Claire looked at him for a long time.
— I no longer attended the meetings. It’s not the same thing.
An independent administrator requested an external audit of the agreements, consulting services and benefits granted to Inès.
Laurent opposed it.
Claire voted in favor.
The resolution was adopted.
From that day on, no one sought to destroy Laurent.
Nobody needed it.
For the first time, he simply had to answer for his decisions.
The banks demanded clarification on several loans.
An insurer suspends its stake in a project of 420,000,000 € near Lyon.
Two administrators demanded proof of services corresponding to the millions paid to companies linked to Inès.
She resigned 4 days later.
Laurent showed up one Sunday morning at Claire’s house in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
He still had some belongings there, but upon entering the library, he already looked like a visitor.
— You’re enjoying all of this.
Claire closed her book.
— Non.
— Stop playing the perfect victim.
— There is no such thing as a perfect victim, Laurent. But a woman slapped in front of 180 people while her husband protects his mistress, that does exist.
He looked away.
— Inès has lost control.
— Which part of his behavior should I excuse? The affair? The slap? The insult towards my sons? Or the announcement of his pregnancy during our anniversary?
— She is carrying my child.
Claire stood up slowly.
— Why does this sentence seem to excuse everything in your eyes?
— Because he’s my son.
That word again.
Son.
As if Antoine had never taken Laurent to the emergency room after he fainted.
As if Mathieu had never gotten him his first big televised interview.
As if Lucas hadn’t mobilized his engineers for free during a crisis on a construction site.
Laurent had received their loyalty for 11 years.
Now, he reduced family to a matter of blood.
Claire felt something inside her close permanently.
— Then go and build your life with your son.
— It’s not that simple.
— Yes. It became so the night you looked at me with the mark of her hand on my face and asked her if she was okay.
He remains motionless.
Then his gaze swept across the library.
— This house will have to be shared.
Claire shook her head.
— Non.
— We have been married for 11 years.
— Under the regime of separation of property. And this house has belonged for 17 years to a family SCI in which you have no share.
His face changed.
— I financed the work.
— Your company invoiced them. The SCI paid them.
He stared at her as if he were suddenly discovering a version of their life whose rules he had never learned.
In reality, Laurent had mostly forgotten everything that existed before him.
The house.
Claire’s money.
His professional relationships.
His sons.
His story.
Three weeks later, the preliminary audit confirmed some of the suspicions.
A consulting firm was indirectly owned by Inès.
A second one was controlled by one of his relatives.
The third woman had made several insufficiently documented transfers to an account used by Laurent.
Approximately €2,300,000 required serious explanations.
Some of the services actually existed.
Others were almost impossible to justify.
When Master Marchal presented the results, Claire felt no satisfaction.
She thought of the 1,200 employees of Delmas Développement.
To the site managers.
To the accountants.
To the assistants.
To the young engineers who had just signed mortgage loans.
That same evening, she gathered her sons together.
— I want Laurent to take responsibility. But I refuse to let 1,200 people pay for him.
Lucas looked over the documents.
— So we have to save the company without saving him.
Antoine understood immediately.
An independent management team.
A recapitalization.
Abandoning the riskiest projects.
Guarantees provided by new investors.
And above all, the separation between society and the man who had convinced himself that it was his personal extension.
The board suspended Laurent from his executive duties during the audit.
He called Claire.
— Your sons stole my business!
— The 7 people who voted for your suspension are administrators.
— They manipulated everyone.
— No. They just stopped protecting you.
He hung up.
A few days later, another call came in.
This time, it was Inès.
Her voice no longer resembled that of the woman in the red dress.
— Madame Delmas… we need to talk.
— Non.
– Please.
Claire remained silent.
Inès found it difficult to breathe.
— Laurent believes your sons are having me followed.
— They don’t.
— Does anyone know about Thomas?
The silence changed in nature.
— We know you kissed him in the parking lot.
Inès started to cry.
Not the theatrical tears of someone caught in the wrong.
Disordered, almost suffocating sobs.
— You don’t understand.
Claire closed her eyes.
This phrase also came up often.
Little by little, the truth came out.
Thomas had been Inès’ partner for almost 4 years.
Officially, their relationship had ended before she started dating Laurent.
Unofficially, they had continued to see each other.
Not regularly.
Not clearly.
But enough that a question that has become terrifying remains unanswered.
“Does Thomas think the baby could be his?” asked Claire.
Long silence.
– Yes.
— Does Laurent know that?
— Non.
Claire sat down.
— Have you had a paternity test?
– Not yet.
— So you don’t know who the father is.
— The dates…
— Dates are not proof.
Inès started crying again.
— Laurent promised me that after the birth, he would divorce and marry me. He said that this child would change everything.
— And if it’s not his?
A murmur came through the phone.
— He will leave me.
Claire stared out of the window for a long time.
A few weeks earlier, she might have relished that fear.
Now, all she saw was a woman who had built a lie that was too heavy for her to bear.
