Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 30

The lights went out.Seraphina instinctively reached for the edge of the desk.“Dad?”“I’m here.”Caelric's voice came from somewhere to her right.“Stay where you are.”A faint emergency light flickered on in the corridor, casting a dim glow through the open doorway.Seraphina could barely make out her father's silhouette.Then she heard something else.Footsteps.Someone was walking down the corridor.Caelric moved toward the doorway.“Don't.”Her father grabbed his arm.“You don't know who's out there.”Caelric stopped.The footsteps came closer.One.Two.Three.Then silence.Seraphina held her breath.A shadow passed across the doorway.Then disappeared.Caelric waited several seconds before looking toward the corridor.“Who was that?”Her father shook his head.“I don't know.”“You said you knew who betrayed you.”“I do.”“Then tell me.”Her father looked at Seraphina.“Not here.”Caelric's expression hardened.“We're leaving.”They gathered the documents quickly.Seraphina slip

The phone continued ringing.Neither Seraphina nor Caelric moved.The name glowing across the screen belonged to the same person whose identity had just appeared inside the hidden Veyron authorization system.Lucien Voss.Seraphina felt the room change.For two years, Lucien Voss had existed in every conversation as a ghost. A former financial strategist who had disappeared from Veyron Enterprises after the foundation investigation. A man connected to her father's report. A name that had appeared in old photographs, authorization records, and now, apparently, the hidden system her father had spent years trying to uncover.And now he was calling Caelric.Her father slowly lowered himself into the chair behind the desk."That's impossible."Caelric's expression remained controlled, but his hand tightened around the phone."Why?""Because Lucien is dead."Seraphina turned toward him."What?"Her father looked between them."That's what we were told."The phone stopped ringing.For severa

Nobody spoke for several seconds.Seraphina was still holding the photograph.The child is the successor. Never let them know.And beneath it:Unless the boy finds her first.The words seemed impossible.Her eyes moved toward Zephyr.The little boy was sitting on the edge of the sofa, swinging his legs as though he had no idea he had just uncovered something that could change everything they knew.Caelric crouched in front of him."Zephyr, where did you find this?""In your old box.""What old box?""The one in the room with the books."Caelric's expression tightened."My father's study?"Zephyr nodded."I was looking for my red car."Seraphina folded the photograph carefully."Was the photograph inside the box?""No.""Where was it?"Zephyr pointed toward the hallway."It was underneath the drawer."Caelric stood."The drawer?"Zephyr nodded again."It was stuck, so I pulled it."His father exchanged a look with Seraphina."What drawer?""The little one."Caelric walked toward the st

Caelric stared at Zephyr."Grandma has another black book?"Zephyr nodded as if he had just mentioned something completely ordinary."Yes.""Where did you see it?""In her room.""Did she show it to you?""No.""Then how do you know she has it?"Zephyr held up his red toy car."I saw it when I was looking for this."Caelric rubbed his forehead."Of course you did."Seraphina almost smiled.Under any other circumstances, Zephyr's talent for finding things would have been amusing.Tonight, it was becoming increasingly unsettling.Caelric turned toward Seraphina."We need to speak to my mother.""Agreed."His father stepped forward."Be careful."Caelric looked at him."Why?""If your mother has another copy of those records, she may know more than she's admitted."Seraphina folded her father's letter and placed it inside the notebook."Then we shouldn't assume anything."Caelric nodded.He looked at Zephyr."You're staying here."Zephyr immediately frowned."Again?""Yes.""But I found

Seraphina couldn't breathe properly.The face had returned to her memory with frightening clarity.Not completely.Not all at once.But enough.A man standing in the doorway.A voice telling her father that the report had to disappear.A hand closing the black notebook.And then the face.The same face she had seen countless times since joining Veyron Enterprises.The same face that had greeted her in meetings.The same person who had congratulated her when she joined the expansion team.Someone she had never considered dangerous.The keycard remained in her hand.DO NOT SAY THE NAME INSIDE THIS BUILDING.Caelric watched her carefully."Don't say it."She nodded.He pointed toward the exit."We leave first."They moved through the corridor without speaking.The old foundation building felt different now.Every camera seemed suspicious.Every shadow seemed deliberate.When they reached the entrance, Caelric tried the access panel again.This time, it worked.The doors opened.They step