Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 181 - Chapitre 190

Sienna POV Desmond Blackwood did not pace.Pacing implied uncertainty, and uncertainty was a luxury he had buried years ago.Instead, he stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of his penthouse office, hands clasped behind his back, the city sprawled beneath him like a living map of leverage and liability. Dawn was threatening the horizon, a thin bleed of light cutting through steel and glass.Hospitals never slept.Neither did he.On the wall behind him, silent screens pulsed with live feeds, data streams, and security overlays. He wasn’t watching them—not directly. He already knew what they showed.Sienna holding her ground.Gabriel circling like a man who mistook obsession for devotion.And Aria—still breathing.That was the only metric that mattered.“Any change?” Desmond asked.His head of security didn’t look up from the tablet. “Vitals stable. No improvement, no decline.”Desmond nodded once. Status unchanged. Exactly what he’d told Sienna.Truth mattered. Especially when everyt

SIENNAHospitals never slept. They only pretended to rest.By dawn, the corridor had thinned into a low hum—machines breathing for people who couldn’t, footsteps softened by exhaustion. I remained where I was, watching Aria as if vigilance alone could anchor her to the world.I checked the monitors without really seeing the numbers. Stable. Still stable. The word felt provisional, like a truce that could shatter without warning.A nurse adjusted the IV and glanced at me. “You should rest.”I smiled politely. Noncommittal. “Later.”The nurse didn’t argue. Another benefit of composure—people assumed you knew your limits.I stepped away from the glass and finally pulled my phone from her pocket.One message.Blackwood:She made it through the night. You did the right thing.No emojis. No qualifiers. No attempt to soften the truth.I exhaled through my nose. Desmond had a newfound attitude, the ones he usually dish out to others but not me… but now he never offered reassurance unless it w

SIENNABy nightfall, the hospital had shed its tenderness.Daylight pretended at mercy, soft voices, careful footsteps, the illusion that healing was the only work being done here. Night told the truth. Night exposed urgency. Consequence. Decisions that could not be undone.I signed the final discharge forms with a steady hand, though every signature felt like a vow I hadn’t spoken aloud. Aria wouldn’t be moved yet—not across borders, not into the shadows I was about to stir—but she was stable. Guarded. Watched by people who owed me favors deeper than money.That would have to be enough.For now.Gabriel waited near the elevator, coat already on, posture too still. He knew this version of me well enough not to ask questions that didn’t matter.“Your car is downstairs,” he said. “Private terminal is clear.”“Good.”We walked without touching. Some connections didn’t need proof.The doors slid open, and as we stepped inside, he spoke again. “Italy isn’t just reacting anymore. They’re co

Gabriel’s POVI didn’t sleep; Sylvia’s words replayed in my head long after the apartment went silent.I’ll make her suffer. It wasn’t just jealousy. It was definitely something darker.Something that unsettled me in a way I couldn’t name.The cooler still sat on the counter where I’d left it. Sandwiches neatly stacked. Juice boxes aligned. The smallest things for the smallest patient.Aria.None of this was about Sienna, or at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.The hospital hallway smelt like antiseptic and exhaustion.I walked in just before sunrise. The nurse nodded at me, used to seeing my face now.Aria was awake.Her small fingers gripped the edge of her blanket, eyes too big for her pale face.“Dad,” she whispered.My chest tightened.“Hey, warrior,” I said softly, setting the cooler down. “Brought reinforcementsShe tried to smile.It wrecked me.And then I saw her.Sienna.Standing near the window, wrapped in a cardigan that looked too thin for winter. She hadn’t notic

Gabriel’s POVThe call came ten minutes after Sylvia left the house.I knew it was her before I answered.“I’m at the hospital,” she said calmly.Every muscle in my body went rigid. “Why?”A soft pause. Too soft.“To see my daughter.”The line went dead.⸻By the time I reached the hospital, my pulse was pounding hard enough to blur my thoughts.The corridor outside Aria’s room was too quiet.Too still.I pushed the door open.Sienna stood by the window, arms folded tightly across her chest. She didn’t look at me.Sylvia sat beside Aria’s bed.Like a painting.Perfect. Poised. Unbothered.“You’re late,” she said lightly.My eyes snapped to Sienna. “What happened?”“Nothing,” Sylvia answered for her.That was the problem.I stepped fully into the room. “Sylvia.”She rose slowly, smoothing down her coat. “Relax. I simply came to remind everyone that Aria has a mother.”Sienna finally spoke, voice low but steady. “You also came with legal advice.”The temperature in the room dropped.I l