Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 81 - Chapitre 90

Sophia's POV That damn kiss. One of those moments I'd been fighting so hard to push out of my mind. A tiny piece of me regretted walking away from it all, and that thought alone turned my stomach. The kiss hit like a crash of every bit of yearning, rage, and raw honesty we'd both been shoving down. For a split second, everything else vanished. No event, no Marcus, no Victor, no sorceress. Just the burning certainty of his lips on mine, that flavor of tempest and sorrow and a place I'd tried so damn hard to erase from my memory. My fingers, betraying every ounce of willpower I'd built up, gripped the edges of his suit jacket, holding on like he was the only real anchor in a world full of illusions. It was Ethan who pulled back first, tearing away with a gasp that hurt, mirroring my own. He pressed his forehead to mine, breaths coming rough, eyes clamped shut like he was in real pain. "This... this isn't some flaw," he grated out, the words like a promise brushed against my mouth.

Ethan's POV The drive back to Red Creek weighed on us like an extra body in the car, the quiet so thick it pressed down hard. Idris was behind the wheel, his steady calm standing out against the storm churning inside me. The flavor of her lingered on my lips, a mean, quick glimpse of a world I couldn't hold anymore. The sight of her in that creamy gown, Marcus's hand at her back, Victor's sly proposal—it all looped in my mind like a nightmare on repeat. "You know this isn't right." Idris's words, soft and even, finally broke through the mess in my head. He kept his eyes on the dark stretch of road cutting through our lands, not glancing my way. "Not right?" The term came out rough. "None of this is right. She's mine." "She was," Idris fixed, with that annoying accuracy. "She picked. Out in the open. Marcus backed her, kept her safe, and by the rules of the test you let happen, he came out on top. Clean win. What you're pulling now, showing up, stirring up fights, stealing

Sophia's POV The setup in my kitchen, once a spot for shaky calm, now came off like a fake scene of the worst kind of backstab. The air, buzzing with their easy chuckles moments ago, turned fragile and cutting like thin crystal. I lingered in the entry, my keys biting into my skin, my heart a solid, icy lump. Marcus's casual stance went rigid. Chloe's grin slipped, swapped for a hint of what seemed a lot like regret. "Sophia," Marcus started, his tone forced light. "Back sooner than I thought. Chloe swung by to hand off some papers you forgot at your spot." He waved loosely at a plain folder on the counter I'd overlooked. The fib was so weak it stung. I glanced from the folder to Chloe's wine glass, almost drained. "You crossed town after shift, no heads-up call or message, to drop a folder that could've held till morning? And you grabbed a pour of our Pinot Noir on the way?" My words stayed even, a smooth cover over a deep crack. "I... I was nearby," Chloe fumbled, setting

Sophia's POVThose two words shone on my display, a stark command in the shadows. Where are you? Ethan. Naturally, he sensed trouble brewing. That damned, invisible link between us had to be vibrating with my fear, my escape.My finger lingered, shaking. Deep down, the worn-out, hurt side of me yearned to spill it all. To yell into the device that his sibling had smashed the final brittle shard of my fresh start. But that'd be like dumping chum into waters swarming with predators. It'd draw him straight here, a whirlwind of wrath and ownership, and the delicate, blank calm of Maison's stronghold would crumble.I replied, digits chilled. I'm okay. I need some room.The device buzzed right away, his image popping up. I tapped 'ignore' and flipped it to silent mode, setting it screen-down on the table. The hum from another call was a low, furious drone on the surface. Then once more.And again. He wouldn't quit. He couldn't.I yanked a cushion over my face, drowning out the imagined vibr

Sophia's POVMarcus was the true madman among his siblings.The change in him happened in a flash, complete and unyielding.The brutal, deadly vow in his stare, the grinding force on my arm wasn't the Marcus I'd known. It was somebody, something different, cloaked in his features, using his tone. An outsider forged from envy, dread, and an ownership that had soured into something shadowy and wild.The jolt hit like an icy wave, quenching the blazing fury his phrases had ignited. Right then, I wasn't his companion, his ward, or even the trigger. I was quarry. Quarry that had ventured to growl, and the hunter had bared its fangs at last.All my resistance ebbed away, swapped by a raw urge to survive so keen it stung like a knife in my core. I quit tugging against his hold. I froze utterly."Yes," I breathed, the term bitter like defeat and acid. "I get it."His clasp didn't ease, but the chilling ferocity in his gaze wavered, triumph blending with the fading brutality. He scanned my exp