Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew Too Much
Nicholas had fathered two children.
One was Lily, the little girl fighting for her life in a hospital room.
The other was a daughter born years earlier to my fiancée.
I couldn't make the pieces fit.
If Celeste's child had been Nicholas's, why had she never told me? Why had the baby been declared stillborn? And why had Victor Sloane concealed the records?
I went to Celeste's penthouse that afternoon.
She opened the door wearing a silk robe and a smile that vanished when she saw the file in my hand.
“You've been investigating me.”
“You lied to me.”
“About what?”
I placed the birth record on the table.
Her expression changed so quickly that I knew the document was real.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she poured herself a drink.
“I was nineteen. Nicholas and I were involved briefly. My father hated him. When I became pregnant, he arranged everything.”
“Everything?”
“The hospital. The paperwork. The adoption.”
“Was the baby alive?”
Celeste stared into her glass.
“Yes.”
The answer struck harder than any bullet.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I was told she had been placed with a family in Pennsylvania. My father handled it. By the time I learned what he'd done, the records were gone.”
“Why did you hide it from me?”
Her eyes hardened.
“Because I knew you'd choose your brother over me.”
“You threatened Hannah and her daughter.”
“I protected what was mine.”
“Lily is Nicholas's daughter.”
Celeste slammed the glass onto the table.
“Lily is a mistake that should never have happened!”
The silence afterward was absolute.
I stepped away from her.
For the first time, I saw no trace of the woman I thought I loved.
Only someone terrified of losing control.
“You're finished, Celeste.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You think you can walk away from me? Victor controls half your accounts. The wedding contracts give me access to your legitimate businesses. If you leave me now, you'll lose everything.”
I turned toward the door.
She called after me.
“Grant, you have no idea what Nicholas did.”
I stopped.
“He wasn't killed because he wanted to leave the organization.”
“Then why?”
Celeste's smile returned.
“Because he discovered who his daughter really was.”
My phone rang before I could question her.
Margaret had found the adoption file.
The child had been placed with a family under a new name.
That name was familiar.
May you like
It belonged to a woman currently working in my mansion.
My personal assistant, Emily Carter.
