Chapter 17 - We Stopped Defending and Started Hunting
We gave everything to prosecutors.
The forged signatures.
The Crestline records.
The Northstar shell structure.
The old account lineage.
Richard’s emails.
Celeste’s expense payments.
Nathan’s metadata.
For the first time, the investigation moved beyond civil litigation.
Subpoenas followed.
Then search warrants.
Nathan stopped appearing at public events.
Celeste stopped giving interviews.
Richard moved out of their penthouse.
He did not move in with me.
I would not have allowed it.
He rented a small apartment near the river.
Maybe for the first time in his adult life, Richard Halston lived somewhere without staff.
Then the most important evidence came from Celeste’s former assistant.
Her name was Olivia Marks.
Thirty-nine.
Worked for Celeste for eight years.
She had resigned two months before the gala.
Olivia contacted Jonah after seeing the fraud reports.
She brought a hard drive.
“I copied it because I thought Mrs. Halston might blame me someday.”
Smart woman.
The drive contained emails.
Celeste to Nathan.
Nathan to Celeste.
And one thread that made the entire scheme clear.
Six months before my twenty-eighth birthday, Nathan wrote:
Once Mara activates, Richard loses unilateral control. We need the refinance closed before then.
Celeste replied:
He will sign if he believes the hotel is in danger.
Nathan:
What about Mara’s consent?
Celeste:
Handle it.
Three words.
Handle it.
Then two weeks before the gala:
Nathan:
Trust audit still delayed?
Celeste:
Richard bought us three weeks.
Nathan:
Enough.
Enough.
My father’s request to Elliot had given them the time they needed.
Then came the final email.
Sent the morning of the gala.
Celeste to a hotel security supervisor:
If Mara arrives tonight, do not let her near the executive reception. I do not want her speaking to board members before Northstar closes.
That was why she had thrown me out.
Not only arrogance.
Fear.
If I spoke to board members that evening, someone might mention the financing.
Someone might mention Northstar.
Someone might accidentally tell the legal beneficiary what was being done with her property.
“Security, remove her.”
Five words.
A desperate attempt to keep me ignorant for a few more days.
Instead, they made me call Elliot.
The irony was almost beautiful.
That evening, Richard came to see me.
I showed him the emails.
He read them silently.
When he finished, he looked toward the window.
“They used me.”
“Yes.”
“I let them.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
No defense.
That was progress.
Then he said:
“I’ll testify.”
“You already agreed.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Everything.”
I understood.
The affair.
The hidden payments.
The loan.
The forged consent he deliberately failed to question.
His attempt to challenge Mom’s competence.
Everything.
“If you do that, you could be charged.”
“I know.”
“You could lose your remaining board positions.”
“I know.”
“You could lose most of your money.”
He gave a tired smile.
“Mara, I already lost the thing that mattered.”
I did not rescue him from that sentence.
May you like
He needed to sit with it.
So did I.
