Aurélie POV
Later that evening, after we had devoured our takeaway pizza and bathed the children, the house finally settled into the kind of silence that only came once they were asleep. Their soft breathing echoed faintly from down the hallway, and for a moment I allowed the quiet to steady me.
I sat at my office desk, fingers resting on the edge of my phone, preparing myself for the call I had been dreading since dinner. The call that had been needling at the back of my mind, refusing to let me relax.
“Do you want me to call him?” Fabrice asked from across the desk. He’d been sitting there for several minutes, watching me with the same patient stillness he used whenever he knew I was mentally wrestling something heavy.
I exhaled and shook my head. “Thank you, but it has to be me.” M
