c49

Harmonie gave Corinne the trophy she had won. And she went back to her class to celebrate her victory.

Hazel walked in and wanted a hug from Chloé and Harmonie. But her two nieces chose to ignore her.

With a sigh, Hazel saw them run away again and took her red whistle out of her jacket pocket and put it to her lips. A whistle sounded and Harmonie and Chloé stopped what they were doing.

'Fuck,' they thought at the same time.

Several minutes later

It was time for Chloé and her group to return.

"Okay, who's going up with whom?" asked Chloé.

"Marc is here," Harmonie said with a nod, then went over to her two bodyguards. 

Then she asked them, "Will you accompany me home?"

The two looked at each other, then shook their heads, "No, that's okay; Hazel and Valérie will be with you. Plus Chloé," the man said.

Then the woman added, "But we won't be far away. If you feel anything is wrong, call us, and we'll come to get you, or ask one of them to bring you to us. Okay?"

Harmonie nodded as she heard footsteps approaching and Hazel appeared before her. 

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at Harmonie and then at the instructors.

"Oh, we just told her to let us know in case..." the woman said without finishing her sentence.

Hazel nodded, then stroked Harmonie's head, "Don't worry, we'll take good care of our champion."

The two instructors nodded and walked to their car. Harmonie didn't take her eyes off them until the car was out of sight.

"Let's go," Hazel said to Harmonie.

...

The group arrived at Harmonie's, all planning to stay at the mansion again.

Cassandra entered with Adélaïde in her arms, Corine following in her footsteps. Grace then saw Chloé and Sylvia enter, hand in hand.

Valérie entered with Hazel, who chatted with her.

Harmonie approached Cassandra and took the child from her after she had also entered the house.

Harmonie held Adélaïde in her arms and held Cassandra's hand in her other hand. 

Chloé moved closer to Grace, while Sylvia went over to Cassandra.

"Grace, could you ask the maids to take care of the guest rooms, please?" Hazel heard as she came up to them.

When Hazel was at Chloé's side, she wrapped her arms around Chloé and put her head on her shoulder.

"Can you ask someone to take care of the bags in the cars, please?" she said to Grace, who nodded and said she would take care of them all.

Then they joined the others in the living room. 

"So, what movies do you want to watch?" asked Valérie, with Corine on her lap.

"A horror movie!" exclaimed Chloé.

"Says the one who's most afraid of a horror movie," Sylvia said quietly, but Chloé stretched out next to her.

"Shhh... don't say that," she whispered and nudged Sylvia gently.

"Hey!" Sylvia called out softly, "Then I won't hug you when you freak out, sweetheart," Sylvia whispered back.

"What? No!" Chloé said in a small voice. Sylvia burst out laughing, and Chloé sulked and ignored her.

"Oh, are you sulking now?" said Sylvia, touching Chloé's side, which startled her, who glared at her. But that didn't impress Sylvia, who continued to laugh. Chloé hid her smile as best she could and continued to act as if she was still sulking.

Sylvia stopped when she saw that Chloé was still sulking and hugged her. "Sorry, darling, I didn't know you were ticklish. Stop pouting now," she said, kissing her on the forehead. 

Chloé tried to get back at Sylvia, but soon realized that Sylvia wasn't ticklish. She pouted again when she saw Sylvia's smile.

Sylvia said nothing, just tightened her grip on Chloé. Her eyes fell on the TV, and she saw that the others had decided to watch a comedy after all.

Harmonie's eyes were glued to the TV, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head towards Hazel, who motioned for her to follow.

Then she saw Hazel walk away, turned her eyes back to the TV, and after a few seconds of hesitation, decided to follow Hazel. 

"Hey, Mama. Go with mommy, Dada has to do something important real quick. Okay?" she said softly to the little one in her arms. 

Despite her pout, Adélaïde stretched out her arms to her mommy. Cassandra took her into her arms. 

Harmonie saw her daughter turn her little head away from her, "I'm sorry, Mama," she said, kissing her daughter on the head. Then she got up and went to join Hazel, not asking the others to stop the movie and wait for her.

"Let's take a bathroom break, I have to go quickly," Chloé said after a few minutes, and Valérie decided to follow her.

"Why is it always the two of us?" asked Chloe.

"It's the chemistry between us," Valérie said with a grin, and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously. You came with me last time, and besides, I have to get us some more popcorn and snacks, so I'll go with you," Valérie added.

...

"Do you think they fell asleep again?" asked Valérie, and Chloé shrugged.

"Let's go and see," she said.

Chloé POV

As we got closer to Harmonie's room, we could hear their voices, but we couldn't make out what they were saying. It sounded like they were arguing, which made us quicken our steps.

"NO!" Harmonie shouted, making us jump and stop.

