Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 61 - Chapitre 70

Damien’s POVAria answered the call on the second ring. “Mom?” Her voice carried too much fear already. I watched the color drain from her face further as she listened. Then suddenly she whispered, “What do you mean someone was inside?” Marcus moved instantly toward the door. I grabbed my keys from the counter at the same time. Aria turned toward us, shaken. “My mother says her study was destroyed.” No hesitation after that. Within minutes we were already heading downstairs toward the underground garage. Aria sat beside me in tense silence while Marcus drove behind us in a separate car. The city blurred past in streaks of gold and shadow outside the windows. Traffic lights. Late‑night storefronts. People living normal lives. Meanwhile everything around Aria continued unraveling piece by piece. She pressed both hands tightly together in her lap the entire drive. Not crying. Not panicking. Just trying to hold herself steady. I hated how familiar that look was becoming on her.

Damien’s POVNobody spoke for several long seconds after Marcus’s words landed. The silence pressed down on the room like a weight. Aria stared at him as though she had stopped understanding the space around her. “What?” Marcus stayed composed, though tension sat clearly beneath his calm exterior. “The officer recognized the vehicle leaving the neighborhood. It belongs to a contractor tied to Vale Security.” Confusion crossed Aria’s face instantly. “No. Adrian wouldn’t”“I didn’t say Adrian sent them,” Marcus interrupted carefully. It was an important distinction, but not comforting enough. Aria looked shaken anyway. My attention stayed fixed on Marcus. “How reliable is the identification?” “Reliable enough that the officer pulled the registration records himself.” I glanced toward the doorway leading downstairs. “Where’s the officer now?” “Outside.” I nodded once. “Keep him there.” Marcus disappeared immediately. Aria looked between us anxiously after he left. “

Aria’s POVSleep never came. By four in the morning I finally gave up trying. The house remained unnaturally quiet around me while pale moonlight stretched across the bedroom floor in silver lines. Too much had happened tonight for my mind to rest properly. My father’s letter. The break‑in. Adrian’s security vehicle. Vincent. Every thought circled endlessly inside my head until breathing itself felt exhausting. I pushed the blankets aside and walked toward the balcony doors slowly. Cold air greeted me immediately outside. Below, the city glowed beneath the darkness, distant and indifferent to everything falling apart inside my life. I wrapped my arms around myself tighter. Then I heard the balcony door slide open behind me. Damien. I recognized his presence before he even spoke. “You should be asleep.” A tired laugh escaped me softly. “That’s becoming everybody’s favorite sentence lately.” He moved beside me quietly. Not too close. Still close enough that awareness sprea

Aria’s POVThe elevator ride downstairs felt endless. The silence inside pressed against me until it became almost unbearable. Damien stood beside me with one hand loosely inside his coat pocket. On the surface he looked calm, but tension radiated quietly from him anyway. I noticed things like that around him now—the way his jaw hardened when he was thinking, the way silence around him could suddenly feel dangerous. Across from us, Marcus checked his phone again before slipping it away. His voice broke the silence. “You trust Adrian?” he asked Damien without looking up. The question hit harder than expected. Damien answered evenly. “I trust that he cares about Aria.” Not the same thing. Marcus clearly noticed too. “So that’s a no.” I looked down briefly at the elevator floor. God. A month ago my biggest problem was pretending not to fall apart publicly. Now somehow the men around me were discussing whether my ex‑fiancé could be trusted during a potential criminal conspirac

Aria’s POVNobody in the room moved after Damien’s words. The paused security footage still glowed across the television screen, frozen on the face of the man who had helped attack my father. A man connected to Damien. My pulse turned uneven instantly. “What do you mean he worked for your family?” Damien’s expression remained unreadable for a moment too long. Then he answered carefully. “His name is Victor Hale. He handled private security operations for Blackwell Holdings years ago.” Years ago. Not now. An important distinction. Still, tension spread sharply through the room anyway. Adrian folded his arms tightly across his chest. “And you’re just recognizing him now?” Damien looked toward him coldly. “The footage quality isn’t exactly perfect.” The atmosphere shifted immediately. Marcus noticed too. “Enough,” he said firmly before the tension escalated further. But the damage was already there. Because now every thought inside my head felt tangled again. I stared bac