Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

The iron gates of the Carter estate groaned open, a sound that used to mean safety but now felt like a warning.Evelyn Carter stepped out of the police cruiser. The asphalt was searing through her thin, worn-out soles, but she didn’t flinch. She had learned to endure far worse than a California summer.Ahead, the mansion loomed—a white marble tomb she once called home.It had changed. It was louder. White peonies lined the driveway, their scent cloying and thick, competing with the smell of expensive cologne and gasoline from the fleet of luxury SUVs clogging the lawn."This is the place?" the officer beside her asked, his voice dropping an octave as he took in the opulence."Yes," Evelyn said. Her voice was a dry rasp, a ghost of the melodic tone that had once charmed these gardens.The other officer, a woman named Miller, muttered under her breath, "I called them three times. The father hung up twice. Said he didn’t have time for prank calls about 'dead daughters' during a family ga

Evelyn knew the verdict before a single word was uttered. It was in the way her mother stood—spine rigid, chin tilted, a calculated three feet of distance maintained between them.It wasn’t the posture of a grieving mother. It was the posture of a woman managing a PR crisis."Evelyn," Eleanor Carter’s voice was clipped, devoid of the warmth that usually flowed toward Iris. "It’s just you. That space... the outbuilding... it’s enough."Evelyn didn’t respond.Three years in a locked shed. Sleeping on damp earth beside animals that were treated better than she was. She had hallucinated this homecoming a thousand times—the door swinging open, the smell of her mother’s lavender perfume, the words you’re safe now.Instead, she had escaped one hell only to find herself in another. And this one had her family’s name on the gate."This is wrong," Ethan snapped, his sudden outburst shattering the stifling silence. "Aunt Eleanor—she’s your biological daughter. You can't put her in a kennel."Iri

Nora’s eyes widened, her breath hitching in her throat. "You... you know him?"Evelyn didn’t answer. The muscle in her jaw pulsed with a rhythmic, aching intensity."Stay in the car," she commanded, her hand already on the door latch. "Don't let him see you. I’ll handle this.""Evelyn, wait—!"But Evelyn was already gone. She crossed the street like a heat-seeking missile, her rage wrapped in a thin, lethal layer of control.Inside the restaurant, the man by the window ended a call with the kind of clipped impatience that seemed to reorganize the air around him. Lucien Hale. He wasn't waiting for a romantic date; he was waiting for a business obligation that was late."I’m giving you ten minutes," he said into the phone, his voice a cold scalpel. "If you’re not here, I’m gone."He set the phone down and looked up.A woman pulled out the chair across from him and sat with a terrifying, quiet confidence.Lucien’s brows drew together. Evelyn Carter. Again."Can I help you?" he asked, his

Evelyn watched Nora pull the car back onto the main road. The morning’s encounter at the restaurant had left a bitter aftertaste, but it hadn't slowed her down."So," Nora asked, her eyes darting between the road and Evelyn’s calm profile. "You really have a plan? To deal with... them?"Evelyn looked out the window, watching the city's neon lights begin to flicker to life. "It’s already in motion, Nora. One step at a time. When you push someone into a corner where there are no exits, they become very easy to handle."She wasn't in a hurry. In fact, she found a dark sort of amusement in watching Iris scramble. Every day was a new game—watching her sister snap, crumble, and perform for an audience that was slowly losing interest. It was like watching a predator play with its prey; you don't kill the mouse immediately. You let it exhaust itself first.Earlier that day, Evelyn had made her move.She had gone with Nora to a high-end real estate agency. She didn't want a "home"—she wanted a

"Since you're so eager to back out, I assume you're not as desperate for the cash as the market suggests," Evelyn said, her voice like silk over gravel.Lucien Hale studied her for a moment, his analytical gaze lingering on her sharp features. He wasn't used to being outnegotiated, especially not by a woman the world considered "broken.""Fine," Lucien conceded, his voice dropping an octave. "If you can clear the full wire transfer by Monday, I’ll knock off another million. Consider it a discount for your... persistent tongue."Nora practically vibrated with excitement beside her, gripping Evelyn’s arm. "Evelyn! That’s incredible! Buy it!"Evelyn maintained her mask of cold indifference, but a spark of dark satisfaction flickered in her chest. A million-dollar discount. It seemed the "Good Doctor" did have a price for his ego after all. Or perhaps, she had finally insulted him into a state of clarity.They sat down to finalize the paperwork. The real estate agent was nearly weeping wi