Chapter : The Lie Beneath Us

The name on the screen refused to disappear.

Lucien Leclerc.

Not as a husband. Not as my enemy turned lover.

But as a father.

To Amara.

The air around me turned still. Everything outside the screen faded—Elira’s voice, the sounds of boots pounding overhead, even the beeping of nearby monitors. All of it blurred beneath the weight of that truth.

Lucien.

Amara.

Father and daughter.

A lie that had been living between us this entire time.

“Adeline,” Elira whispered, leaning toward me. “Say something.”

I couldn’t.

My mouth was dry. My fingers dug into the metal table, grounding me from spiraling.

It didn’t make...