Chapter 8 - CELESTE’S VERSION OF THE TRUTH
Celeste was taken to a secure hospital under police guard.
She had bruises around her wrists and a cut along her temple.
No serious injuries.
No memory of who attacked her.
At least, that was what she claimed.
Nora did not want to see her.
Detective Ramirez insisted.
“She may cooperate only if you are present.”
“Why would she trust me?”
“She doesn’t.”
Ramirez paused.
“She is afraid of Charles.”
Charles remained at the estate with Lucy.
Nora entered Celeste’s hospital room alone, except for Ramirez standing near the door.
Celeste looked smaller without diamonds, champagne and an audience.
Her blond hair hung loose around her face.
A bruise darkened her cheek.
When Nora approached, Celeste stared at the sling.
“Is your shoulder broken?”
“Yes.”
Celeste looked away.
“I did not tell Daniel to push you.”
“You only slapped my daughter.”
Celeste flinched.
“I lost control.”
“You aimed for her.”
“She ruined a gown worth thirty thousand dollars.”
Nora stared at her.
Celeste closed her eyes.
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds exactly like what you are.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Celeste whispered, “Daniel said Lucy would spill the drink.”
Nora sat down.
“How?”
“He told her to wait near the desserts.”
“I know.”
“He said you would overreact if I blamed her.”
“You planned to provoke me.”
Celeste nodded.
“Daniel said the video would help him get temporary custody.”
“Why did you want him to have custody?”
“So he could leave you.”
Nora almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because Celeste still believed the lie.
“You thought he would marry you.”
“We were supposed to be married years ago.”
“Before your father died.”
Celeste’s eyes snapped toward her.
“Marianne contacted you.”
“She left evidence.”
“She is insane.”
“She has a recording of Daniel arguing with your father the night he died.”
Celeste’s face drained.
“No.”
“Your father told Daniel he would not let him marry you.”
“Daniel wasn’t there.”
“You can hear his voice.”
Celeste’s breathing quickened.
“He told me he was in Boston.”
Nora watched certainty collapse inside her.
“Daniel told me you were unstable,” Celeste said. “He said you ignored Lucy, drank during the day and threatened him.”
“He told me you were obsessed with him.”
“I was not obsessed.”
“You helped him frame a five-year-old.”
Celeste looked toward the window.
“He promised no one would touch her.”
“You touched her.”
“I thought she would only cry.”
Nora rose.
“You knocked out her tooth.”
“I know.”
“You watched her bleed.”
“I panicked.”
“You blamed her dress.”
Celeste’s voice cracked.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
Nora leaned closer.
“All of it.”
Celeste remained silent.
Nora walked toward the door.
“Wait.”
She turned.
Celeste looked at Ramirez.
“I want immunity.”
“You are not in a position to demand immunity,” Ramirez said.
“Then you get nothing.”
Nora returned to the chair.
“Daniel already prepared to blame you for the stolen money.”
Celeste stared at her.
“He wouldn’t.”
“Your companies received forty-three million dollars.”
“He controlled those accounts.”
“Can you prove it?”
Celeste said nothing.
“Your name is on the security work order.”
“He told me it was legal.”
“Your email instructed the technician to record my physical reaction.”
“He wrote that email from my account.”
“Can you prove that?”
Again, silence.
Nora watched realization spread across Celeste’s face.
Daniel had constructed the same prison around both women.
He kept his own fingerprints away from every crime.
“Marianne’s second drive requires your fingerprint,” Nora said.
Celeste swallowed.
“What is on it?”
“We don’t know.”
“You expect me to unlock something my sister created?”
“If it contains proof Daniel killed your father, don’t you want to know?”
Celeste’s eyes filled with tears.
“My father hated Daniel.”
“Maybe he had a reason.”
Celeste turned her hand over.
A fingerprint scanner was brought to the hospital under warrant.
Celeste pressed her index finger against it.
The drive opened.
It contained videos from Daniel’s hidden home surveillance system.
In one, Daniel placed wine bottles around the house before photographing them.
In another, he coached former employees to describe Nora as neglectful.
A third showed him dropping Nora’s bracelet into Rosa’s bag.
Then came footage from Lucy’s bedroom.
Daniel entered while she slept.
He prepared a syringe.
He injected a clear liquid into a juice pouch.
The next morning, Lucy drank it.
Nora covered her face.
Celeste stared at the screen.
“I didn’t know.”
The final folder was labeled VICTOR.
Inside was surveillance footage from the Arden penthouse.
The image was grainy but clear enough.
Victor stood on the balcony.
Daniel faced him.
They argued.
Victor pointed toward the door.
Daniel seized his arm.
Victor pulled away.
Daniel shoved him.
Victor struck the railing.
The railing broke.
He disappeared from view.
Daniel stood frozen for several seconds.
Then he took out his phone.
He called someone.
Celeste leaned closer to the screen.
A woman entered the frame.
Young.
Blond.
Wearing a red coat.
Celeste whispered, “No.”
Nora looked at her.
The woman was Celeste.
She had been there.
The footage showed Celeste looking over the balcony.
Then turning toward Daniel.
Daniel said something.
There was no audio.
Celeste nodded.
Together, they wiped the door handle and rearranged furniture.
Ramirez stopped the video.
“You helped cover up your father’s death.”
Celeste began shaking.
“No.”
“The video is clear.”
“I didn’t know he pushed him.”
“You looked over the balcony.”
“Daniel told me my father attacked him.”
She started crying.
“He said it was self-defense.”
“You lied to police,” Ramirez said.
“He told me Marianne would take everything.”
Celeste covered her face.
“He said if I protected him, we would finally be free.”
Nora felt no sympathy.
But she understood the pattern.
Daniel created fear.
Then offered himself as the only shelter.
Ramirez placed Celeste under arrest for conspiracy, obstruction and assault.
Before officers took her away, Celeste looked at Nora.
“He keeps a second phone.”
“Where?”
“In the private dining room at the Whitmore Club.”
Charles owned the Whitmore Club.
Daniel had used a room inside Charles’s own building to hide evidence.
“What is on the phone?” Nora asked.
Celeste’s eyes hardened.
“Everything he never wanted either of us to see.”
Police searched the private dining room.
Behind a loose panel, they found the phone.
It contained messages between Daniel and Patrick Sloan.
One message had been sent on the night Victor died.
Make it look like the railing failed.
Another had been sent after Rosa arrived at the estate.
Scare her. No body.
The warning shots had been Daniel’s order.
Then investigators found a scheduled message that had not yet been sent.
It was addressed to an unknown number.
Tomorrow night. Take Lucy during the charity memorial. Use the east gate.
May you like
Daniel was planning to abduct his own daughter.
The event named in the message was less than twenty-four hours away.
