CHAPTER 5 — CELESTE'S SECRET
CHAPTER 5 — CELESTE'S SECRET
“Me.”
The word hung in the burned-out house.
Evelyn stared at her father.
Marcus stood motionless beneath the gray morning sky, his face drained of color.
“You?”
He didn't answer.
“You started the fire?”
“No.”
“But you just said—”
“I said I was the man your mother trusted.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“That isn't what I heard.”
Marcus stepped toward her.
“Your mother asked me to burn the house.”
Evelyn froze.
“What?”
“She asked me to start the fire.”
“Why would she ask you to do that?”
“Because she needed Victor to believe she was dead.”
Evelyn looked at the ruins.
“So you burned her house.”
“Yes.”
“With Mom inside?”
“She was already gone.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe that I have spent seventeen years trying to find out.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“You let me believe my mother died.”
“I let Victor believe it.”
“And you let me believe it too.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“You don't get to use that sentence every time you lie to me.”
Marcus said nothing.
“You told me you didn't know what happened to her.”
“I didn't.”
“You told me you found her necklace.”
“I did.”
“You told me the fire was Victor's doing.”
“It was.”
“Then why did Mom ask you to start it?”
Marcus looked toward the blackened remains.
“Because by that point, she knew she couldn't outrun him.”
He took a breath.
“She needed to disappear.”
Evelyn stared.
“Where did she go?”
“I don't know.”
“Who helped her?”
Marcus looked at Celeste.
“Margaret.”
Celeste's face tightened.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“She helped Isabelle escape?”
“For a short time.”
Celeste shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Marcus looked at the brass key in Celeste's hand.
“Your mother gave you that for a reason.”
Celeste closed her fingers around it.
“She told me never to use it.”
“Why?”
“She said it would open something that should have stayed buried.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“What?”
Celeste swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Marcus held out his hand.
“Give me the key.”
Celeste hesitated.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
Marcus stared.
“Celeste.”
“My mother trusted me with it.”
“Your mother worked for Victor.”
“She also worked for Isabelle.”
“Exactly.”
Celeste's eyes hardened.
“You think she betrayed everyone.”
“I think she was afraid.”
“She was my mother.”
“And she was involved.”
Celeste looked away.
Evelyn stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both turned toward her.
She looked at Celeste.
“You said your mother gave you this key three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you where to use it?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you what was inside?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you why Nathan wanted it?”
Celeste hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Yes.”
Evelyn's heart tightened.
“What did she say?”
Celeste looked at Marcus.
“She said Nathan was looking for something your mother hid.”
“What?”
“She didn't know.”
Evelyn frowned.
“You just said she knew.”
“She knew what he wanted.”
“Not what it was?”
“No.”
“Then how did she know?”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“Because Nathan asked her.”
Evelyn went still.
“When?”
“Before I met him.”
Marcus's expression changed.
“How long before?”
Celeste looked at him.
“Four years.”
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
“Four years ago?”
Celeste nodded.
“He came to my mother's house.”
“Why?”
“To ask about Isabelle.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did he say?”
Celeste's voice trembled.
“He said he needed to find a woman named Evelyn Vale.”
Evelyn stared.
“Before he met me?”
“Yes.”
“Why would Nathan know my name?”
Celeste shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What else?”
“He asked my mother about the sapphire pendant.”
Evelyn touched the pendant instinctively.
“What did she tell him?”
“She lied.”
“What did she say?”
“She told him Isabelle had taken it with her when she disappeared.”
Marcus frowned.
“But she knew Evelyn had it.”
Celeste nodded.
“My mother knew.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“Then why did she lie to Nathan?”
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
“Because she was trying to protect you.”
Silence.
Evelyn didn't know what to feel.
Her mother.
Her father.
Celeste's mother.
Nathan.
Everyone had known pieces of the truth.
Everyone except her.
“Why didn't your mother come to me?”
“I don't know.”
“Why didn't she tell me she knew my mother?”
“I don't know.”
“Why did she disappear?”
“I think Nathan found out.”
Marcus's expression darkened.
“What happened?”
Celeste took a breath.
“The night my mother disappeared, she called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Nathan knew about the key.”
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“And then?”
“She told me to leave.”
“Where?”
“She wouldn't say.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought she was being paranoid.”
Celeste looked down.
“The next morning, she was gone.”
Evelyn's voice softened.
“And you've been looking for her ever since.”
Celeste nodded.
“I've been afraid of Nathan ever since.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Then why stay with him?”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“Because I thought being close to him was safer than being outside his control.”
She wiped a tear from her cheek.
“I was wrong.”
They returned to the safe house.
Marcus spent the next hour examining the photograph of Margaret.
Celeste sat across from him.
Evelyn stood by the window.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Evelyn turned.
“Show me the documents.”
Marcus looked up.
“What?”
“Everything you have on Margaret.”
“There isn't much.”
“Then show me what there is.”
Marcus opened a file.
Inside were old employment records.
Margaret Morgan had worked for Isabelle for eleven years.
Financial analyst.
Personal assistant.
House manager.
Confidential aide.
Evelyn read each page.
