All of these comments make sense to me, but joyces and judithj I feel are closest to my thinking. Claudette ran away to take control of her own life, to be her own woman. It's clear that Timou was a very controlling, dominating person, and on the narcissistic spectrum. He took what he wanted from people, in Claudette's case starting with their first encounter, when he laid the groundwork for taking over her future and devoting it to him and his needs, personally and professionally, while also taking all the credit for himself and taking any other woman he wanted along the way. Like a classic narcissist, he blamed the journalists and the papparazzi for her running away, instead of looking to himself.