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Chapter 21 — The Estate and the Return
publish date:
2026-07-31 03:14:27
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The abandoned wife Chapter 26 — The Shadows Behind the Gold
INÈSThe room still vibrates with applause, but inside me, everything rings hollow. A heavy void, like a closed room where air is lacking. Champagne sparkles in my glass, but I no longer feel like drinking. Laughter bursts around me, shrill, aggressive, like knives on glass. Gazes shine, reflecting the golden chandeliers suspended from the ceiling… except mine.My smile is there, however, frozen, impeccable, as if painted in indelible ink. My lips are red, perfectly curved, but I feel the tightness in my jaw, beneath the powder, all the way to my temples.She.She, in her flowing dress, that fabric that catches light with every step, as if designed for her alone. She, whose bearing has become that of a tranquil queen. She, who always had those big eyes full of naive dreams… and who, now, no longer dreams. She takes. She keeps. She imposes herself without raising her voice.I swallow. Acid rises in my throat, bitter, burning.
The abandoned wife Chapter 25 — The Radiance and the Fault
GRACIAThe music has softened, as if bowing to the moment. The murmur of conversations fades, laughter unravels in the golden air, suspended. A tacit expectation settles in. I feel it even before it begins. A tension, almost electric, vibrates beneath the lanterns.Ezran rises.With a simple movement, he straightens, and suddenly, the world stops. Gazes converge. Discussions die out. An aura settles, palpable. He has said nothing yet, and yet the entire assembly is already on its knees in the shadow of his presence.I rise in turn, legs barely trembling. My dress undulates with my step like a moonbeam. My hands brush the fabric, a discreet gesture to contain the tumult running through me.Ezran gives me a look. Calm, solid, terribly clear. Then he ascends a step, positions himself at the center of the paved terrace, under a beam of light designed for him—or which seems to have chosen him.His voice rises, deep, warm, pr
The abandoned wife Chapter 24 – The Day of the Engagement
GraciasNight has fallen like a velvet curtain over the city. The sky, saturated with barely visible stars, seems to hold its breath, suspended between promise and silence. The house, bathed in golden light, still rustles with late preparations, but everything is muted, controlled, almost unreal. It looks like a frozen stage, waiting for its main act.I stand before the large mirror in the boudoir. The dress is there, hanging, motionless like a benevolent ghost. Its off-white shade takes on an ivory hue under the lamp's reflections. No frills. No ostentatious shine. It glides like a confidence on the mannequin. Just a pure cut, without artifice. At this hour, the choice seems even more fitting. In the night, sincerity carries more weight.A soft knock.My maid enters, always silent, carrying the jewelry box chosen the day before, with him. Those simple, delicate pieces resembled us. A fine necklace, two discreet pearls for the ears. I brush them with my fingertips. I hesitate. Then I
The abandoned wife Chapter 23 — The Salons of Exclusion
InèsA few days later, the air takes on a deceptive softness. The autumn sun filters through the apartment shutters, drawing golden bands on the hardwood floor. I am in the kitchen when my mother enters, her coat still damp with drizzle, her face animated by a contained excitement."Inès, darling, do you have a minute?" she says, placing her bag on the table.I put down my cup, attentive. Her voice betrays something urgent."There's going to be an event," she announces, sitting down. "The engagement… of Ezran Veyrhal."The name falls like a stone. "When?" I ask."In a week. A large private salon, hand-picked guests."A cold current runs through me."We are not invited?" I stammer.My mother shakes her head, a nasty smirk at the corner of her lips."Of course not. We don't exist in their address books."I grip the edge of the table."And Gracias?" I say in a low voice.My mother tilts her head, savoring the information."They say Ezran has noticed her. What a comedy. Honestly, Inès, sh
The abandoned wife Chapter 22: I Brood
GraciasI brood over his words. An image comes back: the glass tower, the employees who froze at our passage, the appraising looks. I have already paid the price of imposed visibility; the prospect of voluntarily adding more jars me. And yet, a more pragmatic part of me glimpses the advantages of a measured gesture, of a ceremony that will lock down alliances and close doors to murmurs.I end up sighing, not in abdication, but in tired acceptance."Very well," I say. "If you prefer it elsewhere… but promise me one thing. That the place retains a sense of intimacy. That those who come do not turn the party into a hunt for appearances."He takes my hand with unusual gentleness, as if to seal the promise."I promise you. It will be discreet, chiseled, as you asked. The guests will be chosen for their weight, not their curiosity. And there will be strict rules: no uninvited press, no devices that could leak intimacy."I see in his eyes a sincerity that touches me. He is not giving me an e
The abandoned wife Chapter 21 — The Estate and the Return
GraciasThe days that follow are filled with comings and goings, visits, and trials. He introduces me to names: families I am hearing of for the first time, faces that seem everywhere and nowhere. He explains why they must be present, tracing alliances on an invisible map I had never seen. Sometimes, he takes my hand and shows me how to deflect a question, how to smile without giving away a part of myself.He surprises me. By his attention to detail, by the way he plans for a chair for my mother if she were to come, by his insistence that there be a room reserved for women traveling alone. His foresight is not cold: it is a safety net, a way of anticipating fragilities.And I, I get used to the idea that the world can learn my name at the same time it discovers its own vulnerability. I learn to receive compliments without falling apart, to answer greetings without trembling. The informal "you" makes these learnings less lonely. When I doubt, I no longer have to beg a strange benefacto
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