The door was slightly ajar so we couldn't see inside, but we were close enough to hear what they were saying. They weren't whispering.

"I know this hurts you, Harmonie, but at some point, you're going to have to tell her the truth," Hazel said, we almost couldn't hear her because she spoke so softly.

"I said no, I'm not going to change my mind, she doesn't need to know, and you shouldn't have taken that test." I know it wasn't right to eavesdrop, but I wondered who they were talking about and what test. 

A thought popped into my head.

It must have something to do with the mission. I concluded, then I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and when I turned around I saw Valérie gesture as if to ask me what they were talking about. And I just shrugged because I wasn't sure myself.

"Harmonie, try to understand," Hazel began,

"I said no!" Harmonie looked like she was about to lose it.

"You would have to tell Cassandra one day that Adélaïde is her biological daughter and also-" Hazel began calmly.

'What!' My eyes widened and in shock I felt like a big idiot, interrupting Hazel's sentence.

After finding myself face down on the floor, my eyes returned to Valérie, who also looked shocked at what she'd just learned.

Then we heard the door open and Hazel looked at me, then back at Valérie, then sighed, "What are you doing here and why are you on the floor?" Hazel asked as I stood up.

"We were looking for you because you took too long, we thought you'd fallen asleep again and like a big idiot I fell on the floor."

Valérie had quickly understood and shook her head as if disappointed by my bullshit, "I'm not going to lie, I didn't miss on this one." I said with a grimace as I massaged my wrist, which was starting to take on color.

"Go get some ice, Harmonie and I will be down in two minutes."

I think she must have believed me, since I had a reputation for falling for no reason, and I really hurt myself.

Valérie helped me move around because, apparently, I had also hurt my ankle.

'I didn't know I was so fragile. Anyway, I hope it doesn't get worse.' 

 And then I heard Harmonie's bedroom door close behind us.

All the way to the kitchen we hadn't said a word to each other, I think we were trying to digest what we had just learned, I still couldn't believe it. After placing the ice cubes on the painful parts of my body with the help of a worried Grace, I sat down on the counter, I really didn't know what to think.

'Actually, I'm not that surprised about Adélaïde and Cassandra, since I had my doubts, but-'

"Doesn't she want to tell her?" asked Valérie, pulling me out of my thoughts. There was no one in the kitchen but us, and the doors were closed.

"That's what I don't understand, the whole point of our return was to find the baby's parents, that was our number 1 mission. Now that we know who her mother is, why doesn't she tell her, especially since it's Cassandra, for God's sake." I say, massaging my face.

'Is it because Cassandra had a child with someone else? If that's the reason, it's stupid of her. But that's not Harmonie's style, there must be something going on with her.'

"Hey, hey, calm down. We'll just have to ask her, but I promise that if she doesn't have a good reason for the delay... I'll tell Cassandra myself. The bond she already has with the little one is wonderful, and I know it will make her very happy to have her child back that was taken from her at birth." I nodded in agreement with what she said, "Wait-"

I looked at her in confusion, "No, that's not possible," she whispered.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"What's Cassandra's last name again?"

"What?"

"What's her full name?"

"Cassandra Aster. Why?"

"Her little sister is Cassidy. Her father's name is Charlie and her mother's name is Clara, isn't it?"

"Yes, how do you know that?"

"The little one had just celebrated her second birthday."

"Yes," I answered, even though it wasn't a question from her.

" Damn, that's why she looked familiar from the moment I met her. She's the one. Oh fuck, it's a small world. Oh! Fuck." I noticed she was getting more and more agitated, without telling me what she meant. 

"What the hell is going on?" I said impatiently.

"You remember I made a trip here about three years ago. And that I told you I was working as a nurse in a hospital."

"Yes, and?"

"You still can't get that through your thick skull? What's the one thing I regret the most about that experience and have told almost everyone about?"

Trying to find the memories where she talks about her experience, I said.

"You had told us that you had attended the birth of a child, a young woman of 19, and that afterward, with the help of the pediatricians, you had taken care of the baby with them. And that a few days later you learned that the baby had died a few hours after birth, although you were sure that there was nothing wrong with him and that he had been born perfectly healthy."

"Ah! Now I understand." Finally understanding what she was getting at, I then added in a troubled tone, "But you said it was a boy."

"I must have gotten the gender wrong when I told you, the baby was a girl, and it's definitely her."

I nodded, "You witnessed Adélaïde's birth." I exclaimed, smiling.

"Yes!" she said, making small jumps. 'This little one is loved. Extremely loved.'

"Well, now it's confirmed, we have to tell her," I finally said, and Valérie nodded.

