Chapter 20 - THE GIRL NAMED SOPHIE
Victor contacted Detective Fournier immediately.
She reviewed the recovered video.
The voice was distorted but male.
The gold emblem could have belonged to Marcel, Gabriel, Adrian or another old trustee.
All known emblems had been collected as evidence.
One remained missing.
It belonged to Étienne Moreau, Marcel’s younger brother.
Étienne died thirty years earlier in a warehouse fire.
No body was recovered.
Victor almost laughed when Fournier told him.
Another dead Moreau without a body.
Camilla’s prison records showed she received one visitor before sentencing.
The visitor used the name Sophie Renard.
She was seventeen years old.
Her identification was false.
Security footage captured a young woman wearing a hood.
She placed her hand against the glass.
Camilla began crying the moment she saw her.
They spoke for only four minutes.
The audio system malfunctioned during the visit.
Victor examined the footage.
The girl had Camilla’s eyes.
Elena searched sealed records connected to Camilla’s childhood.
At nineteen, Camilla gave birth in Marseille.
The child was listed as stillborn.
The hospital records were signed by Dr. Henri Armand.
Camilla had believed her daughter died.
Years later, someone showed her proof that Sophie remained alive.
That person used the child to force Camilla into the plan against Victor.
Camilla’s greed had been real.
Her betrayal had been real.
But another threat had existed beneath it.
Victor visited Camilla in prison.
She entered the room wearing a plain gray uniform.
Her expression changed when he placed Sophie’s photograph against the glass.
“Where did you get that?”
“She visited you.”
Camilla closed her eyes.
“Who is she?”
“My daughter.”
“You told the court you acted for money.”
“I did.”
“You also acted because someone threatened her.”
Camilla looked toward the guard.
“They are still watching.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“The man with the shipyard emblem?”
“He said Sophie survived because the Moreaus needed insurance.”
“Insurance against what?”
“Against me.”
Victor leaned closer.
“Why would they need control over you before you met me?”
Camilla’s voice fell to a whisper.
“Because I was never selected only to become your wife.”
“My father worked for Étienne Moreau.”
“He witnessed the warehouse fire.”
“He knew Étienne escaped.”
“Where is Étienne?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who has Sophie?”
Camilla looked directly at Victor.
“She told me she was safe.”
“Did you believe her?”
“No.”
Victor thought of the steel weight.
The hidden account.
The shipyard files.
All of it had exposed Gabriel, Roman, Isabelle, Marcel and the criminal network.
Yet someone older had remained outside every record.
Étienne Moreau had vanished before Roman built Meridian.
Before Gabriel entered the board.
Before Victor inherited the company.
Perhaps the original network did not belong to Marcel at all.
Perhaps Marcel had inherited it from his brother.
Camilla pressed her palm against the glass.
“Victor, the man who ordered me to push you knew about Mateo.”
“He knew about your emergency release.”
“Then why did he believe I would die?”
“He did not.”
Victor became still.
Camilla continued.
“He wanted you to survive.”
“He wanted the contingency system activated.”
“He wanted every conspirator exposed.”
“Why?”
“So no one would remain between him and Moreau Maritime.”
Victor understood the final design.
The attempted murder had not failed.
It had accomplished exactly what its hidden architect intended.
The old board was destroyed.
The family trustees were imprisoned.
The criminal network was exposed.
Victor surrendered majority control.
The company was vulnerable to acquisition.
Elena called Victor as he left the prison.
Her voice was urgent.
“Someone purchased thirty-eight percent of Moreau Maritime through six investment funds.”
“When?”
“During the trials.”
“Who controls the funds?”
“We traced them to a new holding company.”
“What is it called?”
“Blue Sophie International.”
Victor stopped in the prison corridor.
A photograph arrived on his phone.
It showed Sophie Renard standing on the deck of a black yacht.
An elderly man stood beside her.
His face was partially turned away.
A scar ran from his temple to his jaw.
Victor recognized him from a damaged childhood photograph hidden in Marcel’s old office.
Étienne Moreau.
The man who had been officially dead for thirty years looked directly toward the camera.
Beneath the image was a message.
Thank you for clearing my company of weak men.
Bring Camilla’s contingency key to the original shipyard.
Come alone if you want Sophie to remain alive.
Victor looked back toward the prison door.
Camilla stood behind the glass, watching him.
For the first time since the Mediterranean pier, Victor understood that the push had never been the beginning of the story.
It had only opened the door.
May you like
And somewhere beyond the Riviera, the man who designed everything was waiting for him to enter.
TOBE CONTINUED
