Chapter 50: Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw had always been treated as part of the Stone family's inner circle. When Louis was young, Victor had attended birthdays, business dinners, and even several family holidays. After Louis's father died, he became one of the senior figures who advised Louis during the transition of Stone Holdings. That history made the evidence in Derek's report more dangerous than an ordinary corporate betrayal.

Louis spent the next several days pretending he knew nothing. Victor's movements were monitored quietly. His calls, public meetings, and business connections were mapped without approaching him directly. The more Derek investigated, the stranger the timeline became.

"He didn't sell information to Ethan Hale directly," Derek explained. "The payments came from an intermediary that later worked with several companies, including businesses connected to Knox."

Louis turned a page. "So we still don't know who originally bought the information." "Not yet."

One detail bothered Louis most. Victor had begun moving money months before the first visible signs of Stone Holdings' collapse. Either he had known what was coming or had helped arrange it.

At home, Freya noticed Louis becoming quieter. She didn't ask questions immediately. Instead, she continued with her routine, leaving food for him when he returned late and refusing to hover.

On Wednesday evening, Louis arrived after ten. Freya was still awake, revising a design proposal at the dining table. She looked up. "Did you eat?" "No."

She closed the laptop. "There's soup and rice." "You don't have to—" "I'm reheating it, not hunting the ingredients personally."

Five minutes later, Louis sat with a warm meal in front of him. Freya returned to her work but noticed he barely touched the food.

"The person you mentioned?" she asked eventually. "Victor Shaw." Louis said the name before deciding whether he should.

Freya's fingers stopped over the keyboard. The name felt familiar. She searched the original owner's memories and found several impressions: an older man with a controlled smile, conversations at formal dinners, and one uncomfortable meeting shortly before Louis's collapse.

Her expression changed. Louis noticed immediately. "You know him." "I've met him." "That's not what your face says."

Freya concentrated. The memory was blurry, almost buried beneath years of meaningless social events. Victor had once approached the original Freya at a charity luncheon and asked casual questions about Louis's schedule. She had answered without thinking.

A cold feeling moved through Freya. "I think he asked me about you before everything collapsed."

Louis put down his spoon. "What did he ask?" "I don't remember exactly. Meetings. Travel. Whether you were going overseas." She pressed her fingers against her temple. "At the time it seemed like small talk."

Louis's expression became unreadable. "When?" Freya gave him the approximate month.

It matched the beginning of Victor's suspicious payment activity.

Freya looked genuinely disturbed. "Could something I told him have helped?" "Probably nothing important. I never discussed confidential business with you then."

The statement should have been insulting, but Freya was relieved. Their distant marriage might have protected him in one small way.

Louis finished the meal slowly while Freya searched her inherited memories for anything else. Neither found another answer that night. But Victor Shaw was no longer only connected to Louis's corporate past. A thin thread now reached directly through Freya as well.

Before bed, Freya wrote Victor's name in the private notebook where she kept information that differed from the novel. Beneath it she added one sentence: "The antagonist's defeat may have started inside his own circle." The page was becoming a record of everything the original story had misunderstood or omitted, and the list was growing faster than she expected.