'Valérie was lucky enough to witness her birth, that's wow. And Adélaïde is Cassandra's daughter, wow... .... '

As much as we wanted to tell her the truth, we were afraid of her reaction, so Valérie and I decided not to mention the fact that Harmonie didn't want to tell her, and later we would ask Harmonie why.

"Where's Cassandra?" asked Valérie when she saw that everyone was there except Cassandra.

"She went to put the baby to bed," Cassidy replied.

'Hm... that gives me a chance to catch my breath.'

I had the feeling that my stomach was twisting and turning so much that I was stressed, and when I saw Valerie's left leg, which hadn't stopped moving, I knew that she was too.

'Okay, that's good news for her. You can do this, Chloé.' I tried as hard as I could to relax.

We finally heard the sound of heels approaching, I avoided looking at her coming because what I knew was weighing on my conscience every second that passed.

She finally settled into her seat, which was to my left.

I won't lie, I didn't know when to break the news to her. I thought maybe I could pull her aside and tell her.

Suddenly, Cassidy stood up, her eyes glued to her phone. She abruptly raised her head and glared at Harmonie.

"How dare you?" she said, glowering.

'She knows...' I quickly turned my head to Valérie, who was also looking at me with the same surprise in her eyes.

Cassidy moved closer to Harmonie, holding her by the collar of her shirt, "How dare you! Who do you think you are?" she shouted, tears of rage streaming from her eyes.

Harmonie looked at her blankly, Hazel stood up and separated them. 

"Let go of me!" said Cassidy, continuing to struggle in Hazel's arms, who had a firm grip on her. She was furious.

"Why won't you tell her?" I quickly looked at Valerie, eyes wide.

'What the hell is she doing? She's adding fuel to the fire.' This was a very, very bad idea.

And I wasn't the only one who looked shocked by what she had said.

"What are you talking about?" Harmonie finally replied, her eyebrows slightly raised.

Looking at her, I realized that she might have had an idea of what Valerie wanted to ask her, but she wasn't sure.

"Why don't you want to tell Cassandra the truth?" said Valérie in a more serious tone. She, too, was beginning to get annoyed.

"Did you hear our discussion?" asked Hazel. That confirmed she believed us.

Her grip on Cassidy weakened, allowing Cassidy to take advantage and escape. Cassidy threw a punch at Harmonie, who caught her fist. 

Harmonie looked at Cassidy and then smiled, further irritating Cassidy, who decided to throw her other fist. 

Harmonie dodged it with ease, and in one swift move, she knocked Cassidy off her feet.

"Yes, we heard it, and I still don't understand her reaction," Valérie replied to Hazel as she got up from the sofa and looked at Harmonie, her eyebrows furrowed.

Cassidy was on the floor, wincing in pain.

"Answer my question: why won't you tell Cassandra?" asked Valérie again.

'She was really starting to heat up.' I stood up too, because knowing Valérie, this could quickly end in a fight.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cassidy, still grunting in pain on the floor and then trying to get to her feet.

Her answer quickly made me realize that she didn't know anything and that we had made a mistake. I looked at Valérie, but she didn't seem to have heard anything, and she was gone.

Then I noticed that Sylvia and Corine were still there. 

Cassidy tried to attack Harmonie again, but Hazel grabbed her again, and it was clear that she wasn't going to get out of this as easily as she had in the beginning.

"What the hell is going on? And you let me go!" said Cassidy, but she couldn't even fight anymore.

Now's a good time to take Cassandra aside.

"Cass-" I started before being interrupted by Valérie.

"Ask Harmonie. Who still hasn't answered my fucking question." Harmonie had her head down and still didn't say anything. Valérie didn't like that at all. And she exploded.

"YOU KNOW SHE'S SUFFERED, THESE LAST THREE YEARS!!!" she shouted, it wasn't a question but a statement.

"Calm down," I said, stopping her from approaching Harmonie.

"She has suffered and continues to suffer. Our goal was not to make her suffer any longer. So why didn't you tell her?" I think the fact that we played so many games gave Valérie time to boil inside.

"Our goal was to make the little girl normal again. And you..." Her voice cracked and tears began to flow.

"Our goal was to make her happy and stop her suffering, so why?" said Valérie with a firmer tone at the end of her sentence. The tears still flowed.

Except for the four of us, the others didn't know what they were talking about, of course, but they were up anyway after Cassidy had abruptly gotten up from the sofa earlier.

I looked at Cassandra and her sister, who both had questioning looks on their faces. Cassidy had calmed down, but was still in Hazel's hands.

Valérie took advantage of my lack of attention to distract me and walked over to Harmonie, who had raised her head and landed a punch that Harmonie didn't dodge before grabbing her shirt.

"ANSWER ME, DAMN IT! WHY?" Hazel quickly separated them after letting go of Cassidy. And I blocked Cassidy, who tried to charge back, in my arms, while Hazel had Valérie in her arms.

