Chapter 12 - THE CONFESSION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
“YOUR FATHER DIDN'T JUST ABANDON YOUR MOTHER, LÉA. HE PAID TO KEEP HER SILENT.”
Catherine Delcourt sat across from Léa in a police interview room, her elegant appearance unable to conceal the exhaustion on her face.
The woman who had once commanded ballrooms now sat beneath harsh fluorescent lights, accompanied by her attorney.
Léa had agreed to attend only after Victor confirmed that the meeting would be formally documented and that she could leave whenever she wished.
Camille sat beside her.
Catherine looked at the sisters.
For the first time, she seemed unable to decide which one to address.
“Camille,” she whispered.
Camille's expression tightened.
“Please don't.”
Catherine lowered her eyes.
“I know you hate me.”
“I don't know what I feel.”
The admission seemed to wound Catherine more than anger would have.
Léa leaned forward.
“You said you have evidence against Raphaël.”
Catherine nodded.
“Your father paid Elise for years.”
Léa felt her stomach tighten.
“That's not the same as ordering her murder.”
“No,” Catherine admitted. “But the payments were connected to agreements intended to prevent her from publicly identifying him as your father.”
She placed several financial documents on the table.
Victor examined them.
The records showed regular transfers from a private account controlled by Raphaël to a charitable trust that had provided housing assistance to Elise during Léa's childhood.
Léa stared at the figures.
Her mother had sometimes received small grants from an anonymous foundation.
She remembered Elise saying that a former employer had helped arrange them.
“Was that his money?”
Catherine nodded.
“Yes.”
Léa looked away.
The revelation confused her.
Part of her wanted to believe Raphaël had cared.
Another part understood that financial assistance did not erase abandonment.
Catherine continued.
“Raphaël wanted Elise to remain quiet. Henri handled the agreements.”
“Did Elise sign them?” Victor asked.
“Some. Others were arranged without her knowledge.”
Léa looked up.
“And what does this have to do with her death?”
Catherine hesitated.
“Henri believed Elise was planning to expose the family. He said Raphaël had authorized him to resolve the situation.”
Victor leaned forward.
“What exactly did he say?”
“That the problem had to disappear.”
Léa felt cold.
“Did Raphaël actually give that instruction?”
Catherine looked down.
“I never heard him say it.”
“Then you're accusing him based on what Henri told you.”
Catherine remained silent.
Camille stood.
“You lied about my birth. You lied about Elise. You lied about Marianne. Why should we believe anything you say now?”
Catherine began crying.
“Because I never wanted anyone to die.”
Léa stared at her.
“But you wanted to keep my mother's child.”
Catherine closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
Camille slowly sat down.
Catherine looked toward her.
“I had lost two pregnancies before you were born. Your father and I were falling apart. When I learned Elise was carrying his children, I became obsessed with the idea that I could save our marriage.”
Léa's voice was quiet.
“So you stole a baby.”
Catherine nodded.
“Yes.”
“Not a possession. Not a family heirloom. A baby.”
“I know.”
“You let my mother believe her daughter was dead.”
Catherine began sobbing.
“I know.”
Léa felt anger rise so violently that she had to grip the edge of the table.
“Do you know what that did to her?”
Catherine could not answer.
“My mother used to wake up crying. When I was little, I thought she was having nightmares. She would hold me so tightly that sometimes I couldn't breathe.”
Tears filled Léa's eyes.
“She was mourning a child you had taken.”
Catherine covered her face.
Léa continued.
“And while she was grieving, you were celebrating birthdays with that same little girl.”
Camille began crying.
Catherine looked toward her.
“I loved you.”
Camille's voice broke.
“Then why couldn't you love me enough to tell me the truth?”
Catherine had no answer.
Victor asked about the night of November 18, 2019.
Catherine described the meeting.
Elise had arrived carrying documents that proved Juliette had survived.
She demanded a meeting with Camille and threatened to go to the police if Catherine refused.
Henri had become aggressive.
He tried to seize the documents.
Elise resisted.
And in the struggle, he pushed her backward.
Catherine's voice trembled.
“She fell down the stairs.”
Léa closed her eyes.
“Was she still alive?”
Catherine nodded.
“Yes.”
The answer struck harder than anything else.
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I panicked.”
Léa stared at her.
“My mother was lying there, dying, and you did nothing?”
Catherine began sobbing.
“Marianne tried to help her. Henri stopped her. They struggled, and Marianne fell too.”
Victor made a note.
“Who ordered the security recordings destroyed?”
“Henri.”
“And who instructed the foundation to pay for Marianne's care under an assumed name?”
Catherine whispered:
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn't bear to let her die. But I was terrified that if she recovered, she would tell everyone what happened.”
Léa shook her head.
“You didn't save her. You kept her hidden.”
Catherine lowered her face.
“Yes.”
Victor continued questioning her.
Eventually, Catherine admitted that she had participated in the concealment of Elise's death, although she denied ordering the fatal assault.
Her testimony would need to be corroborated, and the criminal investigation was far from over.
But one mystery remained.
“Who killed Henri Beaumont?” Léa asked.
Catherine looked up.
“I don't know.”
“Who broke into Raphaël's office?”
“I don't know.”
“Who left the threatening messages?”
Catherine hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“I think Henri was trying to frighten you into leaving. But someone else must have learned what he was doing.”
Victor watched her carefully.
“Who?”
Catherine shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The meeting ended shortly afterward.
As officers escorted Catherine from the room, she turned toward Camille.
“Please. Whatever happens, remember that I loved you.”
Camille's eyes filled with tears.
“I know you believe that.”
Catherine stopped.
“But loving someone doesn't give you the right to steal their life.”
Catherine lowered her head and followed the officers.
Outside the station, Léa stood beneath a gray Paris sky.
Raphaël waited near the entrance.
He looked older than he had at the birthday celebration.
Léa approached him.
“Did you pay my mother to stay silent?”
Raphaël nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did you know Henri was using those agreements to threaten her?”
“Not at first. Later, I suspected it.”
“And you did nothing?”
Raphaël's eyes filled with tears.
“I told myself that keeping the peace was better than destroying everyone's lives.”
Léa shook her head.
“You didn't keep the peace. You made my mother carry the consequences of your choices.”
Raphaël lowered his head.
“I know.”
She turned away.
Then he spoke.
“Léa, there's one more thing.”
She stopped.
“What?”
Raphaël reached into his coat and removed an old envelope.
“Elise wrote this to me shortly before she died. Henri kept it from me. I found it among documents recovered from his office.”
Léa stared at the envelope.
It bore her mother's handwriting.
Raphaël handed it to her.
Inside was a short letter.
Raphaël,
I don't want your fortune. I don't want your name. I don't even want your apology.
I want my daughter back.
And if you have any decency left, you will help me bring Juliette home.
Because there is something about the night she was taken that you still don't know.
Léa turned the page.
May you like
Her mother's final sentence made her blood run cold.
“THE PERSON WHO ORDERED OUR BABIES SEPARATED WASN'T CATHERINE. IT WAS YOUR FATHER.”
