Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 61 - Chapitre 66

The message remained open on Seraphina's phone long after she had finished reading it.*Your father did not create the identity because he knew you would be born. He created it because someone else was supposed to inherit it.*Someone else.The words challenged everything she had believed about her place in the succession system. She had spent weeks discovering why her name appeared in hidden records, why her childhood had been concealed, and why two powerful families seemed determined to control her future.Now she had to consider the possibility that she had never been the intended successor in the first place.“Can you recover the missing part of that beneficiary field?” she asked Darian.He examined the scanned registration extract again.“I can try to locate the original file, but this copy was made from a damaged record. The missing section may not exist anywhere else.”“Then search the registration index. Don't limit yourself to the documents connected to me.”Caelric glanced a

I read the final message until the words began to blur.**AND YOUR MOTHER KNOWS WHICH CHILD HE FAILED TO SAVE.**The room seemed colder than before. My fingers closed around the pendant, pressing its engraved symbol into my palm as if the small piece of silver could somehow explain what I had just learned.Two children.My father had faced a choice between two children, and according to the stranger, he had failed to save one of them.I wanted to reject the message as manipulation. I wanted to believe the sender had taken a fragment of my father's history and twisted it into something cruel. But the photograph of his handwritten letter remained on the screen, its ink and familiar signature impossible to dismiss.“Turn it off,” Caelric said.Darian glanced at him. “The channel?”“The incoming messages. We've seen enough for tonight.”“I agree,” I said before Darian could respond. “No more communication until we know what we're dealing with.”Darian disabled the restricted channel and d

By eight the following morning, I had already rejected three outfits.The first looked too casual for a board meeting. The second made me feel as though I were attending a funeral. The third was perfectly appropriate until I remembered that Caelric's uncle had challenged my position, and I suddenly wanted to look like someone who could dismantle an argument without raising her voice.I settled on a fitted navy-blue dress, a cream blazer, and simple heels.Professional. Confident. Unapologetically myself.My phone buzzed as I fastened my watch.**CAELRIC:** The car will be outside in ten minutes.I typed a response.**ME:** I can get to the office myself.His reply arrived almost immediately.**CAELRIC:** I know.Then another message appeared.**CAELRIC:** I would still prefer to see you before the board tries to ruin our morning.I smiled despite myself.**ME:** Is that a professional request from my employer?**CAELRIC:** Absolutely. I need my calendar organized, my documents prepare