Chapter 12 - CELESTE’S FIRST CONFESSION
Celeste sat alone in Charles Vale’s library while Evelyn stood near the fireplace.
Adrian, Jonah, Julian, and Katherine remained outside the closed doors. Celeste had asked to speak without Helena present.
For once, Evelyn agreed.
“I was twelve,” Celeste began. “Helena told me to frighten you.”
“Why?”
“She said your father kept a key inside his study and we needed him to leave the room.”
“You pushed me.”
“I touched your shoulder and whispered your name. I didn’t mean for you to fall.”
“But I did.”
“Yes.”
“While Father came to help me, Helena entered his study.”
Celeste nodded.
“She copied the foundation keys.”
“And Anna saw you.”
“She saw Helena leaving the study. She threatened to tell Charles.”
“What happened to her?”
“Helena arranged for Anna to be dismissed. Later, Marcus found her and offered money for her silence.”
“Did Anna accept?”
“No.”
Evelyn looked at the fire.
“So you helped Helena steal from the foundation when you were twelve.”
“I did what she told me.”
“And at the gala?”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“I agreed to make you appear unstable.”
“You agreed before you changed your mind.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Helena raised me. She paid for my education. She told me my mother abandoned me and that the Vale family gave me everything.”
“Did she?”
“She gave me a home and taught me that love was a debt.”
Celeste removed a sealed envelope from the lining of her red dress.
“I found this in Helena’s office yesterday.”
Inside was a birth certificate.
The child’s name was Celeste Katherine Vale.
Mother: Katherine Eleanor Vale.
Father: Charles Alexander Vale.
Evelyn stared at the document.
“No.”
Celeste’s voice shook.
“I’m your sister.”
“That cannot be real.”
Katherine was brought into the library.
When she saw the certificate, she sat slowly.
“I had a baby before Evelyn,” she said. “The doctors told me she died after birth.”
Celeste’s face crumpled.
“What was her name?”
“Katherine Celeste.”
The silence that followed contained twenty-eight years of stolen identity.
Helena had not rescued an abandoned goddaughter.
She had taken Katherine’s first child and raised her as a weapon against the family.
Evelyn looked at Celeste differently.
Not with forgiveness.
Not yet.
But with an understanding that hurt more deeply than anger.
“Did Helena know you had the ring?” Evelyn asked.
“Yes.”
“Did she give you the order to push me?”
“Yes.”
“And did someone push you from behind?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I only felt one hand.”
“Man or woman?”
“I don’t know.”
Celeste touched the back of her shoulder.
“But the person whispered something.”
“What?”
“Finish what you started twenty years ago.”
Evelyn opened the library doors.
The detectives had completed an initial review of Katherine’s recordings. Helena was being taken into custody for conspiracy, unlawful confinement, fraud, and evidence tampering while investigators pursued additional charges.
Guests gathered near the entrance as officers escorted her through the foyer.
Helena stopped beside Celeste.
“You think they will love you now?” she asked.
Celeste said nothing.
“You pushed Evelyn when you were twelve. You agreed to do it again tonight. Blood does not erase what you are.”
Evelyn stepped between them.
“No. But truth changes who controls the story.”
Helena smiled.
“You still believe this is about control of the foundation.”
“What is it about?”
“Survival.”
“Whose?”
Helena looked toward Katherine.
“Ask your mother what Beneficiary Nine demanded in exchange for keeping her children alive.”
Katherine’s expression revealed she knew the answer.
Before Evelyn could question her, the mansion’s original security system came back online.
Every screen in Valecrest displayed the same live image.
Marcus Vale sat inside a car.
May you like
He held the missing second will in one hand.
In the other, he held a match.
