Chapter 3 - Celeste Wasn't the Other WomanI expected Celeste to disappear.
Instead, she called me.
At 7:42 the next morning.
I almost didn't answer.
Then I remembered Grant's reaction at the hotel.
Fear.
Not embarrassment.
He was afraid of what Celeste knew.
I answered.
“Hello?”
“Mara.”
Her voice was no longer playful.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Can we meet?”
“Why?”
“Because I think Grant lied to me too.”
I said nothing.
She continued.
“I know you hate me.”
“I don't know you well enough to hate you.”
“That makes one of us.”
“Where?”
She gave me an address.
A private café outside the city.
I arrived ten minutes early.
Celeste was already there.
She looked completely different from the woman at the hotel.
No gold dress.
No makeup designed for cameras.
Just a black coat and tired eyes.
She stood when she saw me.
“I’m sorry.”
I sat.
“Start talking.”
She placed a folder on the table.
“What is that?”
“Copies of Grant's documents.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because I discovered what he was planning.”
“What did you discover?”
She looked at me.
“He wanted me to marry him.”
I stared.
“He told me he was going to divorce you.”
“I didn't care.”
“At first.”
Celeste swallowed.
“Then he showed me a financial plan.”
“What plan?”
“Mercer International.”
My heart dropped.
“He said your family was going to lose control after the divorce.”
I stared at her.
“He said I would become his public partner.”
“Then?”
“He said Ellie would be placed under his legal custody.”
“And Bluebird?”
Celeste hesitated.
“He called it a family inheritance account.”
I leaned forward.
“What did he tell you?”
“That once he controlled Ellie, he controlled the trust.”
I felt cold.
“Did he tell you about the Kingsley family?”
“No.”
“Then why did you agree?”
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I believed him.”
She looked down.
“He told me you were unstable.”
“He told me you were addicted to pain medication.”
“He said you had emotional problems.”
“He said he was trapped.”
I stared at her.
“The custody report used exactly those words.”
Celeste nodded.
“Because he gave the same story to everyone.”
Then she opened another folder.
Inside were photographs.
Grant meeting with lawyers.
Grant meeting with a private investigator.
Grant meeting with a custody consultant.
And then—
Grant meeting with someone I recognized.
Conrad Vale.
My father's former chief financial adviser.
A man who had supposedly retired three years ago.
I felt my heart pound.
Conrad had been around my family for years.
He knew everything.
The trusts.
The companies.
The board.
The inheritance.
He knew where every document lived.
He knew how Bluebird worked.
“You know this man?”
Celeste nodded.
“Grant said he was helping with the transfer.”
“Transfer of what?”
“The trust.”
I stared at the photograph.
Celeste continued.
“There is more.”
She handed me a USB drive.
“I copied this before Grant realized I knew.”
“What is it?”
“Audio.”
I inserted it into my laptop.
Grant's voice appeared.
Once Mara loses custody, the trust becomes manageable.
Then Conrad.
And the child?
Grant answered:
She doesn't need to know what she owns.
My stomach twisted.
Conrad asked:
What about the fifty-one percent?
Grant laughed.
Once Bluebird is activated, we don't need to own it directly.
We control the trustee.
The recording ended.
I closed the laptop.
Celeste stared at me.
“I didn't understand until yesterday.”
“Why give this to me?”
“Because I'm not going to help him destroy a child.”
I studied her.
“You don't owe me anything.”
“I know.”
She stood.
“I owe the truth to myself.”
Then she walked away.
I returned to the Kingsley estate.
Evelyn Cross was already there.
I played the recording.
She listened without moving.
When it ended, she said one sentence.
“Your father expected this.”
“What?”
She opened a folder.
Inside was another letter.
My father's handwriting.
When the time comes, you may discover that the person closest to you is not your greatest threat.
The greatest threat will be the person who knows how to make the closest person look dangerous.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Conrad.”
She nodded.
“He was my father's closest adviser.”
“Was he involved?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“We need evidence.”
I had it now.
The recording.
The custody file.
The financial transfers.
But one thing still frightened me.
Grant knew Bluebird had been activated.
And if he knew that, he might move against Ellie directly.
I ran upstairs.
The nursery door was open.
The nanny stood inside.
“Where is Ellie?”
She looked confused.
“She was sleeping.”
My heart stopped.
“Where is she now?”
The nanny pointed toward the window.
“Mr. Mercer came in.”
May you like
Everything inside me went cold.
Grant had Ellie.
