جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 56

Karen couldn’t bear the impact of the revelation. Her legs gave way, and her body collapsed under the weight of the truth. She fell to her knees on the cold floor, tears streaming down her face in uncontrollable waves, as if years of pent-up pain had finally found a way to escape.“Oh, my dear...”Mrs. Malcolm bent down with difficulty, her knees cracking, and wrapped her arms around Karen. The nun’s usual stiffness disappeared; in its place was only an exhausted, fragile woman, a survivor of secrets that should never have been kept.They cried together.Two lives lost to the same tragedy—the orphan who sought a name, the guardian who tried to erase it to protect her.“Why didn’t you tell me?” Karen asked between sobs, her voice hoarse, barely able to breathe.“Because it’s dangerous.”Mrs. Malcolm held her face with trembling hands, as if afraid the girl would disappear before her.“The underworld of Las Vegas is dangerous. I was afraid for you... and for the children at the orphanag

Sebastian called the lawyer for an urgent meeting at his home. He couldn’t wait until the next day; he was too excited, almost vibrating with the adrenaline of his discovery.Richard entered the office, adjusting his glasses. “You sounded anxious on the phone.”Sebastian smiled slowly, like a predator who had finally caught the scent of victory. He filled two glasses with a whiskey he rarely took off the shelf and handed one of them to his lawyer and accomplice.“Luck smiled on me,” he confessed quietly, trembling that someone might hear the secret.Richard raised an eyebrow before taking a sip.“Are you going to explain the reason for your happiness, or should I guess? But I’d bet its money or women?”Most men are driven by power and testosterone—and Sebastian was no different. He slumped into his chair with a calculated air of relaxation, interlacing his hands behind his head like someone who knew exactly how much he was in control of the situation.“Karen has discovered some things

When Karen arrived at the small cemetery where her mother was buried, the world seemed to shrink around her. The rusty gate creaked as she pushed it open, betraying years of neglect. The whole place had an air of neglect; the grass was tall, gravestones were toppled, the earth damp and silent, as if no one had stepped there in decades.Chloe Jones’ grave was almost at the edge of the grounds, far from the more carefully tended graves. A simple stone marked the spot, no ornaments, no dates, no life. It was dirty, covered with moss, as if time had tried to erase any trace that this woman had ever existed.Karen knelt slowly before the grave. She carried a bouquet of white flowers in her hands; the same ones she had always imagined her mother liked, although she was never sure. Her hands trembled as she placed them on the cold stone.“Mom...” she whispered.The word that, for so many years, had only existed in her dreams, came out shaky, broken.With her fingertips, she began to clean th