A/N: Here is the new chapter! I had troubles writing the end of it... I don't think it is my best chapter. I'm not that much into writing Isabelle/Cornelia, I don't know why. But, I love writing Chuck and Blair (apart, for now, but soon together!). You may recognize the character I introduce to you in the beginning of the chapter, I may use others referencies/characters from the same TV show... I'm in love with it (and so much other TV shows.. lmfao). Enjoy!

Monaco.

Katerina Petrova was a Bulgarian socialite of the highest order. Her family was as old as Bulgaria itself and she was a hell of a woman. Her skin looked like silk, her brown hair flooded her shoulders like an untamed river and her eyes shone in the sun like a Tiger's eye gemstone. Pretty was understatement and as soon as she arrived in town, each girl in the principality felt electricity running through their body. A little bit of competition.

She surely could have walked on heels higher than her, she almost did as she entered the Palace. The Queen was immediately warned of her presence and she waited for her in the guest room. Blair should have been there too but the Queen wanted to take care of the matter on her own. Both of the women were wearing black suit, as if they were mourning something... Or someone.

"Miss Petrova, welcome to our country. I hope you'll enjoy your time here. Did you have a nice trip?" the Queen asked as she stood up from the velvety couch she had been sitting on.

"Very agreeable, your majesty. Let's not waste time with useless civilities. I dare say we have important things to discuss." Katerina said. The Queen winced, she was quite not used to people talking to her that way, but she kind of liked it because she liked honesty and straightness. She invited the young girl to sit on the couch next to hers and they sat down. A maid brought coffee, tea and cookies but none of them wanted to eat.

"My son told me about you. He thinks you're a strong and very capable woman, but I need to see whether he was mistaken. Besides, there are other subjects, more private and delicate ones, we need to discuss." the Queen.

"Such as?" Katerina asked.

"We don't want to make the same mistake twice. You'll need to prove me three things: you have to be as strong and smart as my son describes you, but you have to be in love with him and a virgin." the Queen whispered loud enough to be heard only from Katerina. She blushed a bit, she wasn't used to talk about those subjects, and she felt a hint of guilt about that conversation. "Is there a problem?"

"Not at all, your majesty." Katerina whispered back. A wide smile spread on her face. She had always dreamed of becoming a princess and then, of course, a queen, but she had never thought her dreams may actually come true...

Paris.

Cornelia got early at the meeting at the Ritz. She had had to play smart to get in, people wouldn't let her in because she didn't look like a model or a fashion designer. She pretended to be some designer's daughter, she started to yell and to threaten to make her family and their friends never come back there. It worked, it was as if she had been made to manipulate people. Well, now she had to try to find the girl she met on the streets. When you see how hard it was to get in the Ritz, you have all the rights to expect only a few people in there. Well, you're wrong. It was crowded with model taller than the Metropolitan Building and people running everywhere, yelling, shrieking some stuff wasn't cut the right way, that a model had taken two pounds and it just didn't fit.

Lost was an euphemism to describe Cornelia's feelings. There was no face she could recognize – except the ones she had seen in the magazines -, she looked for the girl for one hour but couldn't reach to find her.

"Holy shit, guess I'm doomed to the end. She didn't even give her fucking name..." Cornelia muttered under her breath. She knew she was being rude but she didn't care, she had lost her path to truth, but she wouldn't give up... Not now, not so close...

"Hey you!" Cornelia turned around. The person sounded like the girl – she really had to ask her her name because she couldn't keep on calling her "the girl".

"You! I've been for hours! Where were you? Where's your boss? And, you gotta tell me your name." Cornelia chuckled in the end but she was pretty nervous.

"I'm Chris. I asked her whether she'd like to talk to you and she said yes but not here, her boss is there and she wants to keep her job as much as I want to keep mine. Give me your phone number, I'll contact you and we'll schedule a meeting."

They exchanged their number and Cornelia left the place. She was feeling uncomfortable but not that much, she felt so small, she wished she had been wearing her Louboutin. Those shoes... They made her feel amazing, as if she were someone worthy of the world's best things. Suddenly she realized she wanted to be part of that world. She wanted to be the one people – important ones – look to when they needed advices. She had always dreamed she'd meet her charming prince, but since her birthday, she had been having another dream : a fairy godmother. What if her mother was there? What if she was that tall woman with a bright smile? What if she was that one, perched on heels higher than her?

On exiting the place, her phone rang. Maman. She answered. Isabelle was worried about her daughter, she had barely seen her for the past days. Cornelia felt guilt, she still loved Isabelle as her mother and she was hurting her now.

