Chapter 3: The Man Behind the Funeral Tears
Victor Moreau had always been good at looking innocent.
That was what made him dangerous.
Adrian had spent two decades watching people pretend. He knew the difference between a nervous employee and a dishonest one. He knew when someone was hiding information during negotiations. He knew when a competitor smiled because they were confident and when they smiled because they were afraid.
But Victor had fooled him.
That realization hurt more than Adrian expected.
The man who stood beside him at Simone’s funeral had not looked like a criminal.
He looked like a brother.
Adrian sat alone in his office that night, staring at the photograph of him and Simone from their tenth anniversary. She was laughing in the picture, her head tilted back, one hand resting on his shoulder.
Simone always said Adrian looked too serious in photographs.
“You spend your whole life trying to look untouchable,” she used to tease him.
“But you’re the most emotional man I know.””
He would deny it every time.
She would laugh every time.
Now that laugh lived only in his memory.
Adrian picked up his phone.
“Find Victor,” he said.
His security director, Malcolm, answered immediately.
“Already working on it.””
“No.””
A pause.
“Sir?””
“I don’t want him followed by private security. I don’t want him scared.””
Malcolm understood immediately.
“You want him comfortable.””
“Yes.””
Because Adrian knew something important.
People revealed themselves when they thought they had won.
Victor believed Simone was dead. He believed Adrian was broken. He believed the secret was buried.
And Adrian wanted him to keep believing that.
The next morning, Victor walked into Cole Maritime headquarters like he owned the building.
That was the thing about him.
He never looked like a man hiding.
He wore a perfectly tailored navy suit. His silver watch caught the light as he shook hands with employees. He smiled at assistants. He joked with executives.
A man who had spent years practicing the appearance of trust.
When he entered Adrian’s office, he opened his arms.
“Adrian.””
The sound of his voice almost made Adrian sick.
“My brother.””
Two months ago, Adrian would have hugged him.
Today, he only stared.
Victor noticed.
“You look like you haven’t slept.””
Adrian sat behind his desk.
“I haven’t.””
Victor’s expression softened.
“I understand.””
“No, you don’t.””
The words came out colder than Adrian intended.
Victor looked surprised.
Then he smiled sadly.
“Still angry at the world?””
Adrian leaned back.
“Maybe.””
Victor walked closer.
“I’ve been thinking about Simone.””
There it was.
The name.
Adrian watched his face carefully.
Not his words.
His reaction.
Nothing.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Victor had trained himself well.
“She was a good woman,” Victor said.
“She was.””
Victor nodded.
“I still remember that night.””
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“What night?””
“The accident.””
A small mistake.
A tiny one.
But Adrian caught it.
The police had said the fire started after midnight. Victor had claimed he was asleep at home. Nobody outside the investigation should have known certain details.
“What do you remember?”” Adrian asked.
Victor paused.
Only for half a second.
But Adrian saw it.
“I mean…”
Victor corrected himself.
“What I heard afterward.””
Adrian said nothing.
The room felt smaller.
Victor looked toward the window.
“I know this has been hard.””
“You were there at the funeral.””
“Yes.””
“You were there before anyone else.””
Victor nodded.
“I wanted to support you.””
Adrian studied him.
“Why?””
Victor looked confused.
“Why?””
“Why did you care so much?””
Victor smiled.
“Because we’re family.””
Adrian almost laughed.
Almost.
Instead, he looked away.
“Family doesn’t bury your wife.””
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Only for a moment.
Then it returned.
“I know grief can make people say things.””
Adrian stood.
“And guilt can make people hide things.””
The silence that followed was different.
Victor’s eyes changed.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Adrian saw it.
Fear.
Then it vanished.
Victor straightened his jacket.
“You should be careful, Adrian.””
“Is that a threat?””
“No.””
Victor smiled.
“Advice.””
Adrian walked around his desk.
“Funny. You always give advice right before something goes wrong.””
Victor stared at him.
For the first time, neither man pretended.
Then Victor left.
Adrian waited until the door closed.
“Malcolm.””
“Yes?””
“Get everything on Victor Moreau.””
A pause.
“Everything?””
“Everything.””
That night, the investigation uncovered what Victor had been hiding.
The money.
The missing shipments.
The false accounts.
For years, Victor had been moving money through fake companies connected to Cole Maritime’s port operations.
But there was one person who discovered it.
Claire Donnelly.
The accountant whose body had been placed in Simone’s grave.
Claire had found the numbers.
She had found the theft.
And before she could expose Victor, she disappeared.
But Simone had also discovered something.
The investigators found emails between Claire and Simone.
The two women had been working together.
Simone knew.
She knew Victor was stealing from Adrian.
And she was going to tell him.
That was when Adrian finally understood.
Victor didn’t just want Simone gone.
He wanted the truth gone.
The next clue came from a hidden message recovered from Claire’s files.
One sentence.
“I told Simone not to trust anyone close to Adrian.””
Adrian stared at the words.
Anyone close to Adrian.
The sentence felt like a knife.
Because Simone hadn’t only been running from Victor.
She had been running from someone else.
Someone she thought might be connected to Adrian.
Someone she couldn’t risk trusting.
Even her own husband.
Adrian closed his eyes.
The thought hurt more than he expected.
Because the question he had been avoiding finally arrived.
May you like
Why didn’t Simone come home?
And what had Victor done to make her believe she couldn’t?
