Elena never thought power could feel so heavy.
Sitting at her father's desk at the Moreau Foundation's Paris headquarters, everything felt too still, too polished. As if the world expected her to play the part of Adrien's heir, but no one had taught her how. She had no idea how Adrien had carried this burden for so many years—how he'd led without breaking. Or maybe… he had broken, just privately.
A knock broke her thoughts.
Camille entered with two coffees and a nervous look. "There's a man here. He says he was your father's lawyer. Not Villeneuve—someone else. He insists Adrien told him to come to you if anything ever happened."
Elena frowned. "Now? After all this time?"
Camille shrugged. "Want me to send him away?"
Elena shook her head. "No. Let's hear him out."
---
The man was older, perhaps in his late sixties, with sharp eyes and a slow, deliberate manner. He introduced himself simply as Claude Fontaine.
"I worked for Adrien Moreau outside the formal channels," he said. "I was retained for personal matters. Matters he didn't trust to the family's legal department—or to Lucas."
He handed Elena a leather folder. "Your father prepared a backup file. In case of his death or disappearance. I was instructed to release it only if two conditions were met: if Lucas took control of the foundation, and if you, Elena, publicly challenged him."
Her breath caught.
Inside the folder were two flash drives and a handwritten note.
> "To my daughter, Elena—
If you're reading this, I have either failed… or succeeded too well.
Lucas may have won battles, but he must not win the war. This information is dangerous. Use it wisely. You are stronger than I ever was.
—Adrien"
She clutched the note to her chest. "What's on the drives?"
Claude's voice dropped. "Evidence of a covert financial operation. Lucas had been siphoning millions through shell companies. Some are linked to pharmaceutical trials that went wrong. Very wrong."
Camille stepped closer. "You mean illegal trials?"
Claude nodded. "In remote parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. No oversight. No records—except for what Adrien collected before they forced him into silence."
Elena stared at the drives. "If I release this… Lucas won't just lose power. He could be imprisoned."
Claude looked at her gravely. "He could also come after you. And anyone who helps you."
---
That evening, Elena sat in the apartment alone.
The city buzzed below her windows, but inside, everything was still.
She plugged in the drive.
The folders were labeled with codenames—Project HEMERA, Trial S-99, Lotus Station. Camille had brought her a portable printer and water. For hours, they read.
Photos. Ledgers. Confidential emails. Videos of poor rural patients, some sick, some disfigured. Elena felt her stomach twist with every frame.
"Lucas funded all of this?" Camille asked, horrified.
"Yes," Elena whispered. "And when Adrien found out, he tried to shut it down."
Camille slammed a folder shut. "We can't sit on this."
"But if I go to the press directly, Lucas will claim it's forged. I need someone with credibility. Someone who doesn't have my name or agenda."
A pause.
Then Camille grinned. "I might know someone."
---
Two days later, in a small café tucked into Rue Oberkampf, Elena met with Mathilde Deschamps, a well-known investigative journalist who had once exposed a biotech scandal in Germany.
Mathilde was direct. "Why me?"
"Because I don't trust anyone else," Elena said. "You dig for truth. Not headlines. And this is the truth people need to see."
Mathilde scrolled through the drive on her laptop. Her face darkened as she watched a video of one of the trial subjects.
"This… is horrifying," she murmured. "But it's not enough. I'll need corroborating witnesses, financial records, and internal memos."
"You'll have them," Elena promised. "But you'll need to move fast. Lucas still has loyalists inside the foundation."
Mathilde closed the laptop. "You've started something you can't stop now, Elena. Are you ready to finish it?"
"Yes," Elena said without hesitation. "No matter the cost."
---
But Lucas struck first.
The next morning, the headlines screamed betrayal.
"Elena Laurent Lied About Paternity: DNA Test Invalidated?"
A private lab in Geneva had released a claim that the test results linking Elena to Adrien were "inconclusive" due to procedural flaws.
Villeneuve called her, livid. "He paid off a lab to discredit the test. We knew he'd try this."
"I'll take another test," Elena snapped. "Publicly. But we don't back down."
Even worse was the board's reaction. Some members began questioning her legitimacy again.
Juliette Fournier called her privately.
"Elena, Lucas is rattling cages. Stay the course. He's losing grip. That's why he's resorting to smoke."
Elena nodded, trying to stay strong. "Then we burn the smoke with the truth."
---
Mathilde's article dropped two days later. And it was devastating.
Titled "The Forgotten Trials of the Moreau Foundation," it outlined everything—the illegal drug testing, the missing funds, the hidden shell companies. The documents Adrien had saved were published in full. Even the internal emails where Lucas greenlit payments to "external operatives."
France erupted. So did the EU.
Investigations were launched. Politicians condemned the foundation. Lucas's assets were frozen. An arrest warrant was issued.
But Lucas?
Vanished.
---
"He's gone underground," Villeneuve said, pacing. "His phone is off. His house is empty. His plane's still in the hangar."
"Where would he go?" Elena asked.
"There's one place Lucas always ran when the pressure got too high. A private estate in Morocco. Off-grid. Protected."
"I want him found," Elena said coldly.
Villeneuve blinked. "Elena…"
"No. No more secrets. No more running. He made us victims. It's time he becomes accountable."
---
That night, Elena received a package at her apartment.
There was no return label.
Inside: a single photograph.
Lucas. Standing beside a man she didn't recognize. In front of what looked like a medical tent. The photo was dated two weeks ago.
Scrawled on the back in marker:
"It's not over. You only found one layer."
Elena's hands shook.
Was there more?
Were there others?
Had Adrien known this, too?
---
She called Mathilde immediately. "I think there's another facility. One we missed. Something current. Something ongoing."
Mathilde agreed to investigate. But she warned Elena, "This time, the danger is higher. Lucas isn't just a businessman anymore. He's a fugitive. And desperate men don't play by rules."
Elena hung up and stared out the window.
She had tried to end this. Had tried to bring the truth into the light.
But the secrets went deeper than she'd imagined.
This wasn't just about the Moreaus anymore.
It was about what power does to people.
And how far they'd go to protect it.