Chapter 14 - Celeste Walked Into the Wrong House
While Dominic was trying to save himself, Celeste Whitmore was discovering what it meant to become inconvenient to her father.
She called me three days after my meeting with Dominic.
I almost didn't answer.
We had never been friends.
She had knowingly dated a married man, sent me a cruel message, and married Dominic believing I would quietly disappear.
But her voice sounded different.
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“I need help.”
I glanced at Simone, who was reviewing documents beside me.
“What happened?”
“Daddy locked me out of the estate.”
I waited.
“He canceled my credit cards.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked him about the Meridian accounts.”
I closed my eyes.
“Celeste, you need an attorney.”
“I have one.”
“Then call them.”
“I did. They told me to stop going through my father's office.”
I sat straighter.
“His office?”
Celeste began speaking faster.
“The morning after the wedding, I found copies of the merger documents in his study. Dominic had told me the accounts were legitimate. I wanted to know whether he'd lied.”
“And?”
“There were papers with my name on them.”
“What kind of papers?”
“I don't know. Shareholder approvals. Beneficial ownership forms. Something about a holding company.”
Simone leaned closer.
I put the call on speaker after telling Celeste.
“Did you sign those documents?” Simone asked.
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever authorized someone to sign on your behalf?”
“No.”
I looked at Simone.
Another copied signature.
Another person positioned to accept responsibility.
Celeste continued.
“When I confronted Daddy, he told me I was being dramatic.”
Her voice shook.
“Then he said I should be grateful Dominic married me at all.”
I stared at the phone.
“What did Dominic say?”
“He told me we needed to stay calm until the merger closed.”
I almost laughed.
Even now.
Even after everything.
He was still thinking about the deal.
Celeste took a shaky breath.
“Evelyn, I found a document that says I own part of Meridian Coastal.”
Simone's expression sharpened.
“Do you have a copy?”
“Yes.”
“Don't send it to anyone except your attorney until you've discussed how to preserve it.”
“I already gave my attorney the original.”
“Good.”
Then Celeste said something unexpected.
“Dominic didn't marry me because he loved me.”
I remained silent.
“He needed my name on the company documents.”
I thought about the woman who stood in my hospital room wearing a wedding gown.
Her mascara running.
Her world falling apart.
I had felt satisfaction when she discovered Dominic's lies.
Now I felt something more complicated.
Celeste had helped hurt me.
But Graham appeared to have been using her too.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
She hesitated.
“I want to know how you stopped being afraid of him.”
I looked toward Rose's bassinet.
“I didn't.”
“What?”
“I'm still afraid sometimes.”
Celeste was quiet.
“I just stopped allowing fear to make every decision for me.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “I think Daddy knows what happened to Arthur.”
My chest tightened.
“What makes you say that?”
“I heard him arguing with Margaret last night.”
“About what?”
“He told her she should have destroyed the hospital records years ago.”
I closed my eyes.
“Celeste, you need to tell your attorney and the investigators.”
“I will.”
“And don't confront him again.”
“I won't.”
Before hanging up, she asked one more question.
“Evelyn?”
“Yes?”
“Do you hate me?”
I looked down at the blanket covering my knees.
I could have lied.
I could have said no.
But I was tired of pretending.
“I hated what you did,” I said. “I still haven't forgiven it.”
Celeste began crying quietly.
“I know.”
“But that doesn't mean you deserve to be used or threatened.”
She took a shaky breath.
“Thank you.”
Then she ended the call.
Two hours later, Celeste's attorney contacted Simone.
Graham Whitmore had filed papers challenging certain property transfers involving his daughter.
His public relations team had also released a statement implying Celeste was suffering from stress following her marriage.
The similarities to Dominic's accusations against me were impossible to miss.
Powerful men.
Women who knew too much.
Claims that the women weren't emotionally stable enough to understand what they had discovered.
That evening, I received a secure message from Celeste's attorney.
Attached was a single page from the Meridian ownership documents.
I recognized the transaction date.
March 18.
The day Arthur died.
And there, listed beside Graham Whitmore's investment vehicle, was a name I had never expected to see.
Rose Vale.
Arthur's deceased wife.
A woman who had been dead for more than a decade.
I stared at the page.
Someone had used a dead woman's identity in the company documents.
And the more I examined the paperwork, the clearer the purpose became.
They had hidden the ownership behind a name nobody expected to question.
May you like
But Arthur had questioned it.
And shortly afterward, he'd died.
