Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 5

ZARIELLE’S POVThree years. That’s how long I’ve loved Kael — three years of quiet mornings, shared dreams and promises I thought were carved in stone. We grew up together, built our world together and everyone said we were perfect. I believed it too.Until tonight.I stood outside the restaurant, my hand raised to push the glass door open, when I heard his voice. Not the voice he used with me — softer, warmer, dangerously tender.“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to be alone with you like this” Kael said.My breath caught. I didn’t move. I couldn’t.“And Zarielle?” That was my best friend, Elara. Her laugh was light, happy — the same laugh I’d known since we were seven. “What about her? She’s your fiancee”Kael scoffed. A sound that cut deeper than any shout “She’s saf She’s steadynBut she’s never been you I stayed with her out of duty, Elara. Nothing more”My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt Duty Not love. Three years and I was nothing but an obligation.“Then why

ZARIELLE’S POVTwo months had passed since I walked away from Kael. Two months of quiet mornings, of learning how to make coffee just the way I liked it, of sleeping in the middle of the bed instead of clinging to the edge. I thought I was healing — until the invitation arrived.It came in a crisp white envelope, slipped under my door. My name was written in Elara’s handwriting — neat, careful, like nothing had broken between us.You are invited to celebrate the marriage of Elara Reyes and Kael Monteverde.The paper crinkled in my hand. My breath hitched, sharp and painful. They were getting married. They were doing everything we were supposed to do — the life I’d dreamed of building with him, now being built by them.I set it on the table, face down. I didn’t want to look at it. But all night, it sat there — heavy, silent, a reminder that they had moved forward while I was still learning how to stand.For days, I stared at it. Should I go? Should I stay away? Part of me wanted to sho

ZARIELLE’S POVThe door clicked shut behind me, and I stood there in the quiet entryway, my hand still resting on the cold metal. The sound of Kael’s car fading down the street lingered in my ears long after it was gone. I didn’t move right away. My chest felt tight, like every breath had to fight its way in and out, but beneath that heaviness, something else was stirring — a quiet, steady kind of clarity that hadn’t been there before.I walked to the window and watched the rain still pouring down, blurring the streetlights into soft, golden streaks. For so long, I’d imagined this moment — him coming back, admitting he was wrong, saying he missed me — and in every version I’d played in my head, I’d run to him. I’d forgiven him. I’d fallen right back into the same old patterns because I couldn’t bear the thought of being without him.But today? Today I didn’t run. I didn’t beg. I didn’t even let his words pull me back to the past. I stood my ground. I told him the truth — and the truth