Mag-log inShare
Chapter 21: A Witness
Huling Na-update:
2025-02-24 23:50:56
Kaugnay na kabanata
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 22: A Threat
DanielThe next morning, I got up early, though I hadn’t really slept. My thoughts spun endlessly around Claire, around the truth I was beginning to glimpse but still couldn’t fully grasp. I found myself at a crossroads, both in my investigation and in my personal life. On one side, there was the justice I had always dedicated myself to, and on the other, Claire, who was slowly becoming an enigma I couldn’t ignore.The police station was quieter than usual that January morning, but the heavy atmosphere only added to the weight on my shoulders. I made my way to my desk, glancing at the scattered files before me, but only one question kept looping in my mind: why did Claire always seem to be at the center of things, like a key figure, without ever actually being responsible?I opened my computer and reread Claire’s last statement. It was brief, emotional, as if she were trying to protect herself, to hide a truth that would condemn her if she revealed it. I struggled to decipher it, to u
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-26THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 23: Tell Everything
DanielThe silence in my apartment was heavy, almost suffocating. Even the ticking of the clock seemed frozen in a suspended world, where neither truth was ready to break free. Daniel held me in his arms, but I knew that this gesture of comfort wouldn’t be enough to erase the complexity of the situation. The murder remained unsolved. And despite the trust he placed in me, I carried secrets he did not yet understand.I slowly pulled away, but my gaze remained locked on his, as serious as ever. "Claire, you need to tell me what’s behind all this. I can’t keep working on this case without the truth. You know how important this is to me. And to you, too."I stared at him, my heart pounding in my chest, a heavy weight lodged in my throat. Each beat dragged me deeper into the terror of what I was about to confess. I had waited for this moment. I knew it would come. But the instant the truth would shatter everything still terrified me. Every word, every revelation could change everything. Ou
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-26THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 24: Breaking the Silence
DanielThe wind howled through the empty streets, carrying with it fallen leaves that swirled over the cobblestones. I walked briskly, my heart pounding in my chest. Never before had I felt such urgency within me. The words I had finally spoken, the secrets I had confessed, still echoed in my mind. But beyond the confession, beyond the weight of the truth, I knew that everything had just changed. My world, Daniel’s world, and that of everyone around us.The walls of my apartment seemed to close in on me, as if the truth I had shared was only the first step, a mere trigger. There was still so much to say, so much to understand, so much to face. Fear and shame had long imprisoned me in my silence, but now, the chains were broken. Yet every step I took led me to a new uncertainty.Daniel… He had believed in me, despite everything. But how could he still look at me the same way after everything I had told him? How could I hope that he wouldn’t see me as guilty, as a victim myself, or wors
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-27THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 25: The Truth Unfolds
DanielThe rain was pounding against the apartment windows, a loud and relentless sound. I stood by the window, arms crossed, my eyes lost in the darkness of the night. The water running down the glass reminded me of the state I was in: total confusion, a whirlpool of contradictory thoughts. After revealing part of my secret to Daniel, I knew I had no choice left. I had to tell him everything. But fear paralyzed me.Daniel had insisted that I speak, that I reveal the truth to him. But I knew that what I was about to say could change everything—not just for me, but for everyone around me. This murder, the ongoing investigation, it was all much more complicated than I could have ever imagined.I turned my head to look at him. He was sitting on the couch, silent, but his eyes were watching me with an intensity that spoke volumes about the worry he felt. He knew I had more to say, something important. He was waiting for me to be ready."Daniel," I started, my voice trembling. "I can’t tel
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-27THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 26: The Darkness of the Truth