"What are you talking about? And Cassidy stops right now." Cassandra demanded very firmly, despite her hard expression, you could see the concern in her eyes, and those eyes looked at all four of us in turn after glaring at her sister.

Valérie wiped away her tears, "Well if that's the way it is, I'll tell her for you."

Seeing Harmonie still unresponsive, her head dropped again. Valérie turned back to Cassandra, "When we went to the bathroom earlier, we went to look for them in the bedroom, thinking they'd fallen asleep again," Valérie said, turning back to Hazel and Harmonie.

"And we heard them talking about a test. Either you tell her, or I'll take away the possibility away from you," Valérie said to Harmonie, looking at her angrily.

Hazel looked at Harmonie, who was obviously clenching her fists, her head still bowed. She sighed, shook her head slightly, and picked up an envelope after releasing Valérie. 

Which reminded me that when they'd returned to the living room, Hazel had brought an envelope with her. I assumed it was a document envelope that Anna-Marie had sent to Harmonie again.

Come to think of it, I forgot to send the new action plan Julia asked me for the studio, damn it.

I let go of Cassidy, who had finally calmed down completely after her sister's outburst. 

Not understanding what they were doing, we all stared at them.

"Why..." I started before being stopped by a sign from Hazel's hand.

She took a sheet out of the envelope and glanced at it quickly before handing it to Cassandra, who, despite not understanding the situation, had reached out to take it. Cassidy and Sylvia approached her to find out what was going on.

Corine had joined Harmonie and asked her how she was feeling after Valérie's punch.

I saw Hazel take a sheet of paper out of the envelope, glance at it, then fold it in half and hand it to Harmonie. She took it and folded it several times before putting it in the pocket of her jogging suit.

'What are these papiers for ?'

"I don't understand, this paper talks about a DNA test and positive results between two individuals. What does that have to do with me?" asked Cassandra, her eyes widening before anyone could answer.

"Who's the other person?" she asked us with tears in her eyes, threatening to escape. 'Always insightful.'

" Adélaïde."

All heads turned to Harmonie, who had finally decided to speak on the subject.

"This DNA test concerns you and Adélaïde. The fact that it is positive means that you are related, and the 99.9% means that you are mother and daughter." Harmonie said, looking Cassandra straight in the eye, unprecedentedly calm, as if the events before and now didn't concern her.

Everyone, except those who knew, was shocked. And the most shocked of all was, of course, the mother. A mother who had just learned that her supposedly dead child was alive and that she had been seeing her for several months.

"I'm keeping the little one with me tonight."

"What?" exclaimed Cassidy, who stopped herself before saying anything when she saw the look Sylvia gave her.

"You heard me, I'm going to keep her with me tonight until tomorrow morning. After that, you can take her with you if you like," Harmonie said, still with that calm that bothered me more and more.

"I'll ask Grace to pack her bags tonight. With that, I'll leave you to it," Harmonie said, starting to walk away before she stopped and turned to look at Cassidy.

"Your friend is a bully. I've had my suspicions for a few days now, and today I finally got proof. Since we were the best class today, she took it out on Célia. Luckily, I was able to intervene in time and warn the principal."

Harmonie watched Cassidy's shocked face, then added, "She will be expelled along with the members of her clique. If you want to stand up for her, go apologize to Célia and let her do to you what your friend did to her." Then she left, this time without looking back or saying another word.

'Does Cassidy have a girlfriend?' I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Cassandra!" cried Cassidy as she caught her unconscious sister and continued to call out to her to wake her up, in vain, Sylvia and Corine were beside her.

I heard a sigh and turned back to Hazel,

"Take her to a guest room and have someone stay with her," she began before continuing, "The rooms are ready for everyone. Ask either Chloé or Grace where you need to set up if you don't remember. Well, I'm going to bed, bye," she said and left the living room. I ran after her because I didn't understand her reaction.

"Auntie Hazel," I called when I saw her, she'd clearly heard me because she'd stopped for a microsecond. So I decided to catch up with her, and when I finally came face to face with her, she stopped. Her expression was too complex to decipher.

"Out of my way, Chloé," she said to me, her expression unchanged.

"Why?" I didn't have to finish my sentence; she understood what I wanted to ask her.

" You screwed it all up," she said to me, at that moment a sad expression appeared on her face and a tear ran down her right cheek, which she wiped away before quickly walking away. I felt like my heart was being squeezed.

And I questioned all the events of the evening as Hazel gradually pulled away from me.

What have I done? 

I don't know why I felt like I'd done something so stupid.

As if...

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... I had ruined everything.

But what exactly, I didn't know, the only one who could answer me was Harmonie.

...