Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 71 - Chapitre 80

The house was unusually quiet for a night that carried so much anticipation.Maya stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom she had shared with her sister for years, slowly unhooking the earrings she had tried on for the fifth time that evening. Her hair was loosely tied, her silk robe hanging lazily off one shoulder, and yet there was a glow on her face that no exhaustion could dull.Behind her, Mike sat on the edge of the bed, his sleeves rolled up, his tie long abandoned on the dresser. He watched her in the mirror for a long moment before speaking.“You know,” he said softly, “I’ve imagined this night so many times… but I didn’t think it would feel like this.”Maya turned, studying him. “Like what?”“Like my chest is too full,” he admitted. “Like if I breathe too hard, everything I’m feeling might spill out.”She smiled and walked over, sitting beside him. “You’re scared.”He laughed quietly. “Is it that obvious?”“A little,” she teased. “But I am too.”That surprised him. “You?

The city lights blurred past Roy’s windshield as he drove home, his grip on the steering wheel tightening with every mile. The wedding replayed in his head like a cruel loop—laughter, music, faces he barely registered. But one image refused to leave him.Diane.Not just Diane.Diane smiled.Diane laughed.Diane was standing beside another man as though she belonged there—like she had always belonged there.“Damn it,” he muttered, his jaw clenching.He exhaled sharply, then laughed under his breath—bitter, humorless. “You really messed this up, Roy. You really did.”He stopped at a red light, the car idling as his thoughts grew louder.She didn’t look broken.“She’s moved on,” he said out loud, voice low and rough. “Just like that.”His fingers tapped anxiously against the steering wheel. The memory that burned the most wasn’t even the flirting. It was how easy it looked. How natural it was when that man leaned close to her. How Diane didn’t stiffen or pull away. How she laughed—soft,

Karen’s POV The mall smelled like disinfectant and artificial flowers—clean, sharp, expensive. Karen noticed it the moment she stepped inside, her hand instinctively drifting to her belly, a habit she hadn’t been able to break since the hospital. The baby wasn’t even showing yet, not really, but she still held herself like something fragile lived beneath her skin. Because it did. She hated that the mall felt quieter than usual, even with people moving around her. Maybe it was her mood. Maybe it was the way her thoughts had been echoing lately, bouncing endlessly between Roy, the baby, the wedding pictures she shouldn’t have looked at, and the life she had imagined would feel different by now. She pushed the cart forward slowly, her heels clicking against the tiled floor. She hadn’t dressed up today—no effort to impress anyone. A simple fitted dress, flats, minimal makeup. Still, she looked put together. Karen always did. It was one of the things Roy had once admired about her: Yo

Diane barely slept that night.She woke up that morning with a strange weight pressing lightly against her chest.It wasn’t heavy enough to suffocate her, but it lingered—like something unfinished, something she had turned over too many times in her mind without finding a resting place. She lay in bed for a few seconds longer than usual, staring at the ceiling of her apartment, listening to the distant hum of the city waking up.Ethan.The thought came uninvited. She thought of the way Ethan had brushed off her question the evening before. It wasn’t what he said that bothered her; it was how quickly he said it, how easily he dismissed it, like the topic itself carried weight he didn’t want to lift.She exhaled slowly and pushed herself up, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and exhaled slowly. Today was a workday. Normal. Routine. She needed that normalcy more than anything. She dressed slowly, standing in front of the mirror longer than necessary, smoothing down her blouse, adj

Karen stood in front of the bathroom mirror longer than necessary, her fingers resting lightly on her still-flat stomach. The house was quiet—too quiet. Roy had already been awake for over an hour; she could hear the faint clink of his cufflinks earlier, the familiar sounds of a man preparing for work with military precision. No hesitation. No softness.She inhaled deeply, smoothing the fabric of her loose dress. Today mattered. Even if Roy didn’t see it that way.When she stepped into the bedroom, Roy was fastening his watch, his phone already in his hand, eyes scanning emails like nothing else existed.“Roy,” she said softly.He hummed in response, distracted.“My appointment is today.”He finally looked up. Just briefly. “I know.”She waited. Nothing followed.“Aren’t you… coming with me?”That made him pause. He lowered his hand slowly, his expression unreadable. “Karen, I have meetings stacked back to back. I can’t start missing work for routine appointments.”Her brows furrowed.