Chapter 14

The next morning

Henry was still before the TV, laying on the couch. As he had predicted, he hadn't sleep from all night and had followed his sister advice : He had thought of what he really wanted in the future.

For him, it was all clear. He wanted his wife back, their love, closeness and trust. He wanted to put the past behind them and to come back to his family. He wanted peace and happiness, that's what he wanted. But this only was possible with his wife… if, for some reason, she left him for real, any hope of a better life would disappear for him.

/-/-/-/-/

In Madeleine's house

It was early in the morning and Henry's sister had already left for work. Therefore, Catherine was now alone sitting in the kitchen with her daughter nearby. She had just fed the baby girl who was currently dozing off.

Catherine too had been tormented by the situation… but contrary to Henry, she had felt so exhausted from everything that she had managed to fall asleep.

It would take time for her to figure out what she truly wanted and could expect of the events in her life. However, she also knew her husband… she knew he was now probably trying to think of something else than her and their problems. He probably hadn't slept from all night… she knew that, she knew him…

/-/-/-/-/

In the family's house

Henry was still laying on the couch, sleepless, with a soft blanket to cover himself when he heard the sound of the door opening. Who would it be ? His wife ? No. Francis maybe had come to check of him… that was more realistic.

Henry sat up in the couch to see who it was… however, it wasn't his son either… it was his daughter… Claude. He was surprised, he hadn't been expecting her this morning.

On her side, the teenaged girl was also astonished. She was coming back home because Francis had told her that their mom had given birth to their sister Margot, but she hadn't expected that…especially since she hadn't known when her father would come back because of the letters problem.

« Claude… » - he looked at his now big girl softly.

« You're back ? » - her tone was cold and even a little harsh. She was still so disappointed.

« Claude, wait before jumping to conclusions. » - he remained calm.

« There's nothing more to understand than what I already know. » - she said this just as coldly and then quickly left to her chambers.

Henry knew there was no point in trying to stop her. He would go explain everything to her later.

/-/-/-/-/

In Madeleine's house

Catherine was still eating her breakfast when she received a text from Francis

*Hey mom, I hope you're alright and feeling better, Charlie and I went to Thomas house last night to let dad process the situation and to cheer up Charles, but, he misses you mom, do you think we could come to see you today ?*

Catherine felt awful when she read the last part of Francis' text… of course her youngest son was missing her… she sighed and immediately answered

*Of course you can come whenever you want*

She hoped she wasn't hurting her sweet boy too much with her absence… but she really needed time to think.

/-/-/-/-/

In the family's house

Some time after his daughter had come back, Henry decided it was time to go talk to her so he got up from the couch and wondered about how he would approach her.

He thought about what Claude liked and then he remembered of the love they shared for coffee. He smiled as he remembered that before he left, during the time he was home, they used to drink their coffee together in the morning.

On that thought, he went to the kitchen and prepared the two drinks, Claude preferred cappuccino while he always drank a black coffee. Then, he climbed the stairs with the two steaming cups and went to his daughter's room.

He took a deep breath before he gently pushed the bedroom's door open "Claude…"

The teen was sitting on her bed and was looking at her phone. She didn't even look up at father to answer "Go away, please. I don't want to talk."

Henry sighed, "Just let me explain…" He put down the cappuccino on her desk.

"As I said before, there's nothing to explain…" she briefly looked at his face but then went back to her phone.

The general took his chance and began to explain since his daughter didn't appear so angry.

"I didn't forget any of you Claude… I was betrayed."

"What do you mean ?" This time her father had caught her attention.

"I mean that I wrote you letters but that they were never sent and that I never received your letters either." He explained more.

Claude frowned "And how is that possible ?" She could understand that one letter could be lost but the situation was impossible…unless it had been made on purpose.

Henry sighed "It's this woman, Diane. She hid all the letters."

Claude's eyes widened and she replied quite bitterly "Really ? Well… I'm not so surprised, she's your mistress after all…"

"She's not my mistress Claude. I never had a mistress…" he sighed and looked down.

"But mom…"

This time, he spoke again before she could finish "I know… but nothing of this is true. It was all her doing… she tried to separate your mother and I with her lies… and she succeeded."

Claude was shocked "Does mom know this ?"

"Yes… but as you may have noticed, your mother isn't in the house." He said sadly.

Claude didn't understand very well "Where is she then ?"

"She's at Madeleine's house…" he added before he took a deep breath. "She left me…" You could clearly see on his face that he was lost, sad and hurt.

"For how long ?" the teenaged girl was astonished.

"I don't know, she didn't say… maybe forever." He didn't dare to think of this possibility.

Claude stayed silent and thought again about everything her father had just told her, then she looked up at him.

"She loves you, you know ?"

"She said so, yes…"

His daughter frowned at his answer "Don't you believe her ?"

His eyes found hers and they filled with tears "I don't know what to believe anymore…" he hid his face in his hands.

Claude couldn't believe what she was seeing… her father was nearly crying and she had never seen that before. For a few seconds, she was helpless and didn't know what do to.

AN : Here we go for a quick update :) Thank you all for your amazing feedback on my last chapter :)

Love you

Laura D.