«Tell me that’s not true. You didn’t shoot your own mother, did you?
Stephan smiled derisively.
«Don’t you see you’ve already chosen to believe it, right or wrong? And none of my words will shake your certainties any more.
«But I’ll be willing to listen to your side of the story. There’s always another.
«There is. There always is. Alas, most of the time, it’s never really the one we’d like to expect. Life is definitely full of tragedy. Despite how we feel and how much we want to change things.
Horrified, Amber backed away slowly, shaking her head and looking at him with fresh eyes.
Of all the atrocities she’d feared Stephan might commit, she’d never imagined it would be of such abomination.
She didn’t want to wait any longer and ran off to her suite where she hastily packed her bags. If she forgot anything, Eleonora or Helena would send it back to London. As she packed her clothes into the travel bag, she was unaware that her face was streaming with tears.
She decided to leave that evening. She would leave in the helicopter that was to carry the last guests to Athens.
Recomposing a fairly serene face, Amber decided to go and find the Dowager Princess and bid her farewell. In the current situation, she was the last person she could say goodbye to.
She finally traded
But as she was about to leave her apartments, someone knocked on her door.
Straightening her head, Amber went to open the door, promising herself she would do her best to confront the person who dared to come and bother her at a time like this. But her breath almost stopped when she met an unforgettable gaze of brilliant green, which immediately plunged into hers, pinning her in place.
«May I speak to you for a moment?
Although overwhelmed by various incoherent thoughts racing through her head, Amber could still see how splendid Stephan could be, and how strangely his mannerisms hurt her.
«But why? she finally replied in a dead voice. Haven’t we said everything?
«We probably have. But even so, I didn’t want to let you go without at least a semblance of an apology.
Amber opened her eyes wide in disbelief. The words almost left her speechless.
«Because you know that? Apologize and repent.
He laughed.
«Apologize, yes. But repenting is a bit much to ask of me. I stopped trying a long time ago.
«Ever since you decided to kill your mother for a crime you firmly believed she was responsible for.
Stephan smiled thoughtfully.
«Somewhere that’s probably true.
He shrugged slightly.
«It’s strange, today I’m in pain.
Amber didn’t know what to say. Her heady scent was subtle, but Amber felt as if it permeated the whole room with an unmistakable intoxication. She could feel her body going numb and sinking.
«Forgive me for disturbing you, Miss Connors. Au revoir.
And after one last look, he left the room and disappeared forever from Amber’s life.
She sat prostrate on the bed for a moment, then buried her face in her trembling hands, feeling that something inside her had been extinguished forever. A few minutes later, a hand came to stroke Amber’s soft hair.
Intuitively, she knew who it was. An admirable, gentle woman who had managed to endure the power of being a Theodakis, of being a woman in love, and yet felt terrible that she hadn’t been able to preserve her family’s union.
«I know why you’re crying, my child. You’re lost.
«It would be hard to hide it anymore after what your beloved grandson had done.
Eleonara Theodakis laughed hoarsely.
«Oh, I recognize him so well, the favorite of my descendants. To hit people so ostentatiously, and without any doubt or concession, is a cruel trait he inherited from his mother’s princely line.
«With a destructive violence that no one can bear. That’s why I’m leaving tonight.
«So, you had definitely broken up with my little Nicholas.
«I couldn’t do otherwise. Stephan evaporated any deep feelings I might have had for his brother. And I hurt a family that accepted me for who I was. In one week, I lost everything that made my life.
Amber shook her head.
«Breaking with my heart all my certainties and my faith in life. He’s a monster.
«He is a monster. And he’s never hidden it.
Amber stood up violently and paced up and down the room, mercilessly trampling the beautiful yellow-and-blue Persian rug.
«And if before I was still uncertain, Nicholas’s revelation would have been enough to remove all my illusions.
Amber looked into the princess’ eyes, wanting to see the truth reflected there.
«You knew, didn’t you? He shot his mother. His own mother, someone so close to him. No truth could ever excuse that.
Eleonara Theodakis smiled sadly.
«The official version again.
Amber looked at her interlocutor, afraid to hear the truth.
«I was there that morning. Stephan was only twelve. I visited his family every year around his birthday. We’d both come in from the garden, shooting at targets. He was already so talented. To this day, I don’t know exactly what time we got home. We were just crossing the great hall. Suddenly, heart-rending screams echoed throughout the house. I didn’t know Ania was ill, but Stephan did. He immediately stiffened as the hysterical voice gradually approached us. Stephan’s grandfather had also come running. But too late, Ania had already arrived in front of us, gun in hand. Her father tried to calm her down, to lower the gun, but Ania wouldn’t listen. So she fired, at her own father.
Then she pointed the gun at her own child. It was more than I could bear.
I moved to intervene, and as I’d hoped, she pointed the gun at me.
Stephan’s long gun was still in his hands. He had no choice. He pulled the trigger.
He was only a child, but he knew exactly what he had to do. He was already so incredible, plus with the desire not to hurt his mother, he shot her in the legs. Ania collapsed in pain.
Upset, he ran to her. People were arriving from everywhere. With hate in her eyes, Ania only had enough strength to stand up and point her gun at her baby again. Stephan could easily have stopped her, but he did nothing.
He chose to do nothing. She fired.
Amber could have said so much, but the sobs choked her and she could only hold the princess in her arms and cry.
«No one had died that day, but Stephan had, in a way.
ns216.73.216.17da2
and then Add to home screen.