DanielThe wind was blowing violently, rustling the trees around the small café where Daniel and I had met. The promises of a clearer future clashed with the shadows of the past, which seemed to swallow us whole at every moment. I was nervous. Even though I had revealed my secrets to Daniel, I knew there was still so much more to uncover, things I wasn’t ready to face. But I had no choice.I stared at my cold coffee, my mind drowned by the weight of the revelations I had made. I felt as though I had barely scratched the surface of a truth far greater, far more complex than I had imagined.“You know,” Daniel began, his voice deep, “we're touching something much bigger than we thought. If what you're saying is true, then these people aren't going to back down.”I bit my lower lip. “I know. That’s why I told you everything. Because they won’t leave me alone. Not as long as I’m alive and they’re afraid of what I could reveal.”Daniel’s eyes were filled with determination. “They have no id
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-27THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 27: The Truth Revealed
DanielThe icy wind howled fiercely on that moonless night. Daniel and I walked side by side through the empty streets of the city, our silhouettes slipping through the shadows like two ghosts escaped from another world. Our hearts beat in unison, but in the silence of the night, each of us carried our own burden.That evening, we were heading to a secret meeting with a source who might hold the key to bringing down the criminal organization we were trying to expose. I didn’t know why I felt so nervous. I had always believed that once I shared the truth, I would feel lighter, freer. But as we got closer to our destination, the pressure only grew heavier."Are you ready?" Daniel asked, breaking the silence that enveloped us.I turned my gaze to him, meeting his eyes filled with a determination I had never seen in him before. I paused for a moment, hesitant. The truth, the truth I had hidden for so long, was finally going to come to light. And once it did, there would be no turning back
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-27THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 28: The Truth Eludes
DanielI stood there, my hands trembling on my knees, my gaze avoiding Daniel's. The room seemed to shrink around me, the air growing thick and suffocating. The silence was heavy, almost oppressive, as if the words I had just spoken hovered in the air, unprocessed, unabsorbed. I could feel my heart pounding in my throat, each beat a cruel reminder of what I had just confessed.Daniel stood opposite me, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze locked on mine with an intensity that took my breath away. Confusion, pain, and disbelief were etched across his features. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard."Your father... how is that possible?" he whispered, his voice broken, as if trying to make sense of what he'd just learned. "Claire... he’s always been so... distant. How could you not have known?""I didn’t see it," I replied, my voice cracking. "I always trusted him, and I never wanted to see what he truly was. The father I knew was the one who always told me he would protect me,
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-28THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 29: The Darkness of Secrets
DanielI stood in the room, my hands clenched around the file I had just received, my eyes fixed on the papers. The printed words seemed to blur before me. I had always believed that things happened according to a certain logic, a certain ethics, but these documents… They were putting everything at risk. They confirmed my worst fears.My father’s name was everywhere, linked to corruption, dirty money, and influence in shady circles. Clandestine transactions, secret meetings… broken promises. Each page seemed to uncover a little more of the truth that I struggled to accept. I had always thought he was just a man of power, a respected man. But the information before me made me waver, questioning everything I believed."Claire?" Daniel’s voice echoed behind me, soft but concerned. He knew something was wrong. He had seen me turn the file over and over in my hands ever since we found it.I slowly turned my head to face him, but I couldn’t meet his gaze. My eyes were filled with frustratio
Huling Na-update : 2025-02-28
Pinakabagong kabanata
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapitre 72 : Le Poids des Cendres
