ma chérie | cl16

chapter seventeen

tw: mention of domestic violence in the second half of the chapter

Adeline had always loved traveling; mainly because the idea of packing her luggage meant visiting Pierre in Rouen during summer break. Of course, Pierre had been visiting Adeline and her parents in Liverpool, too. But Adeline had always loved packing her things and leaving for at least two months, getting away from everything.

Adeline still loved her hometown in France dearly. The city was full of many joyful memories—Pierre, his wonderful family, and her functioning family. She remembered the smell of freshly baked croissants and pains au chocolat in the bakery right across the street. The sweet lady who had been selling the delicious pastry had been a little older; she'd been wearing her silver hair in a tight bun.

A place that was kind of an escape for Adeline was London. Adeline had moved there after graduating high school—not straight away, though. Before moving to campus, she'd been living in Rouen with Pierre's parents for a month because of... many reasons. She had needed to get away from Liverpool.

Adeline had been living on campus in London for almost three years, but she managed to get a beautiful apartment for a rental, which was understandably much better. Adeline loved being on her own; she adored the quietness. London was another place that had stolen her heart completely.

It's not that Liverpool wasn't a good city—it was. Adeline wouldn't have met Hazel in high school if she hadn't moved out of France. However, it was also a place that had broken her heart multiple times. For now, it was a place she hadn't returned to in five years. She hadn't even seen her parents in five years.

Luckily, Hazel had applied to a university in London as well, so Adeline hadn't lost her best friend. But now? She had to escape from her safe place because Hunter had decided to ruin her life again. On the other hand, Adeline was determined to do everything to prevent that from happening. She was ready to take him down. Again.

However, leaving London had some perks, too. For example, traveling the world with Pierre. Adeline had enjoyed her time in Milan, even though she had been alone most of the time. Pierre had left for a week to attend a race in Azerbaijan. He had managed to get a fantastic result; fifth place. However, the race hadn't turned out well for Ferrari and Charles.

Out of sight, out of mind?

Not really.

Quite the opposite.

She had no idea what power Charles had over her, but the nightmares were gone. Instead of her past, she kept seeing Charles in her dreams. He was on her mind constantly, night and day. She was trying to deny her feelings; she wanted to push them away. However, the denial was making the situation even worse, and the feelings were only growing stronger.

"Hey, come back to Earth!" Pierre snapped his fingers in front of Adeline's tired eyes. "C'mon, you're in Montréal! I need to show you—"

"You're not showing me anything today, it's 6 p.m. I'm going straight to bed," Adeline muttered. She just wanted to get out of the taxi as soon as possible. "How can you fly across the world almost every week? That's literally insane," she shook her head, putting on her black sunglasses. No one needed to see those bags under her eyes.

"You get used to it," Pierre shrugged his shoulders. He was a little tired, for sure; almost an 11-hour flight wasn't easy.

"I'm going to sleep as soon as we arrive at the hotel," Adeline groaned. The short way from the airport to the hotel felt like it lasted almost an eternity. All she wanted to do was jump into the clean sheets, find a small yet tasty chocolate under her pillow, order some food into her suite, and sleep for way too long.