Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

POV: ElenaThe drive home was unusually quiet. Normally, one of us would have found something to argue about before we reached the main road. Jace would complain about a reckless driver. I'd tell him he drove too fast. He'd deny it. I'd roll my eyes, and somehow we'd end up laughing by the time we pulled into the estate.Today, neither of us seemed interested in filling the silence.My mind kept drifting back to Ryan and the envelope. I had told myself not to jump to conclusions anymore. The anonymous text had proved how easy it was to look in the wrong direction. Still, I couldn't ignore what I'd seen."You're thinking again," Jace said, glancing at me briefly before returning his eyes to the road. "I didn't realize it was that obvious." "It becomes obvious when you keep staring out the window." I hesitated. "I saw something after practice." His expression sharpened immediately."What?""Ryan." He sighed quietly."Elena...""I know what you're going to say." "Do you?" "Coach told you

POV: ElenaBy the time I reached the athletes' residence that evening, I had decided on exactly one thing.If Jace Calloway left another wet towel on the bathroom floor, I was going to strangle him.I pushed the apartment door open with my shoulder, balancing a stack of physiology textbooks against my hip. The familiar scent of coffee drifted from the kitchen, followed by the muffled sound of a basketball game playing on the television.For one blissful second, I thought he might not be home. Then I saw a trail of enormous sneakers leading from the entryway to the living room."Seriously?" I muttered.One shoe sat beside the couch. The other had somehow ended up in the middle of the hallway. I nudged it aside with my foot before continuing toward my room. The apartment wasn't large, but it was comfortable enough for the arrangement. Richard had insisted it would be "more practical" while we kept up appearances near campus. There were two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, a compact kitchen,

POV: ElenaBy Saturday evening, the entire campus seemed to be wearing blue and white.The university bookstore had run out of team jerseys that morning. Students painted their faces before heading toward the athletics complex, and every other person I passed seemed to be carrying a basketball, a poster, or a phone ready to record the night's game.I had never understood how one game could turn an entire campus into a celebration.Then again, I had never been dating its star player. Or pretending to be. I stood outside the locker room, waiting for Jace while the noise from the arena grew louder.A reporter passed me, then another. One of them smiled."Elena! Are you joining Jace courtside tonight?" I smiled politely. "Maybe." "Any special message for him before the game?" I almost laughed. "Don't miss." The reporter chuckled before moving on. I turned back toward the locker room. The door opened. Jace stepped out.His warm-up jacket was zipped to his throat, his headphones resting aro

POV: Elena I read the message again. Then again. The words hadn't changed.Ask your perfect fiancée what she knows about the Hayes family.My stomach twisted. "I don't know anything about them," I said. Jace didn't respond. He was still staring at the phone."Jace."His eyes lifted. "What?" "I said I don't know anything about Camille's family." "I heard you." "Then why are you looking at me like that?" "I'm not." "You are." He dragged a hand over his face and looked toward the city. "I'm trying to figure out why someone would tell me to ask you." "Maybe because they want you to distrust me." "Maybe." "Then don't." His gaze returned to mine."I don't."The answer came so quickly that I believed him. That should have made me feel better. Instead, it made me more nervous."Have you ever been involved with the Hayes Foundation?" "No." "Your father?" "Business dealings, probably." "Probably?" "My father has connections with half the people attending that gala." I looked down at the phone

POV: Elena For several seconds, I couldn't make sense of what Jace had just said.The music from inside the ballroom continued through the closed terrace doors. People laughed. Glasses clinked. Somewhere beyond us, an orchestra played something soft and expensive. It all sounded impossibly far away."You were there," I repeated. Jace nodded. "In your father's office." "Yes." "That night Camille left." His eyes dropped. "Yes." I stared at him. "Then tell me what happened." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I was looking for my father." "Why?" "We'd argued earlier. About my scholarship. About basketball. The usual." "The usual?" "You know what he's like." I did. Richard Calloway didn't have arguments. He had battles he expected everyone else to lose. Jace continued."I went to his office around eleven. The door wasn't completely closed, so I heard voices." "Whose?" he hesitated. "Camille's", my stomach tightened. "What was she doing there?" "I don't know." "You went insid