Chapter 5 - The Perfect Pregnancy
Celeste’s pregnancy became a public performance.
She attended charity dinners in custom maternity gowns. She posted photographs of a nursery filled with imported furniture. Vivian hosted a baby shower before the supposed fifth month and introduced Celeste as the mother of the Ashford future.
Grant appeared beside her in every photograph.
He stopped visiting Lily regularly.
When Evelyn confronted him, he said Celeste needed him.
“Your living daughter needs you too.”
“She has you.”
“And your son has Celeste.”
“That’s different.”
It was always different when Grant wanted an excuse.
Evelyn began collecting evidence.
A private investigator photographed Celeste entering a theater-costume company that produced realistic prosthetics. Another image showed Vivian meeting the company’s owner at a hotel restaurant.
Evelyn obtained copies of altered trust documents prepared by the family attorney. The documents would transfer controlling power to Grant’s first son immediately after birth.
Lily’s inheritance would be reduced by nearly seventy percent.
Then Evelyn received another anonymous message.
Check the Moonridge Women’s Clinic. Appointment under the name Clara Bell.
The investigator followed Celeste there.
Clara Bell was a real woman expecting a baby boy. She had financial problems and a history of participating in questionable insurance schemes.
Evelyn initially feared Celeste intended to claim Clara’s child.
The truth was nearly as terrible.
Clara was being paid to provide ultrasound images, blood samples, and medical documentation. In exchange, Vivian promised to clear her debts and purchase her a house after the wedding.
Celeste was never pregnant.
The fake pregnancy had one purpose: secure her marriage to Grant and force the trust changes before the deception ended.
Evelyn still needed evidence linking Vivian directly to the scheme.
That evidence arrived in a cream envelope.
Inside was a signed agreement between Vivian Ashford and Clara Bell.
There was also a recording.
Vivian’s voice was unmistakable.
Once the wedding is complete and the trust is signed, Celeste will suffer a private loss. Grant will be too devastated to ask questions.
Evelyn listened to the recording three times.
Then she cried.
May you like
Not for Grant.
For Lily, whose grandmother had tried to reduce her to an obstacle.
