Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 91 - Chapitre 100

Staying up all night turned out to be a blessing in its own strange, cruel way.By morning, I was too numb to feel much of anything. No rage, no anxiety, not even the tightly coiled dread of seeing Matthias again. Just an all-consuming weariness that dulled everything. I went down to the hotel cafeteria, grabbed a bitter cup of black coffee, and forced down a piece of dry toast I could barely taste. My stomach turned at the thought of anything heavier.I didn’t drive. I walked. My hotel this time was closer to Matthias’s main pack building—only about a 45-minute walk. Which, under normal circumstances, might’ve been annoying. Today? It was perfect. The goal wasn’t efficiency. It was to burn through every ounce of energy I had so that by the time I was face to face with Matthias, I wouldn’t have the strength left to care.When I reached the building, I still felt nothing. My body was dragging, legs heavy like they belonged to someone else. The receptionist blinked when she saw me—clear

Aurielle DuVallThe talk with Matthias had left me in a strange limbo, cheered up slightly by the rare win I scored against him and Nerissa, yet weighed down by the inevitable meeting with my mother. I wanted to smile, if I’m being honest. Just a little. Cassiel had my back. That meant something.But I couldn’t let my guard down. Not yet. Not with the meeting ahead.And not with the long day that would follow.Once I returned to the hotel, I’d need to finalize the detailed training plan for the three candidates. I’m so glad i spent the better part of my sleepless night searching for good candidates. If I hadn’t, I had a gut feeling Matthias would’ve tried to stall or manipulate the process.I wouldn’t let him. Not again.Letting Nerissa anywhere near those foundations would be like lighting a match and tossing it into a room full of everything I ever built. Every safe space. Every shelter. Every voice I tried to protect.If I had to walk away from them to prevent that outcome… I would

I had to shove all my questions, all the tangled thoughts clawing for space in my mind, to the very back of my consciousness. If I gave them room now, they’d consume me.Right now, I have a job to do.My focus—however fragile—needed to be on checking the foundations, reviewing their structure once again, and mapping out a teaching chart for the new people replacing me. I needed to outline what they’d need to know, what duties fell under each role, and how we could streamline tasks across similar nonprofits. Simple. Practical. Clean.I told myself that over and over again as I made my way to one of the community buildings.But the moment I saw him, all of that fragile resolve started to crack.Matthias.He was walking out of the building, sleeves rolled to his elbows, talking to someone, then his eyes landed on me.My stomach tightened.Just the sight of him made something sour rise in the back of my throat. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared to ever see him again. Not if I could help it. We

I stayed silent for a long moment, trying to organize the tangled mess of thoughts spiraling in my head. My heart was racing—an erratic, fluttering rhythm that made it hard to breathe. I didn’t know what to say. I felt too much, and nothing was settling.“Aurielle,” Cassiel’s voice came softly through the phone, careful, probing, “do you see me differently now?”The question hit something raw inside me.I opened my mouth, but the words caught in my throat. I closed it again, blinking hard, then forced something out. “N-no... I’m just...” I let out a soft breath, pressing my palm to my forehead. “I’m in my head.” That was the truth. I feel ridiculous for how desperate I was with Matthias, only to find that the one thing I used as my lifeline wasn’t even real.Because, of course, he would never save me.A pause. Then his voice dropped to a warm murmur, “Hmm... then, a moment please.”The line went dead.I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it, confused. He hung up? Was he u

Matthias CroweNerissa was tense for the rest of the day after I returned from work that evening. She didn’t speak to me—just gave me clipped glances and slammed a few doors louder than necessary. I didn’t care. I couldn’t even bring myself to acknowledge her presence. Not when my mind was so full of Aurielle. Everything about her was starting to come back to me in vivid clarity, like someone had finally cleaned the dust off a long-forgotten mirror.Except this time, I wasn’t seeing our relationship through the lens I used to.I was seeing it for what it really was.And what I found… was disturbing.I was abusive.Not just emotionally distant. Not just cold. I hurt her physically and didn’t feel much guilt about it. I see it now, and I can barely stand myself for it. How could I justify choking out Aurielle? Grabbing her wrist too tightly?Aurielle had been right. She never gave me any real reason to doubt her. She never tried to manipulate me, never once acted out of character—at le