Chapter 9 - The Gala Invitation
Police advised Everett to cancel the gala.
He refused.
Not because of the threat.
Because Adrian’s letter contained a second page.
The gala must proceed when the ninth position is activated. The recipient will need to appear in person to claim voting authority. That is the only moment the hidden beneficiary can be identified.
The transfer deadline and gala occurred on the same night.
Whoever had orchestrated the fraud expected to take control before midnight.
Everett allowed the preparations to continue while the police quietly replaced several members of the security team.
Maren wanted to stay upstairs with Noah.
Then she found a handwritten note inside his stroller.
You will never know the truth from behind a locked door.
The note made the decision for her.
She would attend.
By Friday afternoon, Blackwater House had been transformed.
White flowers lined the staircases. Crystal lights glowed above the party table. The terrace doors opened toward the ocean, where the last edge of the storm moved across the horizon.
Guests began arriving at six.
Silas entered alone.
Everett met him near the staircase.
“You were told to remain available to investigators.”
“I am available.”
“You disappeared after the lighthouse.”
“I was following the trust payment.”
“And?”
“Beneficiary 9 has an account under Meridian Nine Holdings.”
The name appeared in Adrian’s ledger.
“Who controls it?” Everett asked.
“The records are hidden behind a private bank in Zurich.”
“Convenient.”
Silas looked toward the police officers disguised as staff.
“You still believe I am the recipient.”
“You are the person with the clearest motive.”
“What motive?”
“You spent your entire life one step behind me.”
Silas smiled faintly.
“That was Celeste’s explanation, wasn’t it?”
“It’s the truth.”
“No. It is the story she taught you.”
Silas moved closer.
“My father spent years on the trust council. When he died, Celeste promised me his seat. Then she gave it to one of her friends. She has never intended to make me an heir.”
“Then why help her?”
“Because she said she had proof that your father was alive.”
Everett’s expression hardened.
“What proof?”
“A recording.”
“Did you hear it?”
“A man told her the schedule had been found. She called him Alistair.”
“Where is the recording?”
“On her private phone.”
Everett glanced toward the staircase.
Celeste was escorted into the living room by two officers. She had not been formally arrested, but she was not permitted to leave the estate.
She wore white.
Several guests approached her, unaware of what had happened.
Celeste greeted them with calm authority.
“She knows this is her last chance,” Silas said.
Everett turned.
“Or yours.”
Maren descended the staircase carrying Noah’s stroller with Mrs. Bell beside her.
The room changed when the guests saw them.
Rumors about Maren’s absence had already spread. Some guests believed she had abandoned Everett. Others had been told that Noah was ill.
Celeste watched them enter.
Her eyes moved immediately to the stroller.
Maren stopped beside Everett.
“Someone has been inside the nursery again.”
Everett looked down.
“Was anything taken?”
“No. Something was left.”
She handed him a small digital recorder.
Gideon joined them near the party table.
Everett pressed play.
Static filled the speaker.
Then Celeste’s voice emerged.
The child must be removed before the gala.
A man responded.
And Maren?
Celeste answered.
Lock her away. She cannot see who claims the transfer.
The recording ended.
Everett looked at Celeste.
She had heard it too.
Several guests stepped away from her.
Police approached.
Celeste’s composure finally broke.
“That recording is incomplete.”
“Then complete it,” Everett said.
“I was preventing something worse.”
“You took my son.”
“I hid him.”
“From whom?”
Celeste looked across the room.
“From the person who has been watching this family for fifteen years.”
A waiter moved between the guests carrying a tray of champagne.
For one second, his face turned toward the light.
Celeste dropped her glass.
May you like
“Everett,” she whispered. “Do not let that man leave.”
The waiter abandoned the tray and ran toward the west corridor.
