A/N : Hello everyone! This is my first GG story, I hope you'll like it. I apologize for each mistake I made (I'm French) and I'm actually looking for a Beta if anyone's interested... Anyway, feel free to leave a review, I don't bite and I love them! :)

Disclaimer : I own nothing, except maybe a part of the plot.


Paris

Today was Cornelia Dupont's eighteenth birthday. She spent the day with her parents and her little brother, Maxime. She was a young French girl who lived near Paris and she had the world at her feet. The following year, she would be attending at the best French commercial school : HEC. Everybody told her she had her father's hazel eyes and her mother's curly hair, and she believed it. She had an inner sense of fashion that had made her save her money for two years to buy Louboutin shoes. Her family wasn't very rich but she was loved more than she needed.

But Cornelia wasn't truly happy. She had the weird feeling that she didn't belong to the suburbs of Paris and her family wasn't her family. She never saw a picture of her mother pregnant of her and she couldn't ignore her grandmother's dirty looks. The old Yvette Dupont never smiled nor hugged her granddaughter whereas she always seemed overjoyed to see Maxime.

"Mom? Can I ask you something?" Cornelia asked her mother when she was alone in the kitchen.

"Of course. Tell me."

"The other day, I overheard a conversation between Dad and grandma and she was muttering something such as... I was adopted. Is that true?"

Isabelle Dupont dropped the spoon she was using to melt the vinegar and the oil and turned to face her daughter. She sighed. What could she tell her? She couldn't lie anymore. If Cornelia had hazel eyes like Daniel and curly hair like Isabelle, it was only a coincidence. "Yes, it's true."

Cornelia stared at her mother in disbelief. "What? Why didn't you tell me? Have you even planned on telling me one day?"

"We talked about it yesterday your father and me and we wanted to tell you but we didn't know when the right time was. I'm sorry you learned it that way. I love you Cornelia, no matter what. You're my daughter and-"

"No! You should have told me. Who are my parents? Why did they abandon me? Is that why you gave that weird name?" Cornelia yelled at her mother.

"I only met your mother. She was a pretty young girl who wasn't ready to be a mother. I asked about you father, she told me he was a jerk. I feared he raped her so I didn't ask more, she looked so sad. I don't know her name, only her middle name, Cornelia. Her mother asked me to name you after her." Isabelle was talking in a low voice, she was ashamed. She also feared that her daughter may want to know her parents and would leave her and her husband behind.

"Fine. Do you know anything more? Where were they from?"

"I don't know. They weren't French. They had an accent... English or American, I dare say. They weren't poor. Her mother had an Eleanor Waldorf bag. It was written on it. Do you remember the ring I gave you when you were fifteen?"

Cornelia was silent for a moment, thinking about it, and then she remembered it. It was an old piece of jewelry she didn't like very much. The false diamond was too big and she wasn't even sure it was made of gold. She had wanted to sell it on eBay but Isabelle caught her and forbade it to do it. "Yep. Why?"

"Your mother told me to give it to you." Isabelle whispered, as if it was a death or life secret. "It's the biggest diamond I've ever seen. I guess if you want to know your mother, you should go to a famous Jeweler who could figure out who made it for whom."

"Do you think I could go now?"

"Of course not! Everybody's here for you. It's your birthday, Cornelia. You can go tomorrow." Isabelle said. Cornelia nodded and went back to the living room. She paused and watched her "family". Maxime looked exactly like his father but he had Isabelle's wide bright smile. They all looked like they were related, but she didn't. That must have been why her grandmother never loved her as a granddaughter. Suddenly, she felt like a stranger. She should want to go and sit with them, laugh with them but she couldn't anymore.

Cornelia went straight to her room and pretended she didn't hear her brother calling her. Even if Maxime was three years younger than her, he could tell her sister wasn't feeling well by her face. She looked everywhere in her room to find the ring. She finally found it. When she took it in her hand, she felt all the weight of the memories overwhelming her. It had belonged to her mother. She didn't know anything about diamonds except that they sparkle. She went to her window and managed to put the ring in the sun. It sparkled. She couldn't believe her eyes... it was so beautiful, so pure. She was sure that, many years ago, her mother had stared at it just the way she was staring at it. She noticed an inscription inside the ring. She looked at it closer and read : "Three words, eight letters... I'm yours & you're mine. C."

C? It must be a boy... Or was her mother gay? No. In fact, who knew? What could "C" stand for? Carla? Carlos? Camille? Clément? How could she know? C was a lot of names' first letter, such as Charles!

