Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

Chapter 31The board vote was less than an hour away.I sat on the floor beside Lila’s bed, watching her sleep. She looked smaller than I remembered, pale against the white sheets, the bruise on her cheek a dark reminder of how close I had come to losing her. She had asked no questions when we brought her here. She just held onto me like I was still the big brother who could fix everything.I wished I still was.The message from Marcus burned in my pocket like a live coal. Proof. Not rumors. Not corrupted files or half-truths. Something real enough to finally put flowers on my father’s grave without feeling like a coward.All it would cost was Damien.I almost hated how tempting it still was.The door creaked. Damien stepped in, hair messy, eyes shadowed with exhaustion. When he saw me on the floor, something in his expression softened. He crossed the room and sat beside me, back against the wall, shoulder brushing mine. No grand gestures. Just quiet presence.“You’re still here,” he

Chapter 33The board vote had ended thirty minutes ago.I sat on the floor beside Lila’s bed, watching her sleep. She looked smaller than I remembered, pale against the white sheets, the bruise on her cheek a dark reminder of how close I had come to losing her. She had asked no questions when we brought her here. She just held onto me like I was still the big brother who could fix everything, the one who used to promise her the world when our father was gone and money was tight.I wished I still was.The message from Marcus burned in my pocket like a live coal. Proof. Not rumors. Not corrupted files or half-truths. Something solid enough to finally stand at my father’s grave and say I finished it — if I was willing to sacrifice Damien for it.I almost hated how tempting it still was.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my father’s face the last time I visited him — tired, defeated, the light gone from his eyes. The official report called it suicide. I had spent years believing Damien V

Chapter 35The board vote fallout hit harder than I expected.By morning, the headlines had multiplied. “Voss Empire Crumbles: Insider Betrayal Suspected.” My phone wouldn’t stop vibrating with messages from former allies distancing themselves, investors pulling out, and reporters sniffing for blood. The company was in freefall. Stock down 31% in pre-market. Emergency meetings I was no longer invited to.I stood in the kitchen of the safe house, coffee going cold in my hand, watching Riven make breakfast for Lila like the world outside wasn’t burning. He moved with careful precision, the kind that told me he was trying not to think too hard. Riven looked like a man rehearsing normalcy.Lila ate quietly at the table, still pale but smiling faintly when Riven ruffled her hair. The sight should have brought relief. Instead it twisted something in my chest. I had risked everything to get her back, and now the cost was starting to show in the man standing next to her.I set my coffee down

Chapter 37I couldn’t look Damien in the eye anymore.Every time he touched me, every time he said we’d get through this, the guilt twisted like a knife I’d put there myself. I had sent the second file to Marcus an hour ago — more ledgers, more sensitive data. Just enough to keep Lila safe. Just enough to buy a few more days. But the weight of it sat heavy in my stomach, making every breath feel stolen.Lila was awake now, sitting up in bed, eating soup with slow, careful spoonfuls. She looked at me with those big eyes that still trusted me completely, even after everything.“You’re shaking,” she whispered.I forced a smile. “Just tired.”She didn’t believe me. She never had. “This is because of him, isn’t it? The man who paid for my treatments. The one you won’t talk about.”I swallowed hard. “It’s complicated.”She reached for my hand. “Whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t. I’m alive. I’m here. That’s enough.”Her words should have been a lifeline. Instead they felt like anot

Chapter 39By the time the second ledger surfaced, denial was starting to feel pathetic.I found Riven on the balcony, phone in hand, staring at the city like it held answers he couldn’t find. The night air was cold, carrying the distant hum of traffic far below. His shoulders stiffened the moment he sensed me. The screen went dark in his hand before he turned around.“Damien,” he said, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Couldn’t sleep?”I took a step back before I realized I was moving. The concrete felt unsteady under my feet.“You let him between us,” I said quietly.Riven went very still. The sharp-edged stranger who once broke into my life with murder in his eyes flickered across his face, then vanished. What remained was guilt, fear, exhaustion — the kind that came from carrying a secret too heavy for too long.“He has proof,” Riven whispered. “About my father. Real proof. He said if I give him the rest of your files, he’ll give it to me. And Lila stays safe.”The word