Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 131 - Chapitre 140

JUNE’S POVI stood at the edge of the aisle runner, fingers clamped so hard around the bouquet that the stems cracked and oozed sticky sap onto my palms. The flowers were all white roses and gold-dusted lilies, heavy as wet rope. Every time I shifted my weight, the heels of my shoes sank a little deeper into the thick white carpet laid over the hotel ballroom floor.The room was drowning in white and gold. Gold ribbons tied in perfect bows around every chair back. Guests filled the rows, dresses rustling whenever someone leaned to whisper. My daughter Maya sat in the front row beside her brother Eli. Maya kept twisting around to look at me, eyes wide, then turning back when Eli elbowed her.Sarah stood near the very back, half-hidden behind a tall arrangement of white orchids on a gold pedestal. She stared straight at me and did not look away, even when I met her eyes. I looked past her shoulder and saw a man in a dark suit leaning against the wall. But the lighting was dim back there

JUNE’S POVThe band was already playing when we stepped into the reception hall. Floor lights turned slow circles over the tables while guests crowded in with drinks raised and phones out. I stood near Franklin and Marlene as people pressed in to congratulate us, and Luca stood on Marlene’s other side with his hands in his pockets and shoulders drawn in.He looked thinner than I remembered. His cheeks had sunk in and the skin under his eyes was dark. His suit jacket hung loose and wrinkled, his collar bent upward as if he had shoved it on in a hurry.Marlene kept smiling and nodding. Franklin answered the same questions while squeezing my hand too tightly. Someone from his office clapped him on the back and leaned across me to shake Marlene’s hand. Another couple stepped in with a gift bag that scraped my arm.The music shifted faster and cousins pulled Marlene toward the dance floor. Franklin laughed and told them to wait for the official dance, but they did not listen. He leaned clo

SARAH’S POVI held the champagne flute too tightly, the stem digging into my palm. The living room buzzed with voices of old college friends slapping Franklin on the back and aunts cooing over June’s gown. Someone had turned the music up again, an upbeat jazz track that made everyone sway a little as they talked. I stood near the fireplace, pretending to listen to Mrs. Harlow ramble about her grandson’s soccer team while my shoes pinched, the straps having cut into my ankles all evening.Franklin caught my eye from across the room and tilted his head toward the hallway with just a quick jerk before looking away. June was laughing at something her cousin said, her hand on Franklin’s arm, fingers curled around his sleeve, and she hadn’t noticed him slip free yet.Setting my glass on the mantel next to a half-eaten slice of cake someone had abandoned, the frosting already sweating in the heat, I wiped my fingers on a napkin, crumpled it, and walked toward the hall as if heading for the b

LUCA’S POVI spotted June as she emerged from the side corridor, moving quickly but not quite running, her heels striking the tile floor in a steady rhythm while the gown trailed behind her, light and flowing despite the heavy fabric.From farther away, her face had looked calm, almost composed, but as she drew nearer, I saw the tightness around her eyes, wide and fixed, her mouth pressed into a thin line. She didn't notice me at first, her gaze locked ahead as she passed.I stepped directly into her path and reached out. "June. Hey—what's going on?"She didn't slow, didn't glance over, just kept moving forward, her shoulder brushing mine as she went by, the sleeve of her gown catching briefly on my cufflink before tugging free with a small rip of thread.The scent of roses clung to her, the same ones pinned earlier during the ceremony, now faintly wilted in the heat."June—" I turned and started after her, my shoes scuffing against the tile as I hurried to match her pace.She didn't

JUNE’S POVThe string lights above the entrance buzzed against the floodlights on the brick wall, and the concrete under my heels still held the day’s heat. I stood near the curb with my phone in my right hand, the screen black and reflecting the lights overhead.People clustered in loose circles around the paved area, drinks sweating in their hands, ice clinking when they shifted their cups. At least two dozen were still out here even though the music inside had stopped.Marlene stood three steps in front of me with her feet set wide and her arms locked across her chest. The crack across the back of her phone case caught the light when she moved. Behind her, ten feet back, Adrian half faced a knot of relatives near the railing, his head turned toward us.“Dad says you cheated first,” he said.I blinked. The words landed wrong. Like he’d said them in the wrong order.“What?” I said.He shrugged without lifting his head. “That’s what he said.”I opened my mouth. Closed it. I saw Frankl