PART 1

Camille had already opened her suitcase on the bed when her seven-year-old son appeared in the doorway. He was not crying, but his face carried a strange, frozen seriousness no child should ever have, as if he had heard something too heavy for his small heart to hold.

“Mom…” Leo whispered, stepping slowly into the room. “Dad has a girlfriend… and when you leave, he’s going to take all your money.”

Camille did not move. Her train to Lyon was supposed to leave on Tuesday morning for an important client meeting she had prepared for weeks. At thirty-nine, she worked as a wealth management advisor in a large firm in La Défense. She lived in a beautiful home in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on a quiet tree-lined street, with blue shutters, a neat garden, and neighbors who always said her life looked perfect.