Chapter 8 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Victor Vale looked nothing like the man in the old photograph.
Age had hollowed his cheeks and turned his hair white. A scar crossed the left side of his face, disappearing beneath his collar.
But his eyes were unmistakably Adrian’s.
Captain Moreau established a secure video connection from the bridge.
Clara stood in Richard’s cabin with Elias beside her. Her family remained behind, silent and frightened.
Adrian appeared on-screen.
“Bring the pendant,” he said.
“Release Naomi.”
“When the trust opens.”
Victor stood behind him, watching Clara with an expression she could not read.
Clara raised the photograph.
“Why does this say you were never the silent partner?”
Victor stepped closer to the camera.
“Because August enjoyed riddles more than honesty.”
“Were you his investigator?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help design the trust?”
“I designed the protection around it.”
“Then why are you trying to steal it?”
Victor smiled faintly.
“Who told you I was?”
Clara looked at Adrian.
“Your son submitted fraudulent documents.”
“My son has confused inheritance with victory.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Be careful.”
Victor ignored him.
“Clara, the silent partner is not a person. It is a legal entity created from the claims of employees whose pensions your father destroyed.”
Richard moved into view.
“That is a lie.”
Victor’s expression became hard.
“You stole reserve funds that belonged to six thousand workers.”
“I was going to replace them.”
“You gambled them on property derivatives.”
Richard’s face reddened.
Victor continued.
“August restored most of the money privately, but he could not identify every victim. So he created the Silent Partner Fund. It owns thirty-one percent of Sterling Maritime Holdings.”
Clara began to understand.
“To activate my controlling interest, I must recognize the employees’ ownership.”
“Yes.”
“And if I don’t?”
“The trust remains locked.”
Adrian moved behind Naomi.
“The lesson is moving, but we are running out of time.”
Clara looked at Victor.
“Why did you disappear?”
“Because Richard attempted to kill me.”
Evelyn whispered, “No.”
Victor heard her.
“He arranged an explosion on my boat. I survived. My wife did not.”
Adrian’s expression changed briefly.
There was the wound beneath his ambition.
Richard shouted, “There is no proof.”
Victor lifted a waterproof document case.
“There is now.”
Clara looked at Adrian.
“Your father has proof. Why do you need the trust?”
“Because proof gives you revenge,” Adrian said. “Money gives you power.”
“You used Sienna.”
“I gave Sienna what her family never did.”
Sienna stepped forward.
“What?”
Adrian smiled toward the screen.
“Attention.”
Sienna’s face crumpled.
Clara felt anger rise, but she kept her voice level.
“You never loved her.”
“I understood her. That is often more useful.”
Sienna left the camera’s view.
Adrian continued.
“Bring the compass alone.”
“No.”
“Then Naomi pays for your courage.”
He placed a hand on the back of Naomi’s chair.
Naomi lifted her head.
There was blood at her temple, but her voice was steady.
“Clara, do not give him the pendant.”
Adrian struck the chair, sending it sideways.
Clara flinched.
“Stop.”
“Ten minutes.”
The connection ended.
Elias contacted the bridge.
“We can enter through the port service hatch.”
Victor’s presence complicated everything. Clara could not tell whether he was a prisoner, an accomplice or a man waiting to choose a side.
Richard approached her.
“You cannot go.”
Clara looked at him.
“Concern does not suit you.”
“If Adrian activates the reserve, he will destroy all of us.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The real fear.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“You think this is only about money? The reserve contains records. Payments. Names. Government contracts. If they open, people more dangerous than Adrian will come.”
“Did Grandpa know?”
“Yes.”
“And you still tried to take control?”
“I thought I could contain it.”
Clara placed the pendant beneath her shirt.
“You have never contained anything. You only made other people pay for it.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Clara, please.”
For once, she did not ask Clara to forgive Richard or protect Sienna.
She simply looked afraid.
Clara softened slightly.
“Stay here.”
Sienna returned from the bathroom. Her mascara was gone. Her face looked younger without it.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“I know Adrian.”
“You knew the person he pretended to be.”
“I know what makes him angry.”
Clara studied her sister.
“This is not a chance to prove yourself.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Sienna looked at Richard.
“Because I helped bring him aboard.”
She removed the diamond ring and placed it on the table.
“And because I’m tired of being the easiest door into this family.”
Clara wanted to refuse.
Instead, she handed Sienna the photograph.
“Stay behind Elias.”
They entered the service corridor as the ship moved through black water.
Halfway to the old navigation room, every emergency light turned off.
In the darkness, Victor’s voice came through Clara’s phone.
“Do not enter through the port hatch.”
Clara stopped.
“How did you get this number?”
“There are explosives on the door.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
A metallic click sounded behind them.
The corridor door locked.
May you like
Victor whispered, “Adrian is not working alone.”
Then the connection died.
