. L'adrénaline, la fureur froide et légitime qui m'avait servi de carburant, tout disparut en un seul souffle, écœurant et brutal. Et la douleur, la douleur que j'avais tenue à distance par pure rage, explosa. Ce n'était pas seulement mon dos. C'était mon épaule, une pulsation grinçante et écœurante d'os brisé. C'étaient mes côtes, qui semblaient de verre brisé. Et mon dos... oh, Déesse, mon dos. On aurait dit que mes points de suture avaient été remplacés par des fils chauffés à blanc, et que quelqu'un tirait dessus, essayant de m'arracher la peau de la colonne vertébrale. Ma vue ne se troubla pas simplement. Elle vola en mille éclats tourbillonnants et douloureux. « Mademoiselle ! » Le cri de Wendy semblait venir du bout d'un long tu
Last Updated: 2026-09-14
Chapter: Ch. 19 : Qu'ils Voient.Wendy ne faisait pas que pleurer. Elle hyperventilait.« Mademoiselle, non... non, non... je vous en supplie, mademoiselle... vous saignez... » a-t-elle sangloté, les mains suspendues en l'air, terrifiée à l'idée de me toucher, terrifiée à l'idée de ne pas le faire. « Ça traverse le bandage... les points de suture sont... oh, Déesse, ils ont lâché... vous allez mourir... »« Je ne... vais pas... mourir », ai-je haleté, ma seule main valide agrippant la poignée en fer de la porte, mes jointures blanches. Le monde n'était plus qu'un flou tournoyant, gris, nauséeux. Mon dos me brûlait comme un feu, un feu humide, déchirant, arraché. Le sang frais était chaud et poisseux contre ma peau.« Habille. Moi. »« Habillée ? » a-t-elle crié, la voix brisée. « Mademoiselle, vous... vous avez besoin du médecin ! Vous devez vous allonger ! »« Si je m'allonge maintenant », ai-je haleté, les dents serrées si fort que ma mâchoire en souffrait, « je... ne me relèverai... jamais. » J'ai tourné la tête,
Last Updated: 2026-09-14
Chasing The Wife He Discarded
For five years, Nerissa Vane was the perfect, silent wife to Lysander Blackwood. She endured his coldness, his family’s disdain, and the humiliation of taking birth control every night to ensure she didn't "trap" a man who hated her. She was the woman who secretly saved his family from ruin, yet he saw her as nothing more than a desperate social climber.
When Lysander’s first love returns and falls pregnant, the mask finally slips. Lysander doesn't hate children—he only hates the idea of having them with Nerissa. After a tragic accident where Lysander leaves a bleeding, pregnant Nerissa behind to save his mistress, Nerissa realizes that love cannot be begged for.
She leaves behind a wedding ring, a positive ultrasound, and the truth about the debt he can never repay. By the time Lysander realizes he chased away the only woman who truly loved him, the "placeholder wife" is gone, and the powerful Vane Heiress has risen in her place. He wants her back, but this time, Nerissa isn't playing by his rules.
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Chapter: Ch: 97 Gunfire at the Gate.Nerissa's POVMarcus arrived within twenty minutes, jacket half zipped, like he'd pulled it on in the car on the way over."Tell me everything," he said, and Priya walked him through it fast, the personnel file, the payment, the six years of fabricated history sitting behind Dario's name.Marcus's face didn't change much, but his hands curled into fists at his sides as he listened."He's on shift right now," he said, once Priya finished. "East gate, alone until four.""We need him contained," I said. "Quietly. Before he has any idea we know.""Agreed." Marcus pulled out his phone, already dialing. "I'll bring three men down with me. We approach it like a normal shift change, nothing that spooks him early. Once we're close enough, we take him without giving him room for anything.""You're sure three is enough.""Three is enough to contain one man." Marcus met my eyes. Lysander stood near the window, arms crossed, jaw tight. "I'm coming down there.""No," Marcus and I said it at the sa
Last Updated: 2026-09-18
Chapter: Ch: 96 Someone Close.Nerissa's POVLucien stepped out to check on the twins, leaving me alone with Lysander.Neither of us said anything for a moment. The study felt smaller with just the two of us in it, quieter, the tea gone cold in both our mugs. Outside, the security lights along the drive cast long shadows across the window, the only movement in an otherwise still house."You should go home," I said. "It's late.""I know."He didn't move. He sat there instead, forearms braced on his knees, looking at me in a way that made the room feel smaller than it actually was."Lysander.""I know I should go. I'm still sitting here." He looked up, something tired and honest in his face that he usually kept hidden better than this. "I don't like the idea of leaving you alone with everything he said tonight still sitting in your head.""I'm not alone. My husband is here.""That's not what I meant, and you know it."I did know it. That was the problem."You can't keep doing this," I said quietly."Doing what.""Loo
