Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

---Chapter 31: Letters from the graveThe French countryside barely moved outside the window, just endless mist and stillness. Pale morning light filtered through the attic’s cracked panes, turning the dust into soft, floating ghosts. Isla’s hands shook as she traced the spine of the old leather chest that hadn’t been touched in years—maybe decades.Christopher had left earlier, quiet and distant. His hand had brushed her back gently before the door closed behind him. A simple gesture, but it lingered. They both knew things had changed between them since that night. But Isla couldn’t think about him right now. Not when something inside her whispered that what she was about to uncover would change everything she thought she knew—about her mother, about Victor, and about herself.With a rusty snap, the chest creaked open.Inside, time had been preserved in fragments: old photographs, a delicate silk scarf that still smelled like violets and something sharper—like metal. And then, a bund

Chapter 33: The Warehouse Ethan stood outside the warehouse, shivering even though he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or what he’d just read. His breath came out in shaky clouds, the wind cutting through his jacket like it wasn’t even there. The building in front of him looked dead—like it hadn’t held anything living in years. Broken windows, rust crawling down the walls, silence too thick for comfort. But inside was the truth. Or at least, some version of it. That damn message kept ringing in his head. She’s closer than you think. Closer. Isla. God. He hoped she was safe. He hoped to hell she wasn’t already too far gone in whatever game Ezra was playing now. Every time Ethan tried to figure out what was happening, something new came up to twist the story. And Mira’s letters? They didn’t help much. They only made things worse. He reached into his coat and pulled them out—creased, worn pages that smelled faintly of smoke. Like they’d been hidden in a place full of regret. Mira

--- --- --- Chapter 35: Between Subordinates The city below Isla’s penthouse pulsed with restless energy—horns echoing in the distance, headlights carving through the dark like searchlights in a war zone. But inside, all was still. Still, and tight. The kind of silence that doesn’t soothe, but chokes. A silence full of words unsaid. Isla sat curled on the edge of her couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a fragile shield. In front of her, the coffee table was littered with memories: letters, photos, her mother’s journal. Pieces of a truth she was only now starting to grasp. Her fingers lingered over a faded photograph—her mother, young and smiling, holding a baby. Her. But behind that smile… something unreadable. Something haunted. Across the room, Christopher stood with his back to her, staring out the window. The city lights flickered on his face, casting harsh angles that made him look older, tired—like he’d lived three lives and was still carrying them all on his

.------Chapter Thirty-SevenIt was not supposed to go this way.The warehouse was colder than she expected, even with the heat of panic creeping up the back of her throat. Isla's fingers throbbed from how tightly she had been holding the ledger—her mother's ledger, the very one men had bled for and lied for and killed for. She could barely think past the thump of her heartbeat.Christopher hadn't said a word since they got here. Neither had Marcus. Only the scuff of their boots on concrete, and Isla's panting every other step.Victor Kane stepped out of the shadows like he'd been waiting. Always waiting. He didn't look surprised. Of course not. He looked. bored. Like she was just another story on repeat."So. You finally came."His voice was smooth, familiar in a way that crawled along her skin. As if he'd been there all along—standing behind her memories.Isla shifted, unsure what the hell she was doing, only that she had to do something. "It's over."Victor cocked his head to one

---. ------Chapter 39: Shadows WithinIsla was on the penthouse balcony, gazing out at the city, the cold night wind sweeping across her but doing nothing to soothe the turbulence within. The skyline twinkled in the distance like promises—promises she did not know if she could trust, or that she deserved.Since Victor Kane's warning, every shadow had more heft. Every silence screamed. Every heartbeat reminded her that danger wasn't only on the outside anymore—sometimes it slithered inside her own mind, twisting her thoughts like a snake tightening its coils.Christopher stood behind her in silence, the soft creak of the balcony door a breath in the blackness. He did not say anything first. He merely stood close enough that she could feel the soothing beat of his nearness—a lifeline in the chaos.She hadn't spoken in ages, hardly a whisper anymore. "How do you stop yourself from shattering? When the walls are closing in, and all that you believed was concrete begins to crumble away?"