"You're still my mother, you know? I love you, I do. I just want to find them, to understand, you know?" she said on the phone. She wished she was with her now so she could see her face and soothe her in a better way.

"I do. I fear the truth is quite ugly. I told you I thought your mother had been raped by your biological father? I don't want you to get hurt, Cornelia." she told her.

"I know. I'm coming home right now. Maybe you can make some hot chocolate – even if the weather is hot – and we could talk, like old times? Which are, by the way, not that old." When Isabelle heard that, she smiled. Her little girl was back but she had the weird feeling that nothing would be the same after all. She thought she should have told her before, she should have forced Yvette to be more a grandmother to Cornelia so she wouldn't have suspected anything. Everything could have been different and then, perhaps better? She was really scared of losing her. They were her biological parents... But she was the one who calmed her down when she had nightmares, she taught her to walk, to talk... She was her mother. That scared girl she saw eighteen years wasn't.

"Sure. I'm waiting for you!" They hung up. Cornelia stared at her phone for two seconds and tucked it in her jeans' pocket. She headed to the subway, she prayed for it not to be to crowded, even though she knew it would be. Yet, when she got in, it was as crowded as she expected it to be. She could breath!

When Cornelia eventually got home, she breathed in the smell of chocolate and smiled. She was home. Chocolate, marshmallows and macaroons – she could have sworn her mother had bought some. She threw her bag on the couch and rushed to the kitchen. The smile of the woman she found there was the closest thing to heaven she ever knew. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by guilt. She hurt her. Worse, she was hurting her. She was the woman who brought her up, who taught her everything, how could she have ignored that for the past days?

"I'm sorry mom," Cornelia said as she ran to hug her as tight as she could. "You know I will always love you, right? I know I already told you so but I need you to understand it. Whatever happens, whoever my biological parents are, wherever I'll have to go in the next years, I won't stop loving you, Daddy and Maxime. You are my family, I grew up with you all, I became who I am thanks to you. I'm not going to forget that." Cornelia could hear Isabelle's sobs. She knew the day would come when her baby became an adult, she had just hoped that day would come later rather than sooner.

"I know. Daniel and I, we both know that. You're the one who has to tell Maxime, please, play it nice, I know you will but... He doesn't need to suffer. I couldn't tell him, I tried but I can't. He loves you so much, Cornelia." Isabelle told her as she was soaking Cornelia's shirt with tears. The young woman slowly pulled away and kissed her on the cheek.

"Of course. Now, let's talk about things more... Enjoyable. Gossip?" Cornelia grinned and her mother beamed her a bright smile. She switched on the TV on E!entertainment and they started chatting and gossiping about celebrities, drinking their chocolates and eating macaroons.

"Looking at her! Isn't she too skinny to be an icon?" Isabelle said.

"Sure. Blair Grimaldi is... Way too thin. But she is so pretty. Look at her dress, Prada. She is so stylish, I could die for her dressing." Cornelia took a sip of her chocolate and focused on the TV. Blair was smiling at the crowd, but she was also clutching to Louis in a way that showed her weakness. She walking like a model on the red carpet, but her legs were shaking as if they weren't strong enough to support her weight.

"She used to be less skinny, you know? I watched her wedding on the TV, eighteen or seventeen years ago, she was stunning in her white dress – must have been couture, you would have recognized the label." Isabelle started. "I read things about her in newspapers, she was a new yorker, a queen of beauty who was bound to become a shark in courts."

"And then she met Louis Grimaldi and became a housewife. How awful. Don't let me give up my studies for a crown or a man." Cornelia spat. Isabelle stared at her. She agreed even though she didn't say a word, she would have liked Cornelia to find love, but not the same love as Blair. True love. If she had met her, Isabelle would have advised her to get a divorce or do something to be happier because, hell, that sweet girl looked so sad!

"She might not have had a choice." Isabelle muttered.

"Yeah. She was the queen of the Upper East Side, she was studying at Columbia, her mother was Eleanor Waldorf, she was rich, and yet, she didn't have the choice to marry whoever she wanted? Do you really I'm that stupid?" Cornelia exclaimed.

"You're right. But we only know what we read or hear about her. Life may not be that easy in those rich neighborhoods." Isabelle said. Cornelia shrugged and ate a macaroon. She didn't want to argue with her mother. Still, she was sure Blair could have won over the world if she had married the right prince and not that useless boy.

So, what did you think? I can't wait to hear any of your remarks. To the ones who asked me in their reviews about Blair's son Henry, I wrote Blair/Henry in chapter 5 :) By the way (I'm sorry, I'm telling everyone I meet/know cause I'm too happy), I'm done with high school! lmfao.

Next chapter : next thursday :)

Nyah-Cullen