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Ch: 95 Too Close For Comfort.Lysander's POVLucien called at nine thirty, voice clipped in a way that told me something had already gone wrong before he said a single word about it."Rousset called Nerissa directly tonight."I sat up so fast I nearly knocked my coffee off the counter. "What?""His own voice. No proxy, no fake lawyer, no message relayed through someone else. He called her himself, told her exactly how much he knows, and made it very clear he's not worried about either of you.""Is she okay?""She's angry. Scared, though she'd never say that word out loud to you or me." Lucien exhaled slow. "He mentioned you specifically. The contracts, the case files. He wants her to know exactly why he's coming after your company."Something cold settled in my chest. "Because of me.""Because you handed her a shortcut through years of careful work he'd rather nobody ever found. Yes. Because of you, partly." Lucien didn't soften it, and I respected him more for not trying. "I'm not calling to blame you. I'm callin
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Ch: 94 The Call I Didn't Expect.Nerissa's POVMy phone rang just after nine, a number I didn't recognize.I almost let it go to voicemail. Something made me pick up instead."Ms. Vane." The voice was calm, cultured. "I thought it was time we spoke directly."I went very still. Across the desk, Lucien looked up sharply at whatever had shifted in my face."Rousset.""You've been busy," he said, almost pleasant about it. "Digging through my accounts, handing old case files to lawyers, calling contacts I'd have preferred stayed quiet. I thought it only fair to return the attention.""How did you get this number.""I make it my business to know how to reach people who've become interesting to me. You should be flattered. I don't extend the courtesy often."I put the call on speaker, silent, so Lucien could hear every word without me having to repeat it later."Say what you called to say.""Straight to business. I respect that." A faint sound, like ice shifting in a glass. "You're circling something that took me twenty ye
Last Updated: 2026-09-14
Chapter: Ch: 93 He's Not Waiting Either.Lysander's POVDesmond called before I'd even finished my coffee."We have a problem.""What kind.""The kind where three of our shipping contracts got cancelled overnight, all citing the same vague clause about 'unforeseen reliability concerns.'" Papers shuffled fast on his end. "Two of them were with partners we've worked with for over a decade. This isn't a coincidence, Lysander."I sat up straighter. "Rousset.""I can't prove that yet. But the timing's hard to ignore, given you just handed Rousseau your father's old case files on tracing exactly this kind of network."My stomach tightened. "He knows I'm helping.""If this is him, then yes, he knows. And he's telling you he doesn't like it."I hung up and called Rousseau immediately, pacing my kitchen while it rang."Three contracts," I said, the second he picked up. "Cancelled overnight, no real explanation. Desmond thinks it's Rousset sending a message."Rousseau was quiet a moment. "That would track. Priya flagged unusual accoun
Last Updated: 2026-09-12
Chapter: Ch: 92 What Nicole Asked.Nerissa's POV Saturday mornings were supposed to be easy. Pancakes, cartoons, Nicole narrating her own breakfast like it was a cooking show nobody had asked her to host. "And now we add the syrup," she announced to an invisible camera, drowning her plate in it. "Lots and lots of syrup, because Mommy's not watching closely enough to stop me." "I'm watching." "Not closely enough." Nicholas ate his in silence, more interested in the book propped against the juice carton than anything happening around him. Lucien came down halfway through, kissed the top of Nicole's head, and poured himself coffee before sitting across from me. "Sleep okay?" he asked. "Better than the last few weeks." "That's a low bar." "I'll take it anyway." Nicole set her fork down with the particular gravity of a five year old about to say something she'd clearly been sitting on for a while. "Is Lysander coming today?" The kitchen went quiet enough that I heard Nicholas actually look up from h
Last Updated: 2026-09-10
Chapter: Ch: 126 The Last Gift.Her hand was cold.She led me to the altar without a word.Behind me, I could hear Ares's breathing. Shallow. Wet. Slowing.Don't listen, I told myself. Don't look back. If you look back, you won't be able to do this.So I looked forward instead. At the stone. At the dark, ancient symbols carved into its surface that seemed to writhe in the flickering candlelight. At the shallow basin in its center, stained black from centuries of blood."It won't hurt long," Perla said softly.The laugh that came out of me was half a sob. "You know, for someone who claims to love me, you have a very strange definition of comfort."She didn't answer.I placed my palm flat against the cold stone. The Mark on my hand blazed immediately—white-hot, furious—as if it recognized what I was about to do and wanted me to stop. I felt it pulse against my skin like a second heartbeat. Like a warning.I know, I told it silently. But what choice do I have?Ares made a sound behind me. Something broken and desperate
Last Updated: 2026-03-10