SofiaL’air est lourd.Trop lourd.Chaque respiration est une brûlure chaque pas, une condamnation.Je m’éloigne de Daniel mais mon cœur, lui, reste là-bas.Quelque part entre la peur et la pitié.Entre l’amour et l’horreur.Entre ce que je croyais être la vérité et ce que je ne peux plus nier.Je n’ai pas fui pour me protéger pas seulement.J’ai fui parce que je ne reconnaissais plus l’homme que j’avais aimé.Parce que cette violence, ce feu sombre dans ses yeux, m’a rappelé trop de souvenirs Des souvenirs qu’on enterre, qu’on recouvre de silence, mais qui, parfois, se relèvent, hurlants, sous les décombres de notre mémoire.Et dans ses cris muets, j’ai reconnu les miens.Dans sa fureur, j’ai senti la mienne, celle d’avant, celle que j’avais étouffée.Je traverse les couloirs du manoir.Mes pas résonnent sur le carrelage glacé chaque écho me renvoie l’image de ce que je ne suis plus.Les murs suintent d’humidité et de souvenirs.Des portraits déchirés me regardent avec reproche.Des
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 71: The Promise of an Escape
DanielDarkness wraps around me. Not just the darkness of night, but of everything I’ve become, everything I’ve allowed to happen. Sofia is standing there, frozen in a kind of silent terror. I see her, but I can’t stop feeling the abyss growing between us. She saw the violence that took over me, saw what I’m capable of when anger and fear take control. And I know there’s no way back, that the image I built—of a man worthy of her trust—has collapsed, reduced to nothing under the weight of my actions.The men joining me are no more than shadows, ghosts in the night. Gabriel, still on the ground, gets up slowly, but he seems less certain now, less sure of himself. Reality is setting in. He’s understood this wasn’t just a fight. It wasn’t just revenge. It was survival. A battle for everything at stake.Sofia takes a step back, and I see the fear in her eyes, her trembling lips. She wants to run, but she’s trapped here, in this devastated room. The flames of rage that had guided me begin t
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapitre 70 : La Descente dans l'Abîme
DanielLe bruit du métal contre le sol, des chaînes qui s’entrechoquent, me parvient comme un écho lointain, étouffé par la violence de la confrontation. Gabriel se relève, une lueur de défi dans ses yeux. Ce n’est pas la surprise, cette fois. Non, il est plus calculateur que ça, plus intelligent. Il sait que ça ne finira pas ici. Il sait que je suis venu pour l’affronter, que cette rencontre est la dernière chance de tout effacer, tout brûler. Et pourtant, il me regarde comme si rien n’avait changé.Mais quelque chose en lui, quelque chose d’invisible, commence à vaciller. C’est la peur, je le vois dans son regard. Ce n’est pas de la peur de la mort. Ce n’est pas de la peur de moi. C’est la peur d’avoir tout perdu. La peur de perdre sa domination. La peur de voir son empire s’effondrer sous le poids de ses propres mensonges.Je n’ai pas le temps de réfléchir à ce qu’il pourrait encore faire. Je suis déjà en mouvement, une impulsion brute qui me propulse vers lui, prêt à tout détruire
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 69: The Inevitable Confrontation
DanielThe warehouse is plunged into total darkness. Not a sound, not a breath, nothing but the crash of my own pain and rage. The wind, which accompanied me throughout the night, seems to dissipate as soon as I cross this threshold, giving way to a heavy, almost suffocating silence. My heart beats faster, each pulse resonates in my head, echoed by the emptiness around me.I stop for a moment, observing the blurred outlines of the space. The smell of mold and rusty metal invades my nostrils. The place is vast, a warehouse abandoned long ago, with piles of crates, old machines covered in dusty canvases. Everything is frozen in time, like a vestige of a bygone past. But this silence does not deceive me. I know they are there. Behind these walls, waiting for me.I advance cautiously, my steps resonating on the concrete floor. The atmosphere is stifling. I feel a presence, invisible, that follows me. My instincts are on alert, but I am too enraged, too determined to let myself be paralyze
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 68: The Weight of Shadows
DanielThe wind hits the window. A furious gust that shakes the glass, like a warning. But there’s no turning back. Sofia is gone. She left me, and now I find myself alone in this cold room, with the bitter taste of silence in my mouth. The world around me seems to move on, without a care for what’s happening here, inside these walls. Inside my head.I clench my fists. I need to do something. To make a decision. But every choice I make pulls me deeper into this endless spiral. I let her go. I let her run away, to protect her. To protect us. But in doing that, I lost a part of myself. And I’m acutely aware that this was just the first step. The beginning of a path I never wanted to walk.The rain continues to fall, heavier, more relentless, like an unforgiving judgment. My phone vibrates on the desk. A message. I hesitate, already knowing what it means. Yet, I take it.“We found out where she went. Ready to make your final move?”I close my eyes for a moment, my teeth clenched. Gabriel
