ot deny it, a strange fascination pushed her to try to understand this solitary man who lived withdrawn from everything, almost like a ghost. Each chan

ied to broach the subject without really knowing why. It was as if her min

aphaël Belmont, isn't there?" she sai

ecretive man, it must be said. But he's never tried to make a mystery of it. He's just..." She shrugged, as i

sity pique a little m

t. A... full life, I imagine. But he retired a

was as if she had said what she could, and that talking more about Raphaël was not in the unwritten rul

she ventured into the small local cafe, where people gathered to exchange the latest news of the village.

tea at a nearby table, and Louisa, hid

rse voice. "He is not a man like the others. Not a villager, despite wh

people to believe. He used to be a tycoon. One of the most powerful. He built an empire, a real fortune, and then suddenly he dr

sense that there was more to this man. Why the sudden isolation? And what problems co

pockets, as if he were lost in thought. Louisa felt suddenly compelled to approach him, to break the silence between them, to co

no move to greet her. His dark, almost intense e

d shyly, not sur

nd distant. He didn't seem all that

l uncomfortable. She wasn't used to being ignored like this. "I've seen you working here e

I didn't choose this out of passion, if that's what you want to know. I simply found

between his words. "That's what you d

justify myself to you, miss. I made decisions, decisions that I sto

r encountered in a man. It unsettled her even more. Why was he so closed off?

to ask. "You, a man like you, why ar

hrough his eyes. Then he shook his head slowly, as if regretti

nothing logical about what he was saying, nothing acceptable to someone who ha

Raphael had closed himself off from her once and for all, that there was nothing more

each step bringing her a little closer to the tranquility she had known before this encounter. But deep down, something s

y what was hidden behind his gaze as impenetrable as a stormy sky. But one thing was certain: the more