Chapter 8 - THE FATHER WHO DIED AT SEA
Marcel Moreau disappeared during a storm in the Atlantic.
His yacht was found damaged near the Azores.
Two crew members died.
Marcel’s body was never recovered.
After seven months, a court declared him dead.
Victor inherited control of Moreau Maritime.
Isabelle inherited the family properties and private investments.
Celia received her trust.
The family mourned without a body.
Victor now understood how easily a disappearance could be manufactured.
His own death had nearly been declared using the same method.
Isabelle claimed Marcel designed the original contingency account to protect the company if he vanished.
Victor later modified it into the ninety-million-dollar fund.
“Are you saying my father survived?” Victor asked.
Isabelle paused near the salon door.
“I am saying you should stop believing the official version of every family tragedy.”
“Did you know he survived?”
She looked at him.
“Ask Elena why her father resigned from the company after Marcel disappeared.”
Elena’s face changed.
“My father believed Marcel was murdered.”
“Your father helped him leave,” Isabelle replied.
Victor turned toward Elena.
She looked stunned.
“My father never told me that.”
Isabelle gave a small, humorless smile.
“Then our families have more secrets than I realized.”
Police ordered everyone to leave the yacht.
Isabelle departed with her attorney.
She was not free from investigation, but she was not yet charged.
Victor returned to the hidden property near Èze.
News of his survival spread around the world.
Video showed him entering a police vehicle in a wheelchair.
Headlines called it a miracle.
Commentators questioned why he had concealed himself.
Camilla’s attorney claimed Victor staged the entire event to frame his wife.
Laurent claimed he came to the yacht because he feared Camilla had killed Victor.
Celia disappeared before authorities could question her.
Dr. Armand was arrested at the airport carrying a false passport.
Every conspirator began rewriting the story.
Victor contacted Elena’s father, Jonathan Ward.
Jonathan lived in a small village in Scotland.
He had avoided Moreau affairs for years.
He answered Victor’s secure call reluctantly.
“Is Marcel alive?” Victor asked.
Jonathan remained silent.
“Someone carrying the old trustee emblem was aboard my mother’s yacht.”
“Marcel created that emblem.”
“Where is he?”
“I do not know.”
“That is not a denial.”
Jonathan sighed.
“Eight years ago, Marcel discovered Isabelle and several trustees were moving company money through sanctioned ports.”
“He planned to expose them.”
“Then why disappear?”
“Because the evidence implicated him too.”
“Marcel built the smuggling network before he decided to dismantle it.”
Victor felt anger rise.
“He abandoned his family to escape prosecution.”
“He believed Isabelle would kill him if he remained.”
“Did she arrange the storm?”
“I do not know.”
“Did you help him?”
“I arranged a second vessel.”
“Where did it take him?”
“North Africa.”
Jonathan looked toward someone outside the camera.
“Victor, your father contacted me three months ago.”
“What did he want?”
“He said Camilla was preparing to kill you.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I tried.”
Jonathan’s screen suddenly shook.
A door crashed open behind him.
The connection turned sideways.
Victor heard a struggle.
Then a masked figure appeared above the fallen phone.
The figure picked it up.
A familiar male voice spoke.
“Stop looking for Marcel.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at the blank screen.
“That was my brother.”
Victor knew Elena had one older brother.
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Adrian Ward had supposedly died in a climbing accident fifteen years earlier.
Another death without a recovered body.