"So you found it. Come downstairs with us. Tomorrow you'll have plenty of time to try to find her and make clear that you don't want us anymore..." Isabelle sadly said.

"Mom! Don't say that. I love you all, you're my family. I've just discovered I was adopted and I think it's normal to want to know my biological mother."

"Yeah, you're right. But just for today, please, pretend you don't know anything. I'll talk to your father tonight in bed and to Maxime tomorrow noon." Isabelle demanded.

"As you want. Give me one sec, I need to check something on the Internet."

Isabelle nodded and left the room. Cornelia had an idea. Maybe, if she googled "Cornelia rich C", she would find something. Unfortunately, she only found things about an Eleanor Waldorf bag named Cornelia and other stuff that weren't very useful.

Tomorrow, Cornelia thought. Tomorrow, I'll go to Paris and visit every jeweler of the city. I will find a way to track her. I will go to the child adoption agency my parents went eighteen years ago. I may find something... I'm not going to give up...

Monaco

"Blair, mon amour, why aren't you ready? We're definitely going to be late to the Cristal Roderer's party." Louis said entering the room. Blair Grimaldi had been his for sixteen years but sometimes, when he looked at her, he was seeing a complete stranger. She was shining, even in her pink silk pajamas and her hair undone. She was stunning, even after all these years, but her eyes, when she turned her head to face him, were empty.

"What is going on?" Louis asked with concern. He frowned and sat down next to her.

"Nothing at all. I'm just a bit tired, I'm gonna get ready." she tried a smile but he wasn't fooled. Something was on his wife's mind but as always, she wouldn't let him figure it out. He stood up and exited the room to find his mother, the queen.

"Isn't she ready yet?" There was disdain in her voice that Louis couldn't bear but still, he knew she was right.

"Almost. She is not feeling well, I'm sorry, mother." he said. During those moments, he was feeling like a little boy who was being scolded by his mother.

"I've figured that one out, haven't you?"Louis didn't understand the innuendo. Actually, he didn't want to but his mother had been doing her best to prevent him from forgetting for the past eighteen years.

"I'm ready!" Blair shouted from her bedroom. Louis opened the door and welcomed her with a shy kiss on the cheek. She wasn't surprised. He hadn't touched her for the past ten years, since their son, Henry Grimaldi was born. "Shall we go now?" The queen said, glaring at Blair.

Blair winced but she didn't have time to swallow it in, Louis grabbed her hand and started to follow his mother towards the entrance of the palace where a limo was waiting for them. They all climbed in and the limo went on. "What's on your mind, dear?" Louis asked for the third time of the day.

"I told you, I'm just a bit tired, don't worry about me." She tried a smile and as always, she fooled him. The Queen glared at Blair, she loved her son more than anything and even though she perfectly understood Blair's grief, she only cared about Louis' happiness. He seemed happy in every way with his wife and their son, he wished she could give birth to a little girl with her brown curls and her cute deep dimples. Blair's answer had remained a "no" for the past years, she didn't want another child and the simple idea of giving birth to a girl sent chills through her frail body. He hadn't noticed she had lost pounds, too much, since Henry's birth.

The limo finally reached the front door of the party. Louis was the first to get out of the car, his mother and then Blair were next. Before climbing out, the Queen had to clear things with Blair for the umpteenth time. "I know it's been eighteen today since your daughter died but I thought things were settled: no more mourning in front of Louis, he doesn't have to suspect anything!" she muttered under her breath. Blair winced, she wanted to cry so bad. She wanted to tell the driver to pull off the brake and lead her out of there but she couldn't. She was the princess, she didn't own herself, she was her country's property. She had to stay for Henry, what kind of mother would she be if she put him through such as famous divorce? She remembered thanksgiving and birthdays without her father after her parents' divorce, she would hate herself if she did that to him.

Therefore, as she had done since her wedding, she would get out of the car, take Louis' arm and smile warmly at the photographers, because she was Blair Grimaldi, and Blair Grimaldi was a good wife and a respectable woman of the highest society of Monaco. Because Blair Waldorf had died many years ago in a white dress, when she said "I do" in front of the world. Because only a few were aware of that, and these were the ones who really knew her.


So? What did you think? I'll try to post ASAP and once again, feel free to tell me everything you think about it, I'm afraid my characters are a bit OOC.. I don't know. Next chapter takes place in the UES ;)

Nyah-Cullen