Chapter 42. Abandonment

Jeanne had not cried when her mother said those words to her. She was left in a daze and had only suffered the hug of her mother who cried behind her back while her father's colleagues looked at them miserably.

She thought it was just a dream for sure, her teasingly smiling dad who ruffled her hair 24 hours ago was gone. But where? For all time?

She seemed in her world as her mother asked her to be strong.

Strong? For what?

She didn't understand everything, but she had read enough pregnancy books to know that what her mother was doing there was not good for the baby.

Then mechanically, her face still frozen, she left her mother's embrace and stood up, surprising the three adults in front of her. Her eyes were expressionless almost lifeless as she held out her hand to her mother asking her to stand up.

"Go and rest, I'll take care of the rest... and stop crying, it's not good for Emma"

This surprised her mother as well as the two men when one