Chapter 4 - CELESTE'S LAST EMAIL
Rebecca recovered part of Celeste’s deleted mailbox that afternoon.
Adrian refused to read it in front of Noah.
Margaret took him home.
Only then did Adrian open the first recovered message.
Recipient:
Victor Kane.
Subject:
FINAL REQUEST.
Celeste had written it twelve days before she died.
Victor,
I have reviewed the Northstar transfers again. Adrian did not authorize them. I know because I asked him indirectly without telling him why.
I stopped reading.
Adrian continued silently.
His jaw tightened.
Celeste accused Victor of using Noah’s trust to support Northstar investments that ultimately benefited Victor personally.
She demanded repayment.
She also told him she had copied the relevant records.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
If you do not correct this voluntarily, I will tell Adrian after Noah’s birthday. I refuse to leave my son’s inheritance vulnerable simply because Adrian loves you like a father.
Adrian pushed away from the desk.
For a moment, he could not speak.
Victor had known.
He had known Celeste discovered the transfers.
He had known she intended to tell Adrian.
Then she became too sick.
She died seven weeks later.
There was no mystery about her death.
No conspiracy.
Cancer had taken her.
But Victor had apparently relied on grief to bury the problem.
I hated him for that more than I expected.
Adrian stood at the window.
“I defended him.”
I said nothing.
“He told me Celeste had become anxious about money because she was scared about Noah’s future.”
Still nothing.
“I believed him.”
I finally spoke.
“You were losing your wife.”
He turned.
“That doesn’t make me less responsible.”
“No.”
He seemed surprised.
I continued.
“But responsibility and hindsight are different things.”
His gray-blue eyes stayed on mine.
Most people around Adrian agreed with him instantly.
I had learned not to.
Maybe that was why he trusted me.
Rebecca cleared her throat gently.
“There’s another email.”
This one was from Celeste to her private attorney.
She described Victor’s transfers.
Then she wrote:
I am more worried about Adrian than the money. If he learns this while I am dying, he will try to fight Victor, run Kane, care for Noah, and sit beside my hospital bed at the same time. He will break and call it efficiency.
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
Adrian did not.
“She knew me.”
“Yes,” I said.
He looked toward me.
“Apparently Noah inherited her talent for public humiliation.”
I laughed before I could stop myself.
Adrian smiled.
Small.
Real.
Then he realized what he had done.
So did I.
The ridiculous hallway prophecy suddenly hung between us again.
I looked away first.
Rebecca saved us.
“We need to discuss Northstar’s current position.”
The firm still held assets purchased with money routed from Noah’s trust.
Some had appreciated.
That meant recovery might be possible.
But Northstar had also invested in a company called Halberd Systems.
I knew that company.
Kane Global had announced plans to acquire Halberd the following week.
For $900 million.
Adrian turned toward me.
“You prepared the acquisition schedule.”
“Yes.”
“Who introduced Halberd?”
I already knew.
Victor.
Rebecca searched Northstar’s records.
Victor’s firm owned eighteen percent of Halberd through a subsidiary.
If Kane Global completed the acquisition at the proposed price, Northstar would receive more than $160 million.
Victor had used money from Noah’s trust to build a private position in a company he was now recommending Kane Global acquire.
Then I found the board memo.
It recommended approving the transaction immediately.
Conflict disclosure:
None.
Adrian stared at the screen.
May you like
The board vote was in forty-eight hours.
And Victor apparently expected his nephew to sign a deal that would turn stolen trust money into a personal fortune.
