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Chapter 54: Shadows of the Past
Last Updated:
2025-03-07 04:15:20
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THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 55: The Weight of Truth
AurélieThe streets blur past the car’s wheels, but I don’t see them. My gaze is lost beyond the windshield, trapped in a void where memories and anxiety intertwine. Every turn, every red light, every anonymous figure on the sidewalk vanishes beneath the weight of my thoughts.I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t want to face what I’ve been running from for so long. But the past has a cruel way of catching up with us when we think we’ve escaped its grasp. And tonight, it finally catches up with me.Beside me, Daniel drives in silence. His eyes flick toward me at times, discreet yet attentive. He senses my unease. He guesses the shadows stirring inside me, even though I’ve never truly spoken about what I carry. Daniel has never been one to ask unnecessary questions. He waits for the words to come on their own, for me to be ready to speak. But tonight, I don’t know if I have that strength.A sigh escapes me. I want to break this heavy silence, to say something—anything—but no words mana
Last Updated : 2025-03-07THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 56: The Inner Storm
AurélieThe silence in the hospital room becomes almost unbearable. The only sounds are the steady beeping of the machines and my mother’s weak breathing, lying in bed, weakened by years of battling illness. The air is heavy, filled with a tension I can’t shake.My hand is still wrapped around hers, cold and fragile, as if it could break at any moment. Yet, despite this closeness, she feels more distant than ever. Her words still echo within me, like waves crashing relentlessly against the cliffs of my mind.He’s not the one who will help you.Those words hit me over and over again, a haunting whisper, an obsessive melody I can’t escape. Why did she say that? Why now? What does she know that I don’t?I lift my eyes to Daniel. He hasn’t moved from the doorway. He stands there, motionless, his face frozen in an expression I know all too well. Doubt. Uncertainty. Pain he tries to mask behind a calm exterior.I know he’s trying to understand, to make sense of what just happened. But even
Last Updated : 2025-03-07THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 57: Shadows of the Past
AurélieThe days that followed were filled with a strange tension, as if time itself was holding its breath. I spent my days at the hospital, by my mother's side, but my mind couldn't stop tormenting me. The investigation I had decided to undertake was growing more and more overwhelming, an urgency pushing me to unearth memories I had long buried.That evening, as I was about to leave the hospital, I felt a presence behind me. Daniel. He had the habit of silently following me in those moments, like a reassuring shadow, always there, but never asking for anything. Yet, that evening, something had changed in the way he looked at me.I turned slowly, and he gave me a smile, but a smile that failed to mask the concern tightening his features."You know," he began, his voice tense, "I'm not going to lie to you, I'm scared. Scared of what you’ll discover, but also scared of what it might mean for us."My heart tightened upon hearing those words. I had always known Daniel was there for me, t
Last Updated : 2025-03-08THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 58: Revelations and Detours
AurélieI spend several hours sitting in my father's old office, my hands trembling, my eyes fixed on the documents I've just discovered. The revelation is too much for me to absorb all at once. How could my mother have hidden this from me? And why did my father never mention Sophie Devereux? Am I really the daughter of this woman, this stranger who seemed to have played such a crucial role in my parents' lives?The papers scattered on the desk seem to mock me, their deep meaning hidden behind strange words and incomprehensible symbols. Suddenly, the door to the office opens quietly. I startle, my head snapping up. It's Daniel.He knew something was wrong as soon as he saw my face marked with confusion and disbelief. He approaches me but hesitates to touch me. He understands that the answers I've just found are likely to upset me deeply, but he needs to know what I’ve discovered. His eyes lock onto mine, filled with tenderness and concern."You... found something?" he asks softly, but
Last Updated : 2025-03-09THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 59: The Shadows of the Past
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
Last Updated : 2025-03-10THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 60: The Last Secrets
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
Last Updated : 2025-03-11THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 61: The Weight of the Past
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
Last Updated : 2025-03-12THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapter 62: The Decisive Encounter
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
Last Updated : 2025-03-13
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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
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THE ATTRACTION OF DOUBT Chapitre 70 : La Descente dans l'Abîme
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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
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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
