Semua Bab No One Like You : Bab 21 - Bab 30

I stood beside Claire and stared at the pale green wall opposite me, but I wasn’t seeing it. I was seeing the monster in the suit sitting at the head of the long marble table. Victor Delacroix. Our father.The man who demanded obedience, who spoke in riddles and used people like chess pieces, was going to be truly revealed to my sister today.I turned my head slowly, my gaze falling to Claire. She looked tired from staying up all night these past few days.“I think our father knows who hurt Maddie,” I said. My voice sounded like gravel.“You think, or you know? Because if he did anything to Maddie, I will take it out to the press.”“Take it easy. Let’s not go that far yet. I know what you can do. And to answer your first question — I know. But I think he didn’t just know… he arranged for Maddie to be assaulted.” Each of my words basically nailed him to the coffin, but I didn’t care. Claire had to fully know and grasp who she was dealing with.She stiffened beside me. Her arms were fo

(Claire’s POV)With the words of Luca still hanging in the air, the whole place froze.“Who hurt Maddie?” he asked again. Why was he doing this? Why? I thought we will plan this through before he went out to just indirectly accuse this horrific man of attempted murder.My pulse spiked. Sweats beaded on my forehead, but Luca sat there as composed as ever. His eyes burned with anger, and so did my father’s. Thankfully, their gazes were not on me they were on each other, each one daring the other.Father did not flinch. I watched his posture for clues, but I found none. I realized that this was not the first time he did this. I was willing to give him excuses, but his posture said otherwise.His jaw twitched. He set down his glass on the dinner table with such force that the glass broke and the wine spilled out.A maid came quickly to his side, mopping up the wine from his side and the floor, gathering the shattered glass.I swallowed hard. Maddie had survived whatever that was. But wit

(Luca Delacroix’s POV)I stood in front of my room door, breathing in and out. Although I never wanted anything with my mother’s family as it hurt too much to think about her, when I spoke to my uncle Stefan, it made me realize this was my only way to truth and freedom.I opened the door. I noticed there was a figure by my window. It was Claire.For a brief second, I asked myself if she heard me and the brief conversation I had with my uncle. I didn’t want her to know yet. For reasons best known to me, it was best she didn’t know.Even the word inheritance burned at the back of my throat like acid.It was only Claire that could make me lose control, so I sometimes felt uneasy in her presence. I leaned against the door frame, letting my voice drop into the kind of calm that marks how I felt inside.“So, what do I owe the honor of finding you in my room at this hour, gemita roja?” I stepped closer, walking toward her. She didn't turn around to me. “Or is this your way of continuing what

(Claire’s POV)The doctor’s words, you look a lot like her, made my throat tighten. Who was he talking about? My lips trembled as they parted, not knowing what to ask first.“Who do I look like?”The man in front of me looked nervous as his gaze darted from Luca to me. “You look like Mrs. Delacroix.”His words were so reverent it was as if he was calling her ghost into the room.An awkward silence followed. I could hear our breaths in this small space and the pounding of my own heart screaming in my ears. What he meant was that I looked like my mother, but I’ve never seen her before.The doctor seemed to realize he had crossed some line. His posture stiffened in front of me, “Forgive me, I shouldn’t have said that,” he murmured. But he didn’t say these words to me—he said it to Luca.This was when Luca turned on me. He had lost our mother too, but he said nothing—not a single word. His expression remained like stone, and his green eyes remained unreadable. He turned into the room to f

(Luca Delacroix POV)The moment I spotted those eyes, it was like a jolt of electricity passed through my body. Those eyes were not just looking at me; they were dragging me back into memories that had been buried so long ago. Before I knew it, the present blurred right in front of me and dissolved into shadows.I was 7 again. I was standing in the open air of the Montgomery estate. The air was filled with expensive perfumes from my step-aunts and uncles. They had come to visit. I stepped into the mansion, ready to go back to my room because they were around. They were all bad news, at least to me, not to Father.“That bastard child doesn’t belong here. Shane should have sent him and his mother away. Why would he want to house a child that is not his?” my step-aunt’s venomous words hit me.I halted in my tracks. Laughter followed. I wondered how many of them were there, and before I could go toward the door, it opened. They all shoved me from side to side. Manicured nails dug into my