Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

The empty field on the outskirts of the city was cloaked in darkness, with only the glow from the car lights breaking the darkness. The silence here felt like a deep contrast to the chaotic screams of the mob they had just fled from.Vespera perched on the edge of the open trunk, her face pale in the low light. She winced as Trent tended to the jagged wound on her forearm, taking a sharp breath. This man seemed to be Ezekiel's friend, a closer friend maybe. Ezekiel had not wasted time in calling him some minutes again.Vespera's eyes were red-rimmed, glistening with unshed tears she refused to let fall. The whole incident had been a blur of terrifying violence, angry shouts, grabbing hands, and the deafening demand for a woman she didn’t even know.She had arrived at the hospital to get her injury treated when she was suddenly attacked.“Does this hurt?” Trent asked gently, his professional demeanor firmly in place.“It’s fine,” Vespera replied softly, her voice shaky despite her at

The next morning came fast and quiet just as the way Vespera hoped it would. She was already awake, sitting cross-legged at the center of the bed with a journal open in her lap. Her back was straight and her coffee was going cold on the nightstand beside her. She had been in this position for the better part of like...an hour. The journal was old enough that the spine had softened. She turned each page carefully so it wouldn't tear. She needed all the pieces of information that she could get without any mistakes. This was the third journal that she was going through. Lorna wrote about ordinary things first in the earlier journals, it was almost as if she was trying hard to be consistent with this whole idea of keeping a journal. Vespera figured out that Lorna was probably not the I-love-journaling type but had to start because that was the only way she could remain sane after all her ordeal. Then she turned a page and found Ezekiel's name. She read the paragraph over and over agai

A notification came at exactly 8:47 AM. Vespera was in the middle of having her hair pinned when Anne thrust the phone into her line of sight. The screen was bright showcasing the bond headline and a photograph beneath it that looked damning even before the caption could be read. "NIGHTINGALE'S REAL AUDITION: Inside Sources Reveal How City F's Newest Star Actually Landed Her Role."She took the phone, read it once and set it face-down without saying a word. The stylist's hands paused in her hair. "Keep going." She instructed. ...The story had moved exceptionally fast. By the time Anne pulled up the full article, it had already been picked by three entertainment blogs and was trending under the show's official hashtag. The photographs were the real weapon. It showed candid shots of Vespera amd Jerry at dinner, at a script reading, laughing in a parking lot after a late night at the studio. These were ordinary moments but captions like: 'Cozy dinners before the casting a

The envelope sat on the kitchen counter while Vespera made coffee. She wasn't ignoring it. That would be dangerous. She was thinking around it. She passed by it a few times, throwing it occasional glances as if it was some sort of spy object. The press conference aftermath was still moving across her phone in real time. Anne had sent eleven messages even Jerry sent four, threatening to send more if she wouldn't reply. The entertainment blogs were rewriting themselves by the hour. The morning's narrative was already successfully shifting toward something more favourable for her. She poured the coffee, sat down and opened the envelope again only to reread the message. 'I know who you are. Meet me alone or everyone finds out.' She set it flat on the counter and looked at it properly now. Who would dare to send such a message to her? She hadn't formed a close friendship with anyone yet. Who was watching her discretely? "I haven't even started yet somehow, someone is already s

The restaurant Katy chose for lunch was a quiet five star private booths. It was her most favourite place to come whenever she was feeling stressed out. She was already halfway through her sparkling water when Lynn slid into the seat across from her, slightly breathless with her coat still on. "You're late." Katy mentioned without looking up from the menu she wasn't reading. "Three minutes." Lynn set her bag down and reached for the water jug. "The traffic on Meridian was..." "I don't need the route breakdown, Lynn."Lynn poured herself water and said nothing. She had known Katy Sterling long enough to understand the difference between a bad mood and a baseline. This was baseline. You learned to work around it or you wouldn't last in Katy's orbit and Lynn? She had lasted years by knowing when to push and when to simply sit quietly and wait. The waiter came. Katy ordered without consulting the menu while Lynn asked for the first thing she recognized and handed the menu bac