Chapter: Ch: 125 The Choice.The wind picks up, howling through the ruined temple like a living thing. The candles around the altar flicker wildly but refuse to go out, as if held by invisible hands."Yara." Perla's voice has taken on a desperate edge. "Please. Just listen to me for one moment—""We're done listening," Ares snarls. His body is coiled tight, ready to strike. "We're leaving. Now.""You can't." Perla's hand moves to her belt, and suddenly she's holding a blade of her own—longer than the ceremonial dagger, wickedly sharp. "I won't let you."I feel the Mark on my hand flare hot, responding to the threat. Energy surges through me, the ancient power of my bloodline rising to the surface. "You're going to stop us? Your own daughter?""I'm saving us!" Perla's voice cracks. "Don't you see? This is the only way we can be whole again. The only way our family can be complete.""Our family?" I laugh, the sound bitter and broken. "You don't want a family, Perla. You want a resurrection. And you were willing to
Last Updated: 2026-03-05
Chapter: Ch: 124 Blood and Stone.The temple appeared like something out of a nightmare.It wasn't grand or beautiful like I'd imagined. It was ancient—older than anything I'd ever seen. Crumbling stone pillars rose from the earth at odd angles, covered in moss and vines that seemed to move even when there was no wind. In the center stood a circular platform, and at its heart, a stone altar stained dark with something I didn't want to think about."This is it?" I asked, my voice sounding small in the heavy silence."This is it," Perla confirmed, dismounting from her horse with fluid grace. "The Temple of Echoes. One of the oldest sacred sites in existence."Ares was already off his horse, his hand on the dagger at his hip. His silver eyes swept the clearing, cataloging every shadow, every potential threat. "It's too quiet."He was right. No birds sang in the trees. No insects buzzed in the grass. Even our horses shifted nervously, their ears pinned back."The veil is thin here," Perla said, walking toward the temple w
Last Updated: 2026-02-10
Chapter: Ch: 123 The Temple of Echoes.The two weeks passed too quickly.One moment I was agreeing to the ritual, feeling brave and certain, and the next I was standing in our chambers watching Ares pack supplies for the journey."We don't need that much," I said, watching him stuff another set of daggers into his travel bag. "Perla said the temple is only a day's ride from here.""I don't care what Perla said." He didn't look up, his jaw set in that stubborn way that meant arguing would be pointless. "We're going into unknown territory to perform an ancient ritual that requires your blood. I'm bringing weapons."I couldn't exactly fault his logic. I moved to the twins' bassinet, looking down at Lyris and Aldron. They were awake. In two weeks, they'd grown so much. Lyris's eyes were starting to look more green than blue, and Aldron had Ares's dark hair coming in thicker."I don't want to leave them," I whispered.Ares stopped packing. He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my should
Last Updated: 2026-02-09
Chapter: Ch: 122 The Gift of Trust.The four months passed in a strange blur of sleepless nights and precious firsts.Lyris smiled for the first time at six weeks old—a real smile, not just gas—and Ares nearly cried. Aldron discovered his hands at two months and spent hours staring at them like they were the most fascinating things in existence. By three months, they were starting to develop distinct personalities that went beyond "screaming" and "sleeping."Lyris was bold and demanding, always reaching for things just beyond her grasp, frustrated when the world didn't bend to her will. Aldron was quieter, more observant, but when he wanted something, he was just as stubborn as his sister. He just went about it differently."She's going to be a warrior," Ares said one afternoon, watching Lyris grab at a dangling toy with fierce determination. "Look at that grip. She's got her mother's stubbornness.""And Aldron?" I asked, rocking our son gently as he dozed against my chest."A strategist. He watches everything, figures
Last Updated: 2026-02-08
Chapter: Ch: 121 The Weight of Two Months.The weeks that followed blurred together in a haze of sleepless nights and stolen moments of joy.Lyris had her father's temperament—fierce, demanding, refusing to sleep unless someone was holding her. Aldron was quieter, more contemplative, but when he cried, it was with a fury that shook the walls. Between the two of them, Ares and I were running on fumes and adrenaline."She's doing it again," Ares muttered one night, or maybe it was early morning—time had lost all meaning. He was pacing the room with Lyris against his shoulder, patting her back while she wailed. "I've fed her, changed her, burped her. What else could she possibly want?""She wants to make sure we know who's in charge," I said from the bed, where I was nursing Aldron. "She's establishing dominance early.""Well, it's working." Ares looked down at his daughter with an expression that was equal parts exasperation and pure adoration. "You're a tiny tyrant, you know that?"Lyris responded by spitting up on his shoulder
Last Updated: 2026-02-07
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