Page 65 of It Happened In Paris

Adrien’s face flushed. “You don’t understand.”

“I understand perfectly,” Jeanne retorted, her tone icy. “You are not that child’s father. You never were. And I will not let you stand in the way of her real family.”

“You sign these, Adrien, and you can walk away,” I urged him, almost sorry for him. Then I remembered he had five million dollars of mine, and that sympathy quickly went away.

Adrien shifted his eyes from me to Vivian and then to Jeanne. Realizing defeat—having been deeply humiliated before his mother—he signed the document.

Jeanne snatched the pen from his hand, folded the paper, and with one last look of disgust, commanded, “Leave.”

He exited without even a backward glance. I quickly texted Mr. Astor, instructing him to monitor Adrien and ensure he didn’t approach Paris in the garden before departing.

For a moment, we all stood in silence after he had disappeared down the garden path.

Jeanne handed the document to me. “On behalf of my family, I must apologize for his disgraceful behavior,” she said, her tone calmer.

Vivian dabbed at her eyes with her fingers, then smiled. “Would you like to see Paris now?”

Jeanne’s face softened. “Yes, please.”

“I’ll join you,” Miriam replied. I was grateful she would, if only to watch that Jeanne treated Paris well during the visit.

I sent a quick text to the nanny, and within a minute, Paris skipped across the lawn with a crown of pink and purple flowers in her hair.

“Grandmère?” she cried, running up to Jeanne without hesitation.

Jeanne scooped her into her arms, kissing her cheeks. “You remember me?” Jeanne asked, voice trembling.

Paris nodded. “I drew you a rocket-unicorn picture, and you gave me chocolate.”

Jeanne laughed through her tears. “I could never forget you,ma petite.I never will.”

“And you know Mimi too?” Paris asked, tilting her head.

“We’ve been good friends for many years,” Miriam explained.

The nanny stayed close by to watch over things, so I took Vivian by the hand, and we left the trio to their conversation. We stepped inside and found a secluded corner where I could wrap my arms around her. Only then did we let go of the tension the situation had created, finally relaxing into each other.

“That went better than I expected,” I remarked.

“Is it really over, Richard? Or do you think Adrien might reappear in our lives?” she asked, still concerned.

“It’s over. He’s relinquished his rights. He has nothing left to negotiate with. The Bardeaux family is too proud, and we exposed him in front of his mother—almost like a modern-day tattling. I remember how easy it was to get the Bardeaux boys in trouble with their mother when we were kids by tattling about their mischief.” I gave her a sly smile, which made her chuckle.

Then I sobered. “I feel sort of bad, though. Learning that he was abusive to you and after seeing Jeanne’s treatment of him just now… I think the guy had it rough. I’m glad Paris has nothing more to do with him.”

“Me, too. Well, Mr. B. You certainly were quite the strategist in this plan. I can add that to your long list of admirable qualities.” Her eyes sparkled up at me.

“How about that tour of this place? We could find a cozy spot for ourselves for a while, and I’ll show you more of my admirable qualities,” I offered.

She kissed me with a hunger that left no room for doubt. “This day was everything I needed.”

I kissed her hand and led her down the hallway to the nearest bedroom. “It’s only the beginning.”

And it was.

Because we had everything now.

Trust. Peace. Love.

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