But this Charlee-Mae who thought their marriage was real?
Not worth it, Philippe decided grimly, but just as he was about to ask his mother to visit another time, Sandra had also seemed to reach the end of her patience—-
"I'm going in," Sandra told him.
Putain!
But his mother had already opened the door, and just as Philippe followed her inside, he heard both women burst into speech at the same time.
"Ça alors!"
"Oh, wow!"
Philippe halted in his tracks. Were both Sandra and Charlee-Mae being sarcastic or did the two women truly happen to compliment each other simultaneously?
Charlee-Mae couldn't remember seeing someone more posh than Philippe's mother, whose all-black attire was very much reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's iconic outfit in Funny Face, only this time the older woman also had a silver trench coat folded over her arm.
Sandra, meanwhile, was ready to weep tears of joy. "C'est une miracle!" She turned to her son, now feeling so horribly guilty for ever doubting the truth of his marriage. "I am at a loss for words, mon fils."
Philippe didn't quite know how to answer this, and his incredulity grew when Sandra then turned to his wife and opened her arms wide. "Ma fille."
Charlee-Mae went to her mother-in-law hesitantly, and the older woman gave her a warm embrace before kissing each of her cheek, which Charlee-Mae automatically returned.
Sandra was still unable to stop smiling as she stepped back to study her beloved daughter-in-law. "God truly works in mysterious ways," she said feelingly, and turning to her son, she said enthusiastically, "I have been an avid viewer of Cha-Cha's YouTube videos for a few years now."
Charlee-Mae's eyes widened. "You know me?"
"Tu la connais?" Philippe demanded at the same time.
Sandra grinned at both of them. "Yes. Oui. My friend - do you remember Keanne Summers' maman, Philippe? She was the one who insisted I watch dear Cha-Cha's vlogs, and after just one time, I was hooked!"
Philippe was still incredulous. "So you truly know her?"
Sandra felt slightly affronted. "Why would I lie about this?" She turned to Charlee-Mae with a roll of her eyes. "He is being ridiculous, n'est ce pas?"
"Oh no, um—-"
"Please call me Maman," Sandra said warmly.
Charlee-Mae couldn't help feeling touched. "You are too sweet...Maman."
Sandra gestured to her daughter-in-law's bandaged head. "Does it hurt?"
"Only when I think too much."
"Then do not think," Philippe's mother said with a wink, "and just love."
"Why, Maman...I didn't think you'd be a hopeless romantic like me. I love it!"
As the two women laughed and chatted some more, Philippe started to wonder if perhaps he had somehow ended up in some alternate universe without being aware of it. Both women had nothing in common on the surface, and yet when one looked at the way the two now had their heads bent close as his mother showed Charlee-Mae something on her phone, it was as if they had known each other their entire lives.
He had wondered before why Charlotte considered Charlee-Mae a suitable match for him, and this, Philippe supposed, was the answer. How the CEO of Heart's Match had known of Sandra's fondness for his wife's videos, he could not even begin to imagine, but he now understood why Fleur spoke so highly of the other woman.
And now, speaking of Charlotte...
Charlee-Mae and Sandra glanced up upon his approach, and Philippe held his phone out to his wife. "It is your sister-in-law."
Charlee-Mae was surprised. "She knows your number?"
"You gave me her number in the past," he lied.
His wife turned to Sandra. "Is it alright—-"
"Oh, of course," his mother was quick to say reassuringly, and the way Sandra continued to look fondly at his wife as Charlee-Mae walked away still struck Philippe as surreal.
Looking back at her son, Sandra could not help but smile when she found Philippe staring at her like she had grown a pair of horns (and probably a tail) in the past five minutes. "Is it that much of a shock that I actually like the woman you've married? In fact, I do believe your father would have also been charmed by her—-" Her smile faded when she saw her son stiffen. "Oh, my dear."
"Now is not the time, Maman."
But Sandra only shook her head. "Your father is long gone, Philippe. You must move on and stop letting your anger rule your life."
Even merely hearing his mother mention his father was enough to make him remember all the memories of his miserable childhood. Bruno had been a cold and unloving man, a perfectionist who had not been able to accept that his younger son was dyslexic.
"Philippe..."
He shook his head. "I do not think I will ever stop hating him."
"Even if he ends up ruining your life?"
His lips twisted in a humorless life. "Au contraire, Maman - he was my sole motivation for making our business grow ten times more than he ever had in his lifetime."