Then she stopped.
“What's this?”
Marcus leaned over.
A transfer record.
A large payment from Victor Ashford to Margaret Morgan.
$750,000.
Date:
Three days before the fire.
Celeste stared at it.
“My mother didn't take that.”
Marcus looked at her.
“It's her account.”
“She couldn't have.”
“Why not?”
“Because she didn't have that kind of money.”
“Apparently she did.”
Celeste shook her head.
“That's not proof she betrayed Isabelle.”
“No.”
Evelyn pointed to the next transaction.
“What's this?”
Another payment.
$1.2 million.
One week after the fire.
Celeste's face went pale.
“She received money after my mother disappeared?”
Marcus nodded.
Evelyn looked at her.
“Celeste…”
“I didn't know.”
“Did you ever see her with expensive things?”
“No.”
“Cars?”
“No.”
“Properties?”
“No.”
“Bank statements?”
“No.”
Celeste's voice broke.
“My mother never talked about money.”
Marcus turned another page.
“This is interesting.”
“What?”
“The money didn't stay in her account.”
He pointed at the transfer.
“It was moved the same day.”
“To where?”
“An account in Switzerland.”
Evelyn stared.
“Whose?”
Marcus zoomed in.
His face hardened.
“Unknown.”
“Can you trace it?”
“I can try.”
Celeste suddenly stood.
“I know that account.”
Both looked at her.
“What?”
“I've seen that number.”
“Where?”
“In Nathan's office.”
Evelyn stepped toward her.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“What were you doing there?”
“Looking for proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That he was lying to me.”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“I found a ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“He kept a private notebook.”
“Where?”
“Inside the bottom drawer of his desk.”
Marcus asked:
“Do you still have it?”
Celeste shook her head.
“Nathan found me.”
“What happened?”
“He took it.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Then how do you remember the account number?”
“Because I wrote it down.”
She reached into her handbag.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Evelyn opened it.
The same account number.
Marcus stared.
“This isn't a Swiss account.”
“What is it?”
“A holding account.”
“Whose?”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“Vale.”
Evelyn's heart stopped.
“What?”
“It belongs to your family.”
She looked at him.
“That account was closed seventeen years ago.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the transaction date.
“It was reopened.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Evelyn stared at the date.
The same year she married Nathan.
The same year Nathan began controlling her finances.
The same year Celeste became part of their lives.
Everything led back to the marriage.
Evelyn whispered:
“He used my family account.”
Marcus nodded.
“For what?”
Marcus continued reading.
His face slowly changed.
“He wasn't stealing from you.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What?”
“He was moving money into it.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find out.”
Marcus looked at the records.
“There are hundreds of transfers.”
“From Nathan?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Marcus followed the transaction trail.
His expression became darker.
“Victor.”
Evelyn's blood went cold.
“Victor was moving money into my family account?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what was Nathan doing?”
Marcus looked at another document.
“Nathan was moving it out.”
Evelyn stared.
“He was laundering it.”
Marcus nodded.
“Through your family trust.”
Evelyn's stomach turned.
“That means if the government traced the money…”
“They would think it belonged to your family.”
“And Nathan would blame me.”
“Yes.”
She finally understood.
The marriage wasn't only about stealing her inheritance.
Nathan had been using her identity.
Her family.
Her trust.
Her reputation.
He had built a financial shield around himself.
And Evelyn had been the shield.
She looked at the documents.
“How much?”
Marcus didn't answer.
“How much did he move through my family?”
“Almost $184 million.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
The same number.
The same fortune Nathan had tried to take.
Except now she understood.
It wasn't simply her inheritance.
It was evidence.
Evidence of a much larger crime.
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Celeste looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Marcus reached for his gun.
“Don't answer.”
Celeste hesitated.
The phone kept ringing.
Then she pressed accept.
“Hello?”
No response.
“Who is this?”
A man's voice finally spoke.
“You kept the key.”
Celeste went pale.
“Who are you?”
“You know.”
“No, I don't.”
“You're lying.”
Evelyn moved closer.
The voice continued.
“Your mother should have destroyed it.”
Celeste whispered:
“What did you do to her?”
A pause.
Then:
“She made a choice.”
“Where is she?”
“She chose Isabelle.”
Celeste's eyes widened.
“Isabelle is alive?”
Evelyn stared at her.
The voice laughed softly.
“Your mother knew the truth.”
Celeste's hand began shaking.
“What truth?”
“The truth about Evelyn.”
The call ended.
Celeste lowered the phone.
Evelyn looked at her.
“What did he mean?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus stood.
“We're leaving.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
She looked at the key.
“We're opening the room.”
They returned to Blackthorn Manor after midnight.
The mansion had been sealed by federal agents.
But Marcus had access.
They entered through the underground tunnel.
The old wine cellar was dark.
Dust covered the bottles.
Broken shelves lined the walls.
Celeste held the key.
“Number 17.”
Evelyn looked around.
“Where?”
Marcus searched the wall.
Nothing.
Celeste noticed something.
“There.”
A small metal plate sat behind a row of wine bottles.
Number 17.
She inserted the key.
