ClaireLe soleil s'était à peine levé, mais une nouvelle journée semblait déjà se dresser sur moi comme une épreuve. Le silence de la pièce était oppressant, seulement brisé par le bruit sourd de mes pas qui résonnaient sur le sol froid. Je traversai le salon, mes pensées tourbillonnant, et m'assis sur le canapé, les mains entrelacées, nerveuses, sur mes genoux. Le dossier que nous avions trouvé semblait peser plus lourd à chaque seconde. La vérité, ou ce qu'il en restait, était là, devant moi, et je n'avais aucune idée de comment l'affronter.Daniel était toujours dans la pièce voisine, occupé à fouiller parmi les papiers. Son absence, bien qu'apaisante d'une certaine manière, me donnait aussi une impression de vide. Je me sentais perdue, comme une enfant qui tente de comprendre un monde trop vaste pour elle. Depuis l'instant où les premiers documents avaient été révélés, j'avais l'impression que ma vie s'effondrait peu à peu. Tout ce que je croyais savoir de mon père, tout ce que j'
ClaireDawn is barely breaking when I open my eyes, but I already know this day will be decisive. The air is heavy, filled with that silent tension that precedes storms. In the quiet of my room, the events of the past few days play in an endless loop in my mind. The revelations weigh me down. Every document uncovered, every truth dragged from the shadows plunges me deeper into uncertainty.I sit on the edge of my bed, staring blankly ahead. My father. The pillar I had always seen as unshakable, the man I believed embodied integrity, is nothing but an illusion. A carefully constructed lie. The evidence is there, right in front of me. He led a double life, and I was blind to it.With a mechanical gesture, I grab the files on my desk. My fingers tremble as I flip through those cursed pages once more. Names, dates, suspicious transactions. The magnitude of the betrayal makes my head spin. I feel like I’m falling into a bottomless pit.Time is passing. My heart is racing.I have to talk to
ClaireThe air was heavy, almost suffocating, as I walked through the dark alleys of the old district. My thoughts were caught in a whirlwind of confusion and anxiety. The truth I had uncovered a few days ago, the secrets of my father, the violence surrounding me—everything felt more real, more threatening with each passing minute. But the most terrifying part of it all was realizing that the person I had always trusted, the one who had protected me since childhood, might not be who I thought. There were shadows over his past, shadows I had never seen before.I recalled the faces of those involved in the case. But there was one in particular that haunted my mind: the man I had come to know as Vincent Marceau. That name, which I had found in the documents, had struck me like a bolt of lightning. Vincent Marceau, my father's associate for years, now one of the prime suspects in a network of corruption and murder. I had never heard of him before, but deep down, I knew he was the link bet
ClaireI am here.Standing before this dark wooden door, breathless, hands trembling, heart on the verge of explosion. Behind me, the silence of the night. In front of me, the unknown, the abyss. This room I am about to enter is not just a place. It is a boundary between what I have always believed and what I fear discovering. A boundary between my father and his secrets. Between Vincent Marceau and me.I close my eyes for a second, take a deep breath, then push the door open. It creaks ominously, as if hesitating to let me in. The air is thick, filled with the scent of dust and mystery. The light flickers, casting shifting shadows on the walls. Everything here reeks of secrecy, of the weight of things left unsaid for too long.And him.Vincent Marceau stands there, motionless in the center of the room. He looks at me as if my presence were inevitable, as if this moment was always meant to happen. His gaze is unfathomable—neither hostile nor welcoming, just laden with a thousand unspo
Claire The room is shrouded in darkness, except for a faint light filtering through the curtains. I stand motionless, my hands trembling, my eyes locked on Daniel. The air between us is heavy, thick with a tension that makes every breath difficult. His gaze, usually so unreadable, is now filled with pain and confusion. I can see the internal battle raging within him—the fight between duty and desire, between justice and his heart.I never thought things would take such a turn. Every moment spent with him has only pulled us deeper into an abyss, one with no clear escape. And yet, the longer I look at him, the more undeniable the truth becomes. A truth I have been too afraid to face.— Daniel, I whisper, my voice unsteady, what are you really hiding?He turns his gaze toward me, his dark eyes unreadable. His lips are pressed into a hard line, and for a moment, hesitation flickers across his face. Then, in a slow, deliberate movement, he steps closer. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, each
ClaireThe rain beats against the apartment windows. It is soft yet persistent, and its sound seems to fill the room, as if trying to mask the heavy silence between Daniel and me. Ever since we made this decision, everything has accelerated. Our fragile yet intense alliance has thrown us into a whirlwind of events far greater than we had imagined.Daniel sits near the table, surrounded by files. His hands, clenched around a cup of coffee he hasn’t even touched, betray a palpable tension. I can feel the weight of it, the anxiety radiating from him. He is willing to do anything to bring this story to its conclusion—I know that. But I also know he carries an immense burden, one he never wanted to share with me.I approach him slowly and place my hand on his shoulder. He turns slightly, and our eyes meet. His gaze is tired, marked by sleepless nights, but there is something else there too... a glimmer of hope. I have become his light in this world of shadows. But can I help him free himsel
ClaireThe cold night wind blew violently through the narrow alleys, carrying with it crumpled papers and blurred memories. I walked briskly, my coat pulled tightly around my shoulders, but my mind was elsewhere. There was no turning back. Every step I took led me closer to the unknown, and yet, I couldn't help but feel drawn to this path I had chosen to follow, this path I had chosen with Daniel.The rain fell softly, a fine drizzle that clung to my hair and eyelashes. But I didn’t feel the cold. My mind was occupied with something else. The investigation. The truth. The friendship that had transformed into something greater. And, of course, the fear. The fear of what would happen if Daniel or I failed in our mission.The truth. That was what we were seeking. What we had to uncover at all costs. But at what price? I felt as though I was walking a fragile line, on the verge of tipping over, and I didn’t know if I could catch myself in time. Daniel, this complex man, determined to uncov
