PART 2
That night, Valérie returned home with bags from luxury boutiques and a smile too radiant to be genuine.
“Hélène, look what I bought you in La Rochelle. A beautiful silk scarf. The green one will suit you very well.”
The material was soft, elegant, almost too beautiful. Yet, when she placed it on my shoulders, I felt as if a cold snake had wrapped itself around my neck.
“Thank you, darling,” I replied in a voice that didn’t sound like mine.
When I entered my room, I felt her eyes on my back. Long, steady, suspicious.
ux. As if she had already sensed the secret I was trying to protect.
The next day, I rose before dawn.
I put on a pearl gray dress, tied my hair, and went downstairs, trying to appear calm. Valérie was already in the kitchen. She was brewing herbal tea in a large white pot.
“You’re an early bird today,” she said with a gentle smile. “I made you some verbena tea. It’ll soothe you.”
The scent of verbena used to have a calming effect on me. This morning, I felt nauseous.
I picked up the cup, lifted the infusion to my lips, and set it aside.
“It’s too hot. I’ll drink it later.”
She smiled. But for a second, her shoulders tensed.
A small detail.
The kind of detail that suddenly becomes a red flag.
I lied to him. I told him I had a date with a friend from my book club.
Then I left the house.
Café des Ombres was tucked away on a small street in the center of the old town, near the port, hidden from view. Inside, it smelled of roasted coffee, polished wood, and morning newspapers.
I saw him from behind, sitting by the window.
A man thinner than I remembered, with slightly lower shoulders and a tense neck, as if he’d learned to live with constantly looking over his shoulder.
My heart stopped.
And then it started beating faster.
When he stood and turned to me, I recognized him despite his sunken cheeks, despite the thin scar on his forehead, despite the shadows under his eyes.
His eyes didn’t change.
