This did not eliminate the cruelty.
That didn’t negate the slap.
But Claire suddenly refused to portray Laurent as the victim of a manipulator.
Laurent had chosen to cheat on his wife.
Laurent had chosen to use his company’s money.
Laurent had chosen his lies.
Inès bore her responsibility.
He was wearing his own.
— Tell him the truth.
— I’m going to lose everything.
Claire replied calmly:
— You walked into a room full of people, announced that you were carrying his son, insulted my children, and raised your hand to me because you thought the truth gave you power. Now that the truth frightens you, it remains the truth.
Inès did not reply.
That same evening, Laurent learned everything.
At 11:41 p.m., he called Claire.
Her voice sounded broken.
— Inès says the child might not be mine.
Claire felt, despite herself, a pang of sadness.
— I’m sorry.
He gave a dry laugh.
— Sorry? You all knew!
— We knew she was still seeing Thomas.
— And you let me make a fool of myself!
This time, Claire could not contain her disbelief.
— Laurent, you had an affair during our marriage.
— That’s not the point!
— Yes. That’s exactly the point.
— Maybe this baby isn’t even mine!
— That doesn’t make your choices any less real.
He fell silent.
Then his voice became harsh.
— That’s what you wanted. To see me humiliated.
Claire placed her fingers against her forehead.
— No. What I wanted was a faithful husband.
He couldn’t think of anything to say in response.
— You’re confusing consequences with revenge, Laurent.
She hung up.
One week later, a non-invasive prenatal test was carried out with the consent of the people concerned.
Claire didn’t witness anything.
Neither did his sons.
The result was communicated to the lawyers as part of the negotiations.
Laurent was not the biological father.
Thomas was.
When Master Marchal announced the news, Lucas stood up and left the room.
Mathieu kept his eyes fixed on the table.
Antoine looked at his mother.
Claire thought she would experience a kind of victory.
She felt nothing but emptiness.
Laurent had humiliated the 3 men who had chosen him as a family because he dreamed of a child “of his own blood”.
And that dream was now slipping away from him.
But her professional downfall was not related to this pregnancy.
The audit continues.
The administrators eventually demanded his permanent departure.
Laurent refused.
Then the real battle began.
Claire’s holding company had enough rights to block certain transactions.
Institutional investors demanded stable governance.
Lucas participated in the formation of a group of investors capable of recapitalizing viable projects provided that the management was completely renewed.
Claire made only one requirement:
— No mass layoffs to finance an ego war.
Four months after the birthday party, the agreement was signed.
Delmas Développement changed its governance and became Horizon Territoires.
Laurent retained a comfortable fortune and a minority stake.
But he lost the presidency.
His office.
His seat on the council.
Its advantages.
And above all, the power to claim that the company was solely his own.
The evening the new signs appeared on several construction sites, he called Claire.
— You took my company.
— Non.
— Don’t play with words.
— Society survived your decisions.
He did not reply.
Claire added:
— You thought you were the whole building, Laurent. You were just one room.
The divorce was negotiated a few months later.
Claire came alone with her lawyer.
His sons had wanted to accompany him.
She had refused.
— This part belongs to me.
Laurent looked like he had aged 10 years.
His insurance had disappeared.
During a break, he joined Claire near a window.
— You could ruin me.
– Yes.
— Why don’t you do it?
Claire looked at him.
— Because divorcing you doesn’t force me to be like you.
He lowered his eyes.
— You think you’re better than me?
— No. I only finally understood the difference between having power and wanting to do harm.
After a few seconds, he murmured:
— I loved you.
Claire believed him.
That was precisely what made their story more painful.
Laurent had loved her.
He had also hated being dependent on her.
He adored her intelligence when it opened doors for him.
Then that same intelligence became a reminder that he had not succeeded alone.
He had loved his sons when their success made him feel valued.
When they became more powerful than him, he began to look at them differently.
Inès, on the other hand, had met him when he was rich.
Respected.
Photographed in business magazines.
She had never seen him desperately searching for a way to pay the salaries.
She had never seen him work at night on cases rejected by 4 banks.
With her, Laurent could tell himself that he had always been this important man.
“I loved you too,” replied Claire.
He looked up.
— So how can you leave so easily?
A sad smile crossed his face.
— It’s not easy. You simply weren’t there during the difficult part.
— What does that mean?
— That I began to mourn our marriage long before the slap.
The divorce settlement remained discreet.
Thanks to the marriage contract, Claire retained her own property, her historical holdings and her shares in the family SCI.
Laurent also retained a significant portion of his estate.
Claire, however, demanded an unusual clause: a signed document officially acknowledging that her initial investments, professional network, and operational work had made a decisive contribution to the development of the former company.
Laurent’s lawyers deemed this request unnecessary.
Claire insisted.
The money was recovered.
A history that is much less easily erased.
Laurent signs.
Almost a year after the party, Inès showed up at the offices of an association that Claire had just created.
This association supported women wishing to resume professional activity after a divorce, widowhood, years devoted to their children or financial dependence.