DanielThe air is heavy, almost suffocating, as Claire and I step into the darkness of the building. Dust floats in the beams of light barely escaping through the cracks in the walls. The silence is oppressive, as if this place had been abandoned for centuries—deserted by human life but haunted by an invisible presence. Something weighs on my shoulders, a dull tension, a shiver creeping up my spine.I’m not superstitious. I don’t believe in ghosts or omens. But tonight, there’s something that makes my skin crawl—an unsettling feeling of crossing a forbidden threshold. Claire instinctively moves closer to me, and I can feel her presence, her light breath, the weight of her unease. She says nothing, but I can tell she feels the same way.We move cautiously, guided only by the dim glow of our flashlights. Every step makes the wooden floor creak beneath our feet, the sound echoing through the heavy silence. The place looks as if it was abandoned in a hurry—overturned chairs, scattered pap
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
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
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
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
AurélieI stand there, frozen in the center of this vast room with its cold walls, unable to move, unable to breathe properly. Sophie's words still echo in my head, clashing in my mind like shards of shattered glass.I always believed my father was a righteous man, a man of unwavering integrity, someone I could admire without a single doubt. I built my entire existence on that certainty. But what I just learned shatters everything.My heartbeat pounds in my temples. This can't be true. There must be a mistake. A lie. A misunderstanding.But Sophie didn't waver. She didn’t hesitate when she spoke those words, and her gaze pierced through me like a blade sinking straight into my chest.I close my eyes for a moment, trying to calm the storm raging inside me. A part of me wants to scream, to reject this truth, to refuse to believe that the man I have loved and respected all my life could have committed such acts. But another part, darker, more lucid, whispers that this was inevitable. Tha
AurélieThe cool wind blew over the garden surrounding Sophie Devereux’s house, and I could feel my heart pounding harder with every step I took toward the door. Daniel, beside me, remained silent, understanding that words would only add to the weight of the moment. We were here, standing before the house that would reveal a truth I both dreaded and longed for.The door closed behind us with a dull thud. Inside, the dim light of an old chandelier cast shadows on the walls adorned with ancient portraits. The living room seemed frozen in time, as if someone had wanted to preserve every moment, every memory of the past. But I wasn’t here for memories; I was here for a buried truth, a truth I had to uncover for myself.Sophie Devereux was waiting for us in the living room, a glass of red wine resting on the coffee table in front of her. She stood up as soon as I entered, her cold, piercing eyes scrutinizing me, but there was no surprise in her gaze. She had probably known for a long time
Aurélie Silence surrounds me, heavy and suffocating. I feel as though I’m suspended in time, as if everything around me has stopped moving, leaving me alone in front of the unknown. The weight of the revelations contained in my father’s letter crushes my chest. Each word, each sentence seems to imprint itself deeply in my memory, looping over and over in my head, overwhelming me, dragging me into a reality I never imagined. The truth I am discovering is a kind of slow poison, a venom eating me from the inside, but I can’t erase it. It’s there, etched into me, indelible.I turn the letter over and over in my hands, as if with one fleeting glance, I could find an explanation that would lighten this burden. But the more I try to understand, the more everything seems to slip away. My eyes fall one last time on the final lines, the ones that echo in my head like a distant, incomprehensible, and threatening echo. My father… the man I’ve always seen as a reassuring, stable, loving figure, i
Aurélie The cool night wind blew through the empty streets as Daniel and I made our way toward the house of my childhood. The information I had gathered from Sophie Devereux's manor swirled in my mind like a whirlwind. The connection between my father and this woman, the unsolved mysteries, and the riddle of my past were becoming harder and harder to ignore. A part of me still hesitated, dreading what I was about to uncover, but deep down I knew there was no other choice.The lights from the house glowed in the dimness. The place seemed bigger and more menacing as I approached. The façade, which had once appeared warm to me, now seemed strangely cold, as if the house itself held the secrets I was about to reveal.I stopped in front of the door, my hands trembling on the doorknob. "Are you ready?" Daniel asked, his voice soft yet marked by anxiety.I nodded silently. Our gazes met, and a shiver ran down my spine. That look, full of empathy, support, and also a shared fear, strengthene
AurélieThe heavy silence of the hospital room seemed to suffocate me with every breath. The truth that my mother had just barely touched upon, barely sketched out, twisted in my mind like a knot of unresolved pain. Every word she had spoken, weak and interrupted by tears, had only added uncertainty to my torment. There was something more, something I wasn’t ready to face, but I now knew it was inevitably tied to my search for answers.I glanced at Daniel, who remained in the shadow of the door, silently observing the scene. His eyes were filled with understanding, but also concern. He knew that the confrontation with my mother had only just begun, and he wasn’t sure I had the strength to go any further without breaking down. But he also knew that I had no choice anymore. The truth, whether I wanted it or not, was going to change everything."What did she mean by… another truth?" I whispered in a broken voice. My trembling hands rested on the smooth surface of the bedside table, searc