Chapter 7: The Last Move of a Desperate Man
Victor Moreau chose the place carefully.
Of course he did.
Adrian expected nothing less.
The abandoned warehouse near the harbor was where Victor had first built his reputation. Twenty years earlier, before the money, before the suits, before the polished speeches at business events, Victor was just another man trying to survive in a city where everybody wanted something.
Adrian remembered those days.
They were younger.
Hungry.
Ambitious.
They stood on those same docks and talked about building something bigger than themselves.
That was why the betrayal hurt so deeply.
Victor wasn’t just an enemy.
He was a piece of Adrian’s history that had turned rotten.
“You shouldn’t go alone.””
Simone’s voice came from behind him.
Adrian looked over his shoulder.
She stood there wearing a simple jacket, her hair pulled back, the scar near her eyebrow visible.
The scar bothered him more than he admitted.
Not because it changed how she looked.
Because it reminded him someone tried to erase her.
“I’m not going alone,” Adrian said.
Simone looked around.
“You said no security.””
“No security.””
“Then who?””
Adrian looked at her.
“You.””
She frowned.
“That’s not what I meant.””
“I know.””
A small silence passed.
Then Simone sighed.
“I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You almost died because you were trying to protect me.””
“That was different.””
“No.””
His voice softened.
“It wasn’t.””
Simone looked away.
That was still the wound between them.
Not the accident.
Not Victor.
The fact that both of them had spent their lives trying to protect each other while forgetting they were supposed to stand together.
The warehouse was quiet when they arrived.
Too quiet.
Adrian noticed immediately.
Victor liked control.
He liked making people feel like they were walking into his world.
The old warehouse doors opened slowly.
Inside, one light hung from the ceiling.
Victor sat at a table.
Older.
Tired.
But still wearing that same confident expression.
“I knew you’d come.””
Adrian stopped several feet away.
“You always did think you knew me.””
Victor smiled.
“I did know you.””
“No.””
Adrian stared at him.
“You knew what you could use.””
For the first time, Victor looked offended.
“After everything we built?””
“You mean everything you stole?””
Victor shook his head.
“See? This is why I’m disappointed.””
Adrian almost laughed.
“Disappointed?””
“Yes.””
Victor stood.
“You always thought money made you powerful. The company. The employees. The reputation.””
He pointed toward Adrian.
“But none of that matters when someone you love is taken away.””
Simone stepped forward.
“You killed Claire.””
Victor looked at her.
And smiled.
Not because he was happy.
Because he was finally seeing the one person who escaped him.
“You survived.””
Simone’s expression hardened.
“You tried to make me disappear.””
“I tried to protect everything I built.””
“Your empire?””
Victor looked at her.
“No.””
His voice became colder.
“My life.””
Adrian watched him carefully.
Victor wasn’t just defending himself.
He was rewriting the story in his own mind.
That was what made people like him dangerous.
They didn’t see themselves as villains.
They saw themselves as people who were forced to make difficult choices.
“You killed an innocent woman,” Adrian said.
Victor looked away.
“Claire made mistakes.””
“She found your crimes.””
“She threatened everything.””
“She was a human being.””
Victor looked back.
“And so was I.””
The words hung there.
A confession hidden inside a complaint.
Adrian’s phone recorded everything.
He had learned.
Power wasn’t about intimidation.
It was about patience.
Victor continued talking.
He admitted enough.
The money.
The accounts.
The pressure.
The accident.
But he still avoided one thing.
The person who helped him.
Adrian noticed.
“You didn’t do this alone.””
Victor smiled.
“No.””
Simone looked at him.
“Who?””
Victor laughed softly.
“You still don’t know?””
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Tell me.””
Victor walked around the table.
“James was never the mastermind.””
A chill moved through Adrian.
“What are you saying?””
Victor smiled.
“James was scared. Useful. But scared.””
The warehouse felt colder.
“Then who?””
Victor looked at Adrian.
“The person you trusted most.””
Adrian’s expression changed.
Because there was only one answer that made sense.
But he refused to believe it.
“No.””
Victor smiled.
“That’s the problem with you, Adrian. You think loyalty is something people earn forever.””
Simone grabbed Adrian’s arm.
“Don’t listen to him.””
But Victor continued.
“Your own family helped me.””
Adrian stared.
“My family?””
Victor nodded.
“Someone close enough to know everything.””
The silence became unbearable.
Then Victor’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
And smiled.
“Perfect timing.””
He answered.
“Hello?””
Adrian watched his face.
The confidence.
The satisfaction.
Victor wasn’t scared.
He was waiting for something.
Then Adrian heard another voice through the speaker.
A woman’s voice.
A voice he recognized.
And his entire body went still.
Because after everything…
After the lies…
May you like
After the betrayal…
The person Victor called was the one person Adrian never thought could betray him.
