Chapter 9: Celeste’s Offer
Celeste requested to speak with me.
Her attorney proposed a private meeting at the county detention center.
Rebecca advised against it.
“She wants something,” she said.
“Then I want to hear what it is.”
“You’re not going alone.”
The meeting room contained a metal table and four chairs.
Celeste entered wearing a gray detention uniform. Her hair was tied back, and the expensive polish had disappeared from her nails.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked ordinary.
Her attorney sat beside her.
Rebecca sat beside me.
Celeste studied my face.
“You look tired.”
I said nothing.
“I know you hate me.”
“I don’t know you well enough to hate you.”
The answer hurt her.
I saw it.
She leaned forward.
“Daniel planned everything.”
“You helped him.”
“He manipulated me.”
“You drugged my mother.”
“Stephen controlled the medication.”
“You locked her in rooms.”
“She provoked me.”
“You withheld food and water.”
Celeste’s eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what it was like after you left.”
“I know exactly what it was like. I watched it.”
That silenced her.
I continued.
“The kitchen. The hallway. The bedroom. The guest room. Every threat. Every forged document. Every night Daniel came through the rear door.”
Her face lost its color.
“The cameras were removed.”
“The visible ones were.”
She turned toward her attorney.
He whispered for her to remain silent.
Celeste ignored him.
“How much did you see?”
“Enough.”
Her fear returned.
The same fear I had seen when she turned around in the kitchen.
She had not feared being caught hurting my mother.
She had feared the evidence.
Celeste lowered her voice.
“Daniel has money hidden overseas.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Where?”
Celeste looked at me.
“I will tell you everything if Marcus helps reduce the charges.”
“You tried to kill my mother.”
“I never gave her a fatal dose.”
“You planned to.”
“Daniel planned it.”
“You agreed.”
Her mask disappeared.
“I spent seven years being your wife while you treated your work like your real family.”
“You could have divorced me.”
“And leave with what? A settlement? A house? I deserved more.”
“Why?”
“Because I gave you the best years of my life.”
“You spent those years sleeping with my cousin and waiting for my mother to die.”
Celeste flinched.
Then she smiled bitterly.
“You think Daniel loved me?”
“I don’t care.”
“He didn’t. He was using me.”
“So were you using him?”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“We were supposed to leave together.”
“With my mother’s money.”
“With what should have belonged to us.”
“There is no us.”
“I know that now.”
Celeste opened her hands.
“Daniel has an account in the Cayman Islands. He also has a storage unit under Peter Lawson’s name. He keeps original documents there.”
“Why should we believe you?” Rebecca asked.
“Because Daniel arranged for my bail to be denied.”
Her mouth twisted.
“He told his attorney I was unstable. He plans to blame everything on me.”
I looked at the woman who had once stood beside me at the altar.
“You betrayed everyone who trusted you.”
Celeste’s eyes met mine.
“So did Daniel.”
“No,” I said. “Daniel never asked me to love him.”
I stood.
Her voice followed me.
“Marcus, wait.”
I stopped at the door.
“There’s something you don’t know about Australia.”
I turned.
Celeste smiled faintly.
“The delays weren’t only meant to keep you away.”
May you like
“What were they meant to do?”
“To destroy your company.”
