My Wife Died 4 Years Ago — Then I Saw Her Holding Another Man’s Hand on a Luxury Cruise
Chapter 5
We escaped through a service passage.
Elena led me toward a small maintenance boat attached to the ship.
Before we reached it, Adrian appeared.
“You’re making this worse.”
I confronted him.
“Tell me the truth.”
He looked at Elena.
“Did you tell him?”
She shook her head.
Adrian sighed.
“Claire isn’t hiding from you.”
“Then what?”
“She is hiding from the people who believe you are responsible for what happened.”
I stared.
“Responsible for what?”
Adrian handed me a file.
Inside were photographs of several dead men.
Bank executives.
Politicians.
Private security contractors.
All connected to one company.
Blackwater Meridian.
I recognized the name.
It had once been one of my father’s biggest clients.
My father had died eight years earlier.
I had never understood why.
Adrian said:
“Your father was involved with them.”
“My father was an accountant.”
“He laundered money.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Adrian opened another document.
My father’s signature.
Financial transfers.
Offshore accounts.
Millions of dollars.
I felt sick.
Then I saw Claire’s name.
A payment had been made to her three months before her disappearance.
I looked at Adrian.
“What was she doing for them?”
“Investigating them.”
“And you?”
“I was protecting her.”
“From me?”
“From everyone.”
I turned away.
Everything I thought I knew about my family was collapsing.
Then Adrian said something that changed everything.
“Your wife didn’t discover the conspiracy because of your father.”
“Then how?”
“She discovered it because of you.”
I looked at him.
“What did I do?”
“You unknowingly inherited something your father hid.”
