جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 15

Anne-Marie’s POV I had sneaked out after the meeting, quietly. No one noticed. No one ever noticed when I left anymore so I wasn't bothered.The park was just across the street, wrapped in the golden hush of evening. Children’s laughter floated in the air, fragile and bright and that was what I needed to feel better. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions. I nearly broke down seeing Louis earlier today and everything he said to me made me so emotional.I sat on the old wooden bench beneath the crooked elm tree, the same tree where I used to sit when I was a young teenage girl . Back when my heart still understood the meaning of joie de vivre. Back when my world was not carved hollow and I was slowly growing emotionless. Back when I had the love and care I wanted without getting to feel that I was asking for so much.I watched the children run.Their mothers called after them, their voices full of warmth and annoyance and love. It was a symphony I no longer belonged to or there was no

Anne-Marie’s POV I had been awake since the small hours, long before the large bell struck 7AM . My laptop screen was the only real light, a cold blue square in the darkness of the living room, illuminating stacks of invoices, old contracts, and the half-finished rebranding proposals I could no longer bear to read.I was still trying to work on what was remaining of Duval scents. I would have long forgotten it but it carried my father's memories. It was his dream that Louis crashed in one night.My father’s name still carried weight in certain circles in Grasse and Paris, but weight alone did not pay the rent on the boutique or the salaries of the few loyal perfumers who remained. Louis, my ex-husband, the man I once believed loved me more than ambition had taken his pound of flesh in the divorce settlement. Half the distribution network, the most lucrative Middle Eastern contracts, the modern packaging facility outside Lyon. What remained was the original name, the historic recipes

Anne-Marie’s POVDinner had ended, but the tension just started If anything, it had thickened like something unseen had settled over the room, weaving itself into every glance, every unfinished sentence, every forced smile.I felt it most when I looked at Isla.She was watching me. As if she had been waiting for this exact moment all night.I set my glass down slowly, pretending not to notice. I had learned long ago that acknowledging people like Isla too quickly only gave them power.But she didn’t need permission.She approached me anyway.“Enjoying yourself?” she asked.Her tone was light, almost playful but her eyes betrayed her.I smiled faintly. “As much as one can at a family negotiation disguised as dinner.”She let out a soft laugh. “That’s one way to describe it.”We stood there for a second, the noise of the room fading into the background. I could feel it that shift. That moment right before something unpleasant reveals itself.“So,” she said, tilting her head, “you’re re