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 67: The Final Gear Daniel
Daniel The silence after her words is a chasm. A void that sucks me in and strangles me. Sofia looks at me for a second longer, and I read in her eyes the shadow of regret, of an impossible promise. Then she turns away, her body tense, as if ready to flee.But I can’t let her go.I’m a cop. I’m supposed to see things in black and white. Justice or crime. Innocent or guilty. But with her, there’s only gray. A damn gray that keeps me from breathing.“Sofia.”My voice is an anchor, a chain that holds her back. She stops, her back to me. The tension hums between us, electric, unbearable.“Tell me there’s another way.”She doesn’t answer right away. Her shoulders lift slightly under a sigh. When she finally turns, her gaze is an abyss I’m ready to fall into.“There isn’t.”Three words. Three stabs to the heart.I grit my teeth. Damn it, none of this makes sense. I need to think. Find a way out. But time is slipping away. The city outside continues to breathe, unaware of the chaos explodin
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 66: The Emerging Truth
DanielThe office is silent, except for the steady hum of the fan pushing around the heavy, sticky air. The heat clings to my skin, oppressive, almost suffocating. I watch Sofia, every muscle in my body strung tight like a wire ready to snap. My gaze is locked on her, unable to look away. Everything is suspended. Time, breath, reason. I know this moment is crucial, that whatever comes out of her mouth next will change everything. Not just the case. Not just this damn murder. But me. Us.Yet she keeps her eyes down, lips pressed shut, unable to speak. She’s fighting. I see it in the clench of her jaw, in the way her fists tighten on her knees as if holding her heart inside her chest. She’s scared. And that fear... I feel it in my gut. It’s eating me alive.I hold my breath. She promised me the truth. She looked me straight in the eye and told me she’d tell me everything. But now... now she’s standing on the edge of the abyss. And I’ve got this damn feeling that one wrong word will push
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 65: The Choice of the Heart
AurélieI stand in my father’s garden. The soft wind plays with my hair, but I can’t feel the slightest hint of peace in front of the scene laid out before me. Everything feels fake, staged—like a perfect backdrop hiding an unbearable truth. Since yesterday, since the revelations, I am no longer the same. Every stone of this house I once loved now feels foreign. As if I never truly belonged here.I turn my head toward the house, that familiar facade that used to comfort me. But today, it’s nothing more than a prison built of lies and distorted memories. Everything I believed in has cracked. My father… What he confessed still haunts me. All those years feeding me illusions, hiding his mistakes, his choices.I’m torn. Caught between anger and understanding. I know he wanted to protect me. But at what cost? The cost of my truth. The cost of who I am.“You’re here.”His voice startles me. Daniel. He approached without a sound, as always. His shadow stretches out toward me, and my heart ra
THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 64: The Confrontation
Daniel The rain was beating against the windows of the police station, adding to the tense atmosphere in the room. Gabriel stood there, his eyes fixed on the file in his hands. His mind was caught in a whirlwind of emotions. The truth that he had long tried to ignore had struck him with a brutality he hadn’t anticipated. He was no longer just a policeman seeking justice, he was now a man torn between his duty and his feelings.The murder from that evening was just one facet of the complex puzzle that had formed around him. But that wasn’t what troubled him the most. No, what deeply unsettled him was the figure of that young woman, Sofia. The prime suspect, a woman he barely knew, but whose presence unsettled him in a way he couldn’t explain. Every glance, every exchange with her only added to the confusion that overwhelmed him. An attraction he couldn’t ignore.He placed the file on the table, his trembling hands, and then collapsed into the chair in front of him. The wind outside wa
