Chapter 15 - The Sister on the Witness Stand
The trial began four months later.
Reed survived the gunshot.
Conrad refused a plea agreement.
Nathan accepted one.
In exchange for testifying against Conrad and Reed, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy, obstruction, and evidence tampering.
His legal career ended.
He faced twelve years in federal prison.
Lucas attended every hearing but never sat beside him.
Celeste also accepted a plea agreement.
Prosecutors required her to testify publicly about the poisoning, the forged insurance policy, and Maren’s accident.
She faced up to eighteen years.
The courthouse steps were crowded every morning.
Reporters shouted questions as Maren entered.
Some asked whether she wanted Reed to receive life imprisonment.
Others asked whether she would forgive Celeste.
Maren answered neither.
Inside the courtroom, Reed sat beside his attorneys.
He no longer looked polished.
The shooting had left him thinner.
His suit hung loosely across his shoulders.
But when his eyes found Maren, the old control returned.
Celeste testified on the sixth day.
She wore a plain gray dress.
No jewelry.
No makeup.
She looked directly at the jury.
“Did you remove your sister’s EpiPens?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you know she could die?”
“Yes.”
“Did Reed instruct you to remove them?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you obey?”
Celeste swallowed.
“Because I wanted what he promised me.”
“What did he promise?”
“Money.”
“Control of the foundation.”
“A place on the company board.”
“And him.”
The prosecutor displayed messages between Celeste and Reed.
They had discussed Maren’s death with casual cruelty.
One message from Celeste read:
After Friday, there will finally be room for us.
Maren felt every person in the courtroom look toward her.
The prosecutor continued.
“Did you believe the allergic reaction would kill Maren?”
“Yes.”
“Did you want it to?”
Celeste looked at her sister.
Maren did not look away.
“Yes.”
The word struck harder than any excuse could have.
Celeste began crying.
“I told myself I only wanted her gone.”
“I told myself Reed would manage the details.”
“But I knew what gone meant.”
Reed’s attorney attacked her credibility.
“You lied to your sister.”
“Yes.”
“You committed fraud.”
“Yes.”
“You entered an affair with her husband.”
“Yes.”
“You now expect a reduced sentence for blaming him.”
“I expect a sentence for what I did.”
“Did Reed physically force you to remove the EpiPens?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten your life before the poisoning?”
“No.”
“So your actions were voluntary.”
“Yes.”
The attorney approached the jury.
“Isn’t it true that you planned the murder and Reed attempted to stop you?”
“No.”
“Isn’t it true that Reed called emergency services?”
“After Maren pressed the button and froze the accounts.”
“Isn’t it true that you contaminated the sauce?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Reed.”
“Did you see him place peanut oil on the salmon?”
Celeste hesitated.
“No.”
The attorney smiled.
“Then you cannot testify that he did.”
The physical evidence remained incomplete.
Reed had handled the oil bottle, but he had cooked dinner.
The audio captured his plan, yet his attorneys argued he had been pretending to agree because Celeste was unstable.
Then the prosecutor played the dining-room recording.
Reed’s voice filled the courtroom.
Wait seven minutes before calling emergency services.
Tell them she ate before we realized the sauce was contaminated.
The jury listened in silence.
Reed’s attorney claimed the file had been edited.
Federal experts testified that it had not.
Helena testified next.
The defense focused on her disappearance.
“You allowed your daughters to believe you were dead?”
“Yes.”
“For fifteen years?”
“Yes.”
“You lived under false names?”
“Yes.”
“You broke immigration laws in several countries?”
“Yes.”
“You employed private security teams outside normal legal oversight?”
“Yes.”
“Yet you ask this jury to trust you.”
Helena looked toward Maren and Celeste.
“No.”
“I ask them to examine the evidence.”
“I made choices that injured my daughters.”
“My guilt does not make Reed innocent.”
Conrad testified against no one.
He sat at the defense table and watched as former employees described bribery, falsified trials, and threats.
When Anna Mercer’s recording played, Reed lowered his head.
Conrad did not react.
On the final week, Maren took the stand.
The prosecutor asked about the taste of the salmon.
The missing medication.
The fall from her wheelchair.
The button beneath the table.
Maren described everything without raising her voice.
Reed’s attorney approached.
“Mrs. Whitaker, you discovered your husband’s affair three weeks before the dinner?”
“Yes.”
“You also discovered unauthorized financial transfers?”
“Yes.”
“You were preparing to remove him from the company?”
“Yes.”
“So you had a motive to destroy his reputation.”
“I had a motive to expose his crimes.”
“You froze eighteen million dollars before the police arrived.”
“I used an emergency system while I was suffocating.”
“You then released confidential corporate files that caused billions in losses.”
“Yes.”
“Would you agree that you are willing to destroy anyone who threatens your control?”
Maren looked at Reed.
“No.”
“I am willing to destroy the lie that control matters more than a human life.”
The attorney stepped closer.
“You have told the press that your husband never loved you.”
“I have not spoken to the press about his feelings.”
“Do you still love him?”
The question caused the judge to look up.
Maren considered the man she had married.
The man who held her hand after the crash he caused.
The man who kissed her forehead before serving poison.
“I loved the person he performed.”
“That person never existed.”
Reed’s eyes closed.
The jury received the case two days later.
They deliberated for nineteen hours.
When they returned, Maren sat between Helena and Detective Ruiz.
Celeste was brought in under guard.
Reed stood.
On attempted murder, the verdict was guilty.
On conspiracy, guilty.
On financial fraud, guilty.
On the murder of Gideon Whitaker, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.
A mistrial was declared on that charge.
Reed looked at Maren.
He had been convicted of enough crimes to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Yet Gideon’s death remained legally unanswered.
As officers moved toward him, Reed leaned toward his attorney.
May you like
Then he spoke loudly enough for Maren to hear.
“Gideon’s killer was never in this courtroom.”
