Chương 6
“What problem?”
“He invested money into a project.”
I waited.
He looked uncomfortable.
“Not a normal investment.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he thought he found a way to make easy money.”
My chest tightened.
“How much?”
Léo swallowed.
“Almost seventy thousand euros.”
I stared at him.
“Where did he get that money?”
Léo looked away.
“I think you know.”
The coffee shop suddenly felt too loud.
The sound of cups.
The grinder behind the counter.
Someone laughing at another table.
All of it felt far away.
“He used our credit line.”
Léo did not answer.
He did not need to.
I knew.
“Why was your company involved?”
“Because he needed a business account.”
“Your company.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Léo’s face changed.
Shame.
Not fear.
Shame.
“Because my name looked cleaner.”
I sat back.
“What?”
“He said investors would take it more seriously if the company had been created by someone without debt problems.”
The sentence made my hands tighten.
“Léo.”
“I know.”
“No, I do not think you do.”
My voice was louder than I intended.
Several people glanced over.
I lowered it.
“My husband used our money without telling me.”
“I know.”
“He put you in front of him.”
“I know.”
“He let everyone think you were responsible.”
Léo looked down.
“Yes.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he said something I did not expect.
“I thought I was helping him.”
I looked at him.
“And now?”
He swallowed.
“Now I think I helped him hide.”
That was the first honest thing anyone had said to me since this began.
And somehow, it hurt more than the lies.
The waitress returned with two glasses of water, and neither of us touched them.
Léo kept staring at the table as if the wood grain might offer him a way out of the conversation.
It did not.
Neither did silence.
“You need to tell me everything,” I said.
He nodded slowly.
“I know.”
“Not the version where you make yourself look less responsible.”
His eyes lifted.
“I am not trying to do that.”
“Everyone says that.”
“I know.”
The way he accepted the criticism almost made it harder to stay angry.
Almost.
“I need facts, Léo.”
He took a breath.
“Okay.”
He folded his hands together.
“Julien started talking about opportunities last summer.”
I listened without interrupting.
“He said he had been watching people make money online, investing in businesses, buying into private deals.”
“That sounds like him.”
Léo gave a small, uncomfortable smile.
“Yeah.”
It was the first time I saw something familiar in his expression.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“He always believed he was one good decision away from becoming the person everyone respected.”
The sentence stayed with me.
Because it was not completely false.
Julien had always been ambitious.
When we first met, that was one of the things I loved about him.
He had plans.
He worked late.
He talked about building something.
At the beginning, his confidence looked like determination.
Over time, it became something else.
“Continue.”
Léo looked down.
“He found this investment group through someone he knew.”
“Who?”
“I do not know his full name.”
That immediately bothered me.
“You gave money to people you did not know?”
“No.”
His answer came quickly.
“Julien did.”
I watched him.
“And you?”
“I helped create the structure.”
“Why?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Because he told me it was temporary.”
There was a long pause.
“He said he had money coming in.”
“From where?”
“I do not know.”
That answer frustrated me.
“You do not know a lot of things.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
I looked away for a moment.
The anger was there.
But underneath it was something else.
Disappointment.
Not just in Julien.
In myself.
Because I could not understand how two people could make decisions involving my life while I was standing right beside them.
“What happened after he invested?”
Léo looked back at me.
“The money disappeared.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean disappeared?”
“The company stopped responding.”
“Did Julien report it?”
Léo laughed once.
It was not a happy sound.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he thought he could recover it.”
That sounded exactly like him.
Not because it was smart.
Because admitting failure had always been harder for him than fixing the problem.
“He borrowed more money,” Léo continued.
“How much?”
“I do not know the exact amount.”
“Estimate.”
He hesitated.
“Another thirty thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
The number felt unreal.
Not because it was impossible.
Because it was happening inside my own marriage.
“What did he tell you?”
“That he would repay everything once the next deal went through.”
“And you believed him?”
Léo looked embarrassed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He was quiet for a while.
Then he answered.
“Because he is my brother.”
That simple explanation hurt.
Family was the same excuse Julien had used when he bought gifts for his relatives and excluded mine.
Family.
The word had become a weapon without anyone admitting it.
“What happens if the investor comes after him?”
Léo looked at me.
“That is why I contacted you.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
He looked down.
“It is because I am scared.”
The honesty surprised me.
“Of what?”
“Of what happens when Julien runs out of places to hide.”
I studied his face.
“Has he threatened you?”
Léo looked away.
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“He does not threaten people.”
A bitter smile crossed his face.
“He convinces them they are the reason he is disappointed.”
I knew that sentence.
I knew it too well.
After the coffee shop, I drove directly to my parents’ house.
I did not call first.
My mother opened the door wearing slippers and holding a dish towel.
“You look tired.”
I stepped inside.
“I need to talk to Dad.”
She immediately moved aside.
No questions.
No panic.
Just space.
My father was in the garage repairing an old radio.
May you like
He looked up when I entered.
One glance at my face and he put the screwdriver down.
