Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

I couldn't stop staring at the photograph.The little girl in it had round cheeks, dark hair, and eyes that were impossible to make out clearly because the photograph had faded with age. She was wrapped in a pale blanket, sleeping peacefully in the arms of a woman whose face had been carefully cut out of the picture.My mother.I knew her hands.I knew the bracelet around her wrist.I knew the ring on her finger.Even though her face was gone, I knew it was her.I turned the photograph over again.She is alive. Find her, Claire.My fingers trembled.“Ethan.”He moved closer.“I know.”“No, you don't.” I looked at him. “You don't know what this feels like.”His expression softened.“You're right.”I looked back at the baby.“Amelia.”The name felt strange coming from my lips, yet somehow familiar.As if I had been carrying it somewhere inside me for years without knowing why.“Why would my mother name her Amelia?”“I don't know.”I looked at him sharply.“You really don't?”“No.”“Then

“Your husband's family came for her.”I stared at Grace, waiting for her to take the words back.She didn't.Ethan moved closer to her.“Who came?”Grace looked at him with fear in her eyes.“I don't know all of them.”“You know enough.”She shook her head.“You don't understand what happened.”“Then explain it.”Grace looked at me.“Your daughter was safe here.”I swallowed.“For how long?”“Almost seven years.”My heart broke at the thought.Seven years.Seven years of Amelia living somewhere I didn't even know existed.Seven years of birthdays, illnesses, first words, first steps and ordinary little moments that I had missed.“Why didn't you tell me?” I asked.Grace lowered her eyes.“Your mother made me promise.”“She was dead.”“I know.”“So why did you continue hiding her?”Grace's eyes filled with tears.“Because the people looking for her didn't disappear when your mother died.”Ethan's face hardened.“Who were they?”“Your father's men.”He stepped forward.“Which men?”Grace

The Blackwood Estate stood at the edge of the city like a forgotten kingdom.The road leading to it had once been beautiful. Tall trees lined both sides, their branches meeting overhead and blocking most of the afternoon light. Now the place looked abandoned, almost swallowed by nature. The iron gates were covered in rust, and the stone walls surrounding the property were stained with years of rain.I stared through the windshield as Ethan slowed the car.“This place belongs to your father?” I asked.“Technically, it belongs to Black Holdings.”“That isn't what I asked.”Ethan's hands tightened around the steering wheel.“My father controls Black Holdings.”“So yes.”“Yes.”I turned toward him.“And you didn't think it was important to tell me that before we came here?”“I didn't know this was where Amelia was.”“But you knew this place existed.”“Yes.”The answer came quietly.I looked back at the estate.For some reason, seeing the place made everything feel more real. Grace's story

The room smelled like dust, old wood, and something I couldn't identify.Ethan switched on the light.A single bulb flickered above us before finally staying on.Room seventeen was smaller than I expected.There was an old bed against one wall, a wooden wardrobe, and a desk covered with papers that looked as though nobody had touched them in years.I stepped inside.“This is where my mother stayed?”Ethan shook his head.“I don't know.”I looked around.“Then why would she tell me to look under the floor?”“We'll find out.”He closed the door behind us.For the first time since Victor had appeared, we were alone.I looked at the letter in my hand.“Do you believe him?”Ethan leaned against the desk.“I believe he knows more than he's telling us.”“That wasn't my question.”He was quiet.“I don't know what to believe anymore.”I understood.For years, Ethan had probably thought he understood his family.Now every secret was revealing another secret underneath it.I moved toward the flo

For several seconds, nobody moved.Ethan stood frozen in the middle of the corridor.I had never seen him look like that.Not angry.Not afraid.Shocked.“Ethan.”He didn't respond.I grabbed his arm.“Ethan, that's your mother.”He finally looked at me.“I know.”“Then go after her.”He turned immediately.We ran through the emergency exit.Outside, the parking lot was almost empty.A black SUV was pulling away from the building.Ethan ran toward it.“Stop!”The vehicle accelerated.He stopped at the edge of the road.The SUV disappeared around the corner.Sophie came out behind us.“She was real.”Ethan turned toward her.“You saw her.”“Yes.”“You saw my mother.”Sophie nodded.“I did.”He looked at me.I could see the conflict in his face.Everything he'd believed for years had just been destroyed in a few seconds.“My mother is alive.”I stepped closer.“Yes.”“She knew we were coming.”“Maybe.”“She knew my name.”“Of course she did.”“She called me Ethan.”I gently took his han