Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

The screen went black.Ava stood frozen.The little boy's voice kept replaying in her mind.Daddy isn't Ethan.She looked at Ethan.He hadn't moved.His face was drained of color."Daniel..."His voice cracked."Why would he say that?"Ava couldn't answer.She wanted to believe Ethan.She wanted to believe everything Adrian had said was another lie.But there was one problem.The little boy had looked directly into the camera.He hadn't sounded confused.He had sounded certain.Adrian's voice came through the speakers."Now you understand why you can never trust what you see."Ava turned toward him."Where is my son?"Adrian smiled."Safe.""Bring him here.""You aren't in a position to give orders."Ava stepped forward."You took my child.""I protected him.""You stole him!"Adrian's expression hardened."I kept him alive."Ethan stepped beside Ava."Give him to us."Adrian laughed."You still don't understand."He pointed toward Ethan."That man isn't his father."Ethan's fists tig

Ava stared at Ethan.Her mother's name echoed through her mind.Your mother.The woman she had spent eighteen years believing was dead.The woman whose face appeared in old photographs.The woman who had supposedly disappeared after the night everything changed.Her mother had taken Ethan from the hospital.But why?"You're lying," Ava whispered.Ethan shook his head."I wish I was."Damien stepped between them."Tell us exactly what you remember."Ethan closed his eyes.His breathing became heavier."The hospital room was dark. I was small. I couldn't understand what was happening, but I remember voices.""Whose voices?" Ava asked."Your mother. Margaret. And Adrian."Ava's heart pounded."They were arguing."Ethan swallowed."Margaret kept saying the babies couldn't be separated."Ava's eyes widened."Babies?""Two babies."He pressed his fingers against his temple."One was crying. The other was silent."Lucas exchanged a nervous glance with Damien."What happened next?" Ava asked.

“Ava…”The whisper came again.Ava froze.She knew that voice.Not because she had heard it before, but because something inside her recognized it.“Who’s there?”The lights suddenly flickered back on.Adrian was gone.So were the armed men.Damien immediately moved toward the road, searching the darkness.“Lucas!”Lucas appeared from behind the SUV.“He disappeared through the east entrance.”“Go after him,” Damien ordered.Lucas nodded and ran.Ava barely noticed.Her eyes were fixed on the woman standing several feet away.She was dressed in a long black coat.Her face was pale.Her eyes were red from crying.And there was something about her that made Ava's heart pound.The woman slowly stepped forward.“Ava.”Ava couldn't breathe.“Who are you?”The woman smiled sadly.“My name is Emily.”Ava's stomach dropped.Emily.The same name she had heard before.The same woman who had appeared in the underground vault and claimed to be her sister.But this Emily looked different.Younger.

The baby cried louder.Ava held her tightly against her chest, instinctively protecting her from the darkness.“Turn the lights back on!” Lucas shouted.He rushed toward the control panel.Nothing happened.The speaker crackled again.Adrian laughed softly.“You should have listened when I warned you.”Ava looked around the dark room.“Adrian!”“I'm right here.”His voice came from the speaker.“You just can't see me.”Damien stepped toward the ceiling.“Where are you?”“You still don't understand, Damien.”Adrian's voice became colder.“This was never about the Blackwood inheritance.”Ava's heart pounded.“Then what do you want?”“You.”Silence.Ava tightened her arms around the baby.“Why?”“Because you're the only person who can unlock what your grandfather left behind.”Damien stepped closer to Ava.“She's already accessed the vault.”“No,” Adrian replied.“She accessed the first layer.”Ava frowned.“What first layer?”Adrian laughed.“The Blackwood estate contains three inherita

Ava stared at the man standing across the corridor.Daniel Blackwood.Her father.For eighteen years, she had believed he was dead.Now he stood before her as though those years had never happened.He extended his hand.“Bring me the child.”Ava instinctively stepped backward.“No.”Daniel's expression remained calm.“You don't understand what you're holding.”“She is my daughter.”“She is the heir.”“She is a baby.”Daniel's eyes hardened.“She is both.”Ethan moved beside Ava.“You're not taking her.”Daniel looked at him.For the first time, something like emotion crossed his face.“Alexander.”Ethan stiffened.“Don't call me that.”“It is your name.”“It was a name you abandoned.”Daniel's jaw tightened.“You were taken from me.”“You allowed it.”Daniel said nothing.Ava looked between them.“Enough.”Everyone turned toward her.She stepped forward, still holding the baby.“I want answers.”Daniel studied her.“You have spent your entire life asking the wrong questions.”“Then gi