Click.
A section of the wall moved.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Evelyn stared.
“How did nobody know this existed?”
Marcus answered quietly.
“Because Victor built it.”
They descended.
The staircase led deep underground.
At the bottom was another door.
This one was steel.
There was no keypad.
No lock.
Only a sapphire-shaped indentation.
Evelyn touched her pendant.
Marcus looked at her.
“Try it.”
She pressed the pendant against the indentation.
The door unlocked.
Slowly.
With a heavy metallic groan.
Inside was a room.
Small.
Cold.
Perfectly preserved.
A desk.
A chair.
A filing cabinet.
And dozens of photographs.
Evelyn walked toward the desk.
There was one photograph on top.
Her mother.
Holding Evelyn.
And beside her—
another little girl.
Amelia.
Evelyn picked it up.
Her hands shook.
On the back was a date.
Seventeen years ago.
And a message.
THE GIRLS MUST NEVER BE SEPARATED AGAIN.
Celeste looked around.
“There are files.”
Marcus opened one.
His face changed.
“What?”
Evelyn stepped toward him.
“What is it?”
Marcus handed her the file.
The cover read:
ASHFORD PROJECT — E-17
She opened it.
The first page contained her photograph.
The second contained Nathan's.
The third contained Amelia's.
Then—
a fourth photograph.
A woman.
Older.
Alive.
Evelyn stared.
“Mom.”
Marcus went completely still.
Isabelle.
Alive.
The photograph had been taken only four years earlier.
Evelyn's hands shook.
“She's alive.”
Marcus couldn't speak.
Celeste looked at the photograph.
“Where?”
Evelyn turned the page.
An address.
A small town in western Pennsylvania.
Beneath it was another note.
DO NOT CONTACT ISABELLE UNTIL THE ASHFORDS BELIEVE EVELYN IS ALONE.
Evelyn stared at the words.
Then another document slipped from the file.
A letter.
Written by Margaret Morgan.
Celeste picked it up.
She read:
Isabelle,
I did what you asked.
Nathan believes Evelyn knows nothing.
Victor believes you are dead.
Marcus believes I betrayed you.
Celeste stopped.
Her eyes widened.
Evelyn took the letter.
She continued reading.
But there is one thing I could not control.
Nathan has found Amelia.
Evelyn's heart stopped.
Below it:
He doesn't know she is Evelyn's sister.
Then the final line.
If he discovers the truth, he will use one daughter to destroy the other.
Celeste covered her mouth.
Evelyn looked at her.
“Your mother was protecting us.”
Celeste began to cry.
“She wasn't the traitor.”
Marcus stared at the letter.
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Then who was?”
Marcus didn't answer.
A sound came from behind them.
The steel door slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
The lights went out.
Celeste screamed.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Then a man's voice echoed through the darkness.
“You finally opened it.”
Evelyn froze.
The voice was familiar.
Nathan.
“Where is my sister?” she demanded.
Nathan laughed.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What do you want?”
“The pendant.”
“No.”
“You'll give it to me.”
“Never.”
Nathan's voice became colder.
“Then Amelia dies.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You've already lost.”
“No.”
A light suddenly appeared.
A video screen on the wall flickered to life.
Amelia appeared.
She was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was bruised.
Evelyn's breath caught.
“Amelia!”
Nathan's voice whispered:
“Now you understand.”
Evelyn stared at the screen.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere your father can't reach.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“I'll find you.”
Nathan laughed.
“You couldn't find your wife.”
Marcus froze.
Evelyn looked at him.
Nathan continued.
“Did you tell Evelyn what happened after the fire?”
Marcus said nothing.
“What happened to Isabelle?”
Still nothing.
Nathan laughed.
“She trusted Margaret.”
Evelyn stared at the screen.
“And Margaret trusted someone else.”
The video changed.
A photograph appeared.
Isabelle.
Margaret.
And a third person.
A man standing behind them.
His face was partially hidden.
But the ring on his hand was unmistakable.
Black stone.
Silver frame.
Evelyn whispered:
“The ring.”
Nathan's voice became almost cheerful.
“Now ask your father who that man is.”
The screen went black.
Evelyn turned slowly toward Marcus.
“Dad?”
Marcus stared at the photograph.
His face had lost all color.
He whispered:
“I know him.”
“Who is he?”
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“He was my best friend.”
Evelyn's heart sank.
“What happened to him?”
Marcus swallowed.
“He died the night of the fire.”
A pause.
Then the hidden speakers crackled.
Nathan whispered:
“No, Marcus.”
A man's voice came through.
Old.
Calm.
Alive.
“You were the one who died.”
Evelyn froze.
Marcus's eyes widened.
The voice continued.
“Seventeen years ago, I started the fire.”
A pause.
“And you took the blame.”
Evelyn stared into the darkness.
“Victor?”
The voice laughed.
“No.”
Then the lights came back on.
The steel door opened.
And a photograph slid across the floor.
It showed Evelyn's mother.
Alive.
Standing beside the man with the black ring.
On the back were three words:
May you like
SHE CHOSE HIM.
TO BE CONTINUED
