Inès was holding a sleeping baby against her.
No more red dress.
More spectacular jewelry.
Hair tied back.
Deep dark circles under the eyes.
“Why did you come?” asked Claire.
Inès lowered her eyes towards her son.
— To apologize.
— Your lawyers have already done that.
— That was not an excuse.
Claire waited.
— Laurent told me that your marriage was over. He said he was staying for business. I believed what suited me.
She was an inspiration.
— I thought that if he chose me publicly, it would prove that I had won.
— And the slap?
Inès’s eyes filled with tears.
— When you asked me to leave, I panicked. I already knew that Thomas could be the father. I felt like everything was going to collapse.
— So you hit me.
– Yes.
She finally raised her eyes.
— There is no excuse.
Claire watched him for a long time.
— I accept your apology.
Inès looked stunned.
— Is that all?
— No. We will never be friends. I’m not going to pretend that what happened wasn’t serious just because your life has become complicated.
Inès nodded.
— But I also don’t want to spend 20 years hating you.
This time, Inès’s tears flowed silently.
Before leaving, she stopped in front of the door.
— Your sons really love you.
Claire smiled.
– Yes.
— I think Laurent was jealous of him.
This phrase remained in his mind for a long time.
Perhaps these 3 men whom Laurent had rejected because they were not “of his blood” represented precisely what he had always wanted to possess without ever understanding how to obtain it.
A loyalty that could not be bought.
A family that remained without a contract.
Three years passed.
Laurent left Paris and worked as a consultant in Bordeaux.
One Christmas, he wrote separately to Claire’s 3 sons.
He apologized for his words about blood and told them that losing them had been more painful than losing control of his company.
Antoine replied several weeks later.
Mathieu accepted a call one day.
Lucas took almost a year longer.
Claire never intervened.
Their relationship belonged to them.
Then Laurent asked him to meet him.
They chose a discreet cafe.
He seemed different.
Less impeccable.
Less tense.
Almost ordinary.
After several minutes of talking about insignificant things, he put down his cup.
— I’ve understood something.
Claire waited.
— All my life, I’ve been afraid of being insignificant. When your sons succeeded, I was proud of them. Then I started to resent them.
– For what ?
— Because they didn’t need me.
He lowered his eyes.
— And neither do you.
Claire replied softly:
— I didn’t need you. I chose you.
He gave a painful smile.
— At the time, being chosen seemed less important to me than being necessary.
Claire then understood part of what he had been looking for in Inès.
She needed his money.
From his network.
Of his status.
For his protection.
Laurent had taken this addiction as proof of love.
“What do you want today?” asked Claire.
– Nothing.
For the first time, she believed him.
— I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. Not for the company. Not because the baby wasn’t mine. Not for the articles in the press.
Her eyes reddened.
— You gave me a family. And I treated it as if I could find a better version elsewhere.
Claire did not console him.
Some regrets had to be faced without help.
When they parted, they did not kiss.
They promised nothing.
Some doors deserved to remain closed.
Five years after the slap, Claire’s three sons took her to the same Parisian luxury hotel.
They had refused to tell him why.
When she recognized the entrance, she stopped.
— Are you serious?
Lucas opened his car door.
— Trust us.
— That sentence has already cost me dearly.
Mathieu burst out laughing.
In the room where his married life had once exploded, there were only about sixty people this time.
His sister.
His sons and their families.
Her lawyer.
The first employees of his association.
Women who had started businesses after the age of 45.
Others who had resumed their studies after a divorce.
Others had found employment again after 20 years devoted to their families.
The following simply appeared on the screen:
5 years.
The association had supported more than 4,000 women.
Antoine held out his hand to his mother.
— We wanted to replace one birthday with another.
Later, Claire climbed onto the same platform where Inès had once announced her pregnancy.
She gazed at her sons.
Then the women in front of her.
— Five years ago, in this room, someone thought they could decide who belonged to my family and who didn’t.
She paused.
That evening, Claire Delmas thought she was going to lose her marriage, her reputation, and a part of her life. She hadn’t yet understood that everything she thought she was going to lose wasn’t everything she had built.
A photograph appeared behind her.
Not the slap.
Another one.
Taken a few minutes later.
Claire left the palace, her face ravaged, Antoine’s jacket over her shoulders.
Mathieu was walking to his left.
Lucas was opening the way in front of her.
She had never seen that photo.
Sa gorge se serra.
— That’s what’s worth remembering.
The silence in the room became profound.
— A family isn’t just made up of people who share a name or blood. Sometimes it’s simply those who walk towards someone while others watch them fall.
After dinner, Claire went out onto the terrace.
Paris shone beneath her.
Antoine joined her.
Then Matthew.
Then Lucas.
They remained silent for a few moments.
Finally Lucas asks:
— Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Inès had never come that night?
Claire had often thought about this question.
She might have stayed another year.
Maybe 5.
Perhaps Laurent would have eventually left.
