Chapter 4 - What Celeste Told Evelyn

Adrian opened the door.

Celeste stood alone.

No coat.

No security.

The hem of her red gown was dark from the rain.

“I need five minutes.”

Adrian didn’t move aside.

“You already used twenty-five years that weren’t yours.”

Her face tightened.

“That isn’t fair.”

Evelyn spoke from behind him.

“Let her in.”

Adrian turned.

“Mom.”

The word sounded strange in the room.

Evelyn’s expression changed when she heard it.

But she nodded toward Celeste.

“If she leaves now, you’ll spend the rest of the night wondering what she would have said.”

Adrian stepped aside.

Celeste entered.

She looked at Evelyn.

Evelyn looked back.

Three nights earlier, they had met in the same hotel.

Only then Adrian had not been here.

Celeste’s voice was small.

“I lied to you.”

Evelyn folded her arms.

“I know.”

Adrian turned sharply.

“What did she say?”

Celeste looked at him.

“I told your mother you knew she was in Chicago.”

He went still.

“And?”

“I told her you didn’t want to see her.”

No one moved.

Adrian’s voice dropped.

“Why?”

“My father called me before I came here.”

Richard Marlowe again.

“He said Evelyn was unstable. That she had spent years blaming our family for things your father did.”

Evelyn almost smiled.

“Richard always preferred diagnosis to responsibility.”

Celeste ignored her.

“He said if you saw her before the wedding, she would use your guilt to turn you against me.”

Adrian stared.

“And you believed him?”

“I believed enough.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

She looked down.

“No.”

It surprised all of us.

Celeste wiped her cheek.

“I didn’t believe him completely.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Because I was afraid she had proof.”

There it was.

Not love.

Not protection.

Fear.

Adrian looked at her.

“Proof of what?”

Celeste reached into a hidden pocket in her gown.

She removed a folded hotel notepad.

“I wrote down what she told me.”

Evelyn stared at it.

“You took notes?”

“My father trained me to remember details.”

“No,” Henry said. “He trained you to control them.”

Celeste handed the paper to Adrian.

Three company names.

Two account numbers.

One date.

October 17, 2001.

Adrian read it twice.

“The date Mom disappeared.”

Evelyn nodded.

Celeste pointed to the last company.

“Marlowe Transit.”

Adrian looked up.

“Your father owned it?”

“On paper, my grandfather did.”

“And in reality?”

“My father.”

Henry stepped closer.

“That company was dissolved six weeks after Evelyn disappeared.”

Celeste nodded.

“My father told me it failed.”

“Did it?”

“I checked yesterday.”

Adrian stared.

“You checked?”

“Yes.”

She took out her phone.

Then stopped.

The screen remained dark in her hand.

“I found archived incorporation records. Marlowe Transit transferred its remaining assets to a trust.”

“What trust?”

Celeste looked at Evelyn.

“The one that paid for your house in Wisconsin.”

Evelyn’s face went pale.

Adrian turned.

“What?”

“I bought that house twelve years ago,” Evelyn said.

“With your own money?”

“I thought so.”

Celeste shook her head.

“The seller financed part of it through a private trust. The trust traces back to Marlowe Transit.”

Nobody spoke.

Evelyn sat slowly.

“I never knew.”

Adrian looked at Celeste.

“So your father has known where she was for twelve years.”

“At least.”

“While telling you she was dangerous.”

“Yes.”

“While Henry searched.”

“Yes.”

“While I left an empty chair every October.”

Celeste started crying again.

Adrian didn’t soften.

I understood why.

Crying was not the same as being sorry soon enough.

Henry looked at the note.

“Richard didn’t just threaten Evelyn twenty-five years ago.”

Evelyn looked at him.

“He kept track of me.”

“Yes.”

Adrian walked to the window.

His reflection floated over the city.

“What does he want now?”

Celeste answered.

“To keep the Vale and Marlowe families connected.”

Adrian turned.

“Through our marriage.”

She closed her eyes.

“Yes.”

It hurt her to say it.

That didn’t make it less true.

Adrian looked at the ring finger she had expected him to fill that night.

“Did you know that when you agreed to marry me?”

“No.”

“When did you know?”

“Six months ago.”

Henry’s head lifted.

“The engagement.”

Celeste nodded.

“My father told me the week after.”

Adrian’s expression changed.

“And you stayed.”

“I loved you.”

“You also chose him.”

“I thought I could protect both.”

Evelyn stood.

“That sentence ruins families.”

Celeste looked at her.

“I know.”

“No. You know now.”

Adrian walked toward the door.

Celeste followed one step.

“Where are you going?”

“To my father’s study.”

“Why?”

He held up Henry’s retainer agreement.

“Because if my father knew Richard lied, he may have left something behind.”

Henry frowned.

“I searched that study after Vincent died.”

Adrian looked at him.

“You searched like a lawyer.”

Then he looked at me.

“Isla.”

“Yes?”

“You clean that room.”

I nodded.

“Every Thursday.”

“What did my father never let anyone touch?”

I thought about it.

The desk.

The books.

The decanters.

Then I remembered.

“The old train map.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

“What about it?”

“It’s the only thing in the room your staff instructions say not to dust.”

Henry stared at me.

“Why would a framed map have cleaning instructions?”

“I don’t know.”

Adrian picked up his coat.

“We’re going to find out.”

Celeste stepped toward him.

“Adrian, what do you want me to do?”

He stopped at the door.

“For the first time tonight?”

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

He looked at her.

“Nothing.”