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Adrien felt his heart speed up. *Complex matters...* Vincent was therefore not the public man he claimed to be. But Olivier didn't seem surprised or worried. For him, it was the norm. Adrien frowned slightly. "I'm ready. Tell me everything I need to know. »

Olivier raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't expect such a response. " Alright. You should know that your father had discreet partners,... private investors, if I may say so. Some of them are not people who should be denied anything. They have a lot of influence. You will have to be careful when resuming business. You will need to use your best judgment. »

Adrien nodded slowly, masking his disbelief. Vincent Delacroix therefore did not only manage a flourishing real estate empire. He was involved in much more dangerous activities. The weight of this revelation fell on Adrien like an anvil. He knew that every step in this direction would take him deeper into murky waters. But it was too late to turn back.

A few days later, the dreaded opportunity finally arrived. Adrien was invited to dinner with the Delacroixes, as a "family gathering" to honor Vincent's memory. Adrien had spent entire nights mentally rehearsing his speech, memorizing details about Vincent's life. Every gesture, every smile had to be calculated so as not to arouse suspicion. The tension in his stomach never left him, and his whole body seemed to react to this dull fear of failure.

When he walked through the door of the luxurious family home, he felt the eyes of several family members falling on him. Camille stood up from her chair, surprised and visibly moved. "Daddy..." she whispered, walking towards him.

Adrien forced a reassuring smile, trying to hide his own discomfort. "Camille..." he said softly, his voice choked with the emotion he had to feign. She threw herself into his arms, and he held her close, feeling the weight of her trust on his shoulders. But at that moment, everything in her cried out for a father's love, and Adrien, against all expectations, found himself feeling a strange form of tenderness for this young woman in mourning.

"I can't believe you're here," she breathed, pulling away slightly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Everything has been so...blurry the last few days. I felt like I was living a nightmare. But seeing you here... it gives me hope. »

"I'm here now, Camille," he replied with a new firmness in his voice. "I'm here to stay. »

The first light of dawn was peeking through the thick curtains of Vincent Delacroix's office as Adrien settled in for what would be his first official day in the shoes of the man he had decided to replace. In front of him, a solid mahogany desk, a symbol of power. Papers piled up, files scribbled with cryptic notes, figures he didn't yet understand. The tension was palpable. An invisible pressure weighed on his shoulders, reminding him every second that he had no room for error.

The night before, he had barely slept. All that occupied his thoughts was that business meeting scheduled for the morning. Vincent was used to managing complex deals, juggling numbers like a prodigy, and Adrien now had to rise to the occasion. But how? He, a modest man, with no training in the business world, had to convince a room full of sharks that he was the master of this empire.

He took a deep breath. *I have to pretend. That's all. Just a day to go, a meeting to go through. If I can fool them today, I can continue tomorrow.*

As he tried to absorb the files in front of him, the office door opened slowly. Lucien, Vincent's right-hand man, entered without knocking, as usual. Adrien had observed him in recent days, trying to understand how this man worked, his role within the company. Lucien was intelligent, formidably competent, but he remained a mystery to Adrien.

"Vincent," Lucien said calmly, "we have an hour before the meeting with the international investors. They are waiting for clear answers on the Dubai project. »

Adrien nodded, feigning mastery. *The Dubai project.* He had skimmed the file, but the technical terms still escaped him. "Thank you, Lucien. I'm getting ready. »

Lucien stood still for a moment, his piercing eyes observing every detail of Adrien's face. There was a glint of suspicion in his eyes, as if he sensed something was wrong. Adrien tried not to show his discomfort. But the idea that Lucien could begin to doubt haunted him.

" Everything is fine ? » asked Lucien, tilting his head slightly.

Adrien gave a forced smile. " Yes. It's just... this thing is stressing me out more than usual. The numbers, the issues. But I manage. »

Lucien looked at him for a moment longer, before nodding his head, almost imperceptibly. " Alright. If you need anything, I'm here. »

"Thank you, Lucien," Adrien replied, his hands sweating against the cold wood of the desk. He felt a shiver run down his spine as Lucien turned on his heel and left the room.

Left alone, Adrien leaned back in his chair, eyes closed. He knew everyone expected him to live up to Vincent Delacroix, but how could he? He had neither the experience nor the know-how. All he had was his instinct. And right now, that instinct was telling him that someone, somewhere, was starting to smell a deception.

An hour later, Adrien entered the large meeting room. The U-shaped table was surrounded by concentrated faces. Powerful investors, men and women who used to make the world go round with billions. Everyone had documents, graphs, forecasts in front of them. Everyone expected Vincent Delacroix to guide them through this ambitious project in Dubai, a colossal development which promised huge returns on investment. But one misstep, one mistake, and the project could collapse, taking the company with it.

Adrien felt their eyes on him as he took his place at the head of the table. A cold sweat ran down the back of his neck, but he ignored it. *I am Vincent Delacroix. I am in control.*

"Gentlemen and ladies," he began in a voice that wanted to be assured, "thank you for being here today. We have a lot to talk about regarding the Dubai project, and I want us all to be on the same page. »

The first minutes passed without incident. Lucien had whispered a few details to him before the meeting, and Adrien repeated them carefully, making sure not to stray into subjects he did not understand. He spoke with enough confidence that no one could immediately doubt. Yet with each passing second, he felt tension growing in the room.

A man, sitting at the end of the table, had been staring at him since the start of the meeting. A certain Mr. Bauer, a German investor who had already collaborated with Vincent on several occasions. Adrien had read her name in the files, but he had not anticipated the intensity of her gaze. Bauer seemed to measure every word, every gesture. *He knows*, Adrien thought. *He begins to doubt.*

"Vincent," Bauer said after a long moment of silence, "I would like to clarify something about the management of the funds allocated to phase two of the project. During our last meeting, you mentioned a review of budgets based on fluctuations in the real estate market. However, I haven't seen an update yet. Where are we on this? »