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Alice stayed with her for a few more minutes before heading downstairs. In the living room, everyone was worried, and Richard's expression was the most notable in the room.

Seeing his ex-wife enter with a sad demeanor, he got up from the couch, a little distressed.

"What's going on, Alice?" Richard inquired.

"We need to talk in private, darling," she told her husband.

"Mama, I have a right to know what's happening to my sister," Junior spoke, sitting on the floor, playing with his niece who, due to the late hour, was falling asleep in his arms.

"Madeleine, please. Call Stefan and ask him to come," she told her daughter's friend.

"He's already on his way to Lourmarin. I told him this afternoon when I went to check on Katia," the brunette woman replied.

"Alice, daughter. What's happening?" Gael asked, concerned, sitting in his armchair.

She sighed and, without further ado, she told everyone what Katia had shared with her. The expressions on everyone's faces, except for Madeleine's, chan