Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

ADRIEN ORION POV The crowd was gone, and everywhere was calm as the sea. I felt a rush of relief wash over me. I was glad I came at the right time, the moment I saw the news. But one thing bothered me, was her indifference. Not because she looked untouched, but because she wasn’t collapsing the way I expected her to, and that expectation alone made something uncomfortable shift in my chest. Michael stood slightly behind her, close enough to be there, and that detail registered before I even fully processed why it bothered me. Kael stepped in beside me quietly, lowering his voice. “The situation is under control,” he said, eyes scanning what remained of the dispersing crowd. “But the damage attempt was coordinated. This wasn’t random outrage.” “I can see that. We have to find out the mastermind behind this.” I said, though my eyes weren’t on the crowd anymore, they were on her. Celeste didn’t turn around immediately, didn’t look for me, or even thank me, and that realization

CELESTE MAGNUS POV Morning came faster, but there was nothing soft about the way it settled around me, nothing gentle about the clarity that followed after a night I hadn’t allowed myself to sleep through. The foundation was already awake, already moving, already alive in the way it had always been. But something about it felt different now— not fragile, not under threat, not waiting for something to collapse under pressure. It stood on its own, steady and unshaken, like the storm had tried and failed to break it. Just like me. After everything that happened, after the chaos finally died down, I had slept, truly slept for the first time in what felt like forever. Not restless, not half-awake, but deeply, completely, like my body had finally decided it was safe to let go. And when I woke up, there was no lingering weight pressing against my chest, no fear waiting for me to open my eyes. Only clarity, and since then, everything had been moving forward at a pace I hadn’t expecte

ADRIEN ORION POV The words landed clean, too clean, like they had already been said somewhere else before reaching me. For a moment, I didn’t move, didn’t speak, because my mind didn’t catch up immediately; like it refused to accept the sentence before it could settle. “No,” I said finally, not loud, not angry, just certain. Her expression didn’t change. “It’s already filed.” That made something in me snap into place. “You don’t get to decide that alone,” I said, my voice sharpening as I stepped closer to the desk. “We’re still married.” Her eyes didn’t waver. “You have a mate,” she replied. I didn’t deny it, I just couldn’t. But that didn’t change— “And you’re still my wife,” I said firmly. That was when something cracked, not loudly but visibly, just enough for me to see something deeper beneath her calm. “And how many times,” she asked, her voice trembling. “have you remembered that before now?” I stilled, because that question wasn’t simple, it carried weight, history,

CELESTE MAGNUS POV After we arrived at my pack, I didn’t speak to anyone, not even to Michael. He came down from the car, while I remained in the car, as I moved over to the driver’s seat. I looked at Michael, who had a confused expression. “Are you going somewhere?” He asked. “Yes. Don’t wait for me.” I said, “You can go ahead and handle some of the important stuff in your father’s company you told me about.” He nodded, without asking questions. “Drive safely.” He said and began walking away. For the first time in months, I didn’t want to be strong, I didn’t want to be composed, and I didn’t want to sit alone pretending that everything I had survived hadn’t left something permanent inside me. I just wanted a moment where nothing mattered, where no one expected anything from me, where I didn’t have to think about the past, the child I lost, the marriage I had just walked away from, or the man who still somehow refused to leave my mind no matter how far I pushed him. So I left.

ADRIEN ORION The tension I had been carrying for so long started to loosen, not because it disappeared, but because for once I wasn’t fighting it alone anymore. My hands didn’t force anything, they steadied on her, holding her like I needed to be sure she was real, like I was afraid she might vanish if I let go too soon. The kiss slowed, deepened, like a battle and more like something I hadn’t felt in a long time—connection without calculation. “I’m sorry.” I murmured against her lips, my voice lower now, as I shut my eyes. “I’m sorry.” And I meant it. Because looking at her now, really looking, I realized I had been blind for too long. I pulled back slightly, just enough to see her face properly, my gaze tracing her features like I was trying to memorize them this time, like I refused to forget again. When I laid her back, it wasn’t rushed, and it wasn't desperate. It was slow, controlled in a different way, like I was choosing every movement instead of being driven by impu