Chapter 15 - Sister Against Husband
Celeste had disappeared from protective custody six hours earlier.
Her attorney claimed she had gone voluntarily.
David called her repeatedly.
No answer.
Then Richard sent a new video.
Celeste sat across from Elena.
Neither appeared restrained.
Richard stood between them.
“This family reunion has one purpose,” he said. “Tomorrow, Celeste votes for the sale.”
Celeste looked at him.
“No.”
Richard’s smile vanished.
“You know what happens if you refuse.”
“Yes.”
“You go to prison.”
“I’m probably going anyway.”
“I release the complete Northstar file.”
“Do it.”
“I destroy your son’s inheritance.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“I don’t have a son.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“You know what I mean.”
“Noah.
The only child left who still has Bennett shares waiting for him someday.”
Richard leaned closer.
“Then vote.”
Celeste looked directly into the camera.
“David, don’t trade the company for us.”
Elena turned sharply.
“Celeste—”
“I mean it.”
For the first time, David saw his sister without calculation.
She looked terrified.
But decided.
Richard stopped the recording.
David whispered, “How did she get there?”
Detective Shah answered.
“She may have gone to him.”
Maya understood.
“To protect Elena.”
“Or to protect herself.”
Both could be true.
Simone arrived with the court update.
The judge had denied Richard’s request to fully freeze David’s shares but maintained temporary restrictions until the morning hearing.
More importantly, the court ordered Richard to appear because of questions surrounding the trust documents.
Richard would not.
That could lead to sanctions and weaken his petition.
But the shareholder meeting was scheduled before the court hearing concluded.
Thomas Wren refused to postpone.
David finally saw Thomas clearly.
“He’s Richard’s board asset.”
They searched Gabriel’s blackmail files.
Thomas Wren appeared in a folder containing evidence of undisclosed payments connected to a hotel rezoning project.
Richard had controlled him for years.
David called Thomas.
“You’re being blackmailed.”
Silence.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I have the transfers.”
Thomas exhaled.
“What do you want?”
“Postpone the vote.”
“I can’t.”
“You chair the meeting.”
“Richard has everything.”
“So do we.”
“You don’t understand.”
David’s voice remained calm.
“I understand fear makes people do shameful things. I spent years doing smaller versions of the same thing.”
Thomas said nothing.
“Help us now.”
“I have a family.”
“So does Elena.”
The line went dead.
Maya said, “He won’t help.”
“No.”
“What now?”
David looked at Celeste’s voting agreement.
“We show shareholders the truth.”
Simone warned that releasing evidence publicly could compromise prosecutions.
Instead, they prepared a legally vetted summary: undisclosed conflicts involving Richard, financial irregularities linked to Westlake, the federal investigation, and evidence challenging the sale’s fairness.
David also contacted Westlake directly.
Its managing partner was furious.
“We had no knowledge Richard had an economic interest in our advisory vehicle.”
“Withdraw.”
“We’ll investigate.”
“Withdraw now.”
Within three hours, Westlake suspended the transaction pending internal review.
Richard’s deal began collapsing.
Then Maya received another call from Gabriel.
This time police traced it with his consent.
He was in New Jersey.
Safe.
He agreed to meet federal investigators.
Maya drove there under protection.
When she saw Gabriel for the first time in more than two years, she stopped twenty feet away.
He was thinner.
His hair had gone gray at the temples.
Two fingers on his right hand were permanently bent.
“Maya.”
She crossed the distance and struck him in the chest once.
Then wrapped both arms around him.
“You were alive.”
“I was trying to keep you alive too.”
“You let me bury you without a body.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you abandoned me.”
“I know.”
She cried against him.
“You don’t get those years back.”
“No.”
He held her tighter.
“I know.”
Gabriel gave investigators the missing evidence.
He had hidden original bank records proving Richard controlled Marrow’s payoff accounts.
He also revealed where Richard likely took Elena and Celeste.
“Charles owned a private apartment inside the old Bennett Tower.”
David frowned.
“That building was sold.”
“Upper floors were sold. Richard retained one corporate unit through a nominee company.”
Bennett Tower stood only twelve blocks from the Halcyon.
Police prepared warrants.
Then David’s phone rang.
Elena.
He answered.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“David, do not send police.”
“Where are you?”
“Richard wired the unit.”
His blood went cold.
“Explosives?”
“No. Fire suppression override and gas lines. He says if police breach, he’ll start a fire.”
Richard was desperate.
Not suicidal.
But dangerous.
“Elena, listen to me.”
“No, you listen. He wants you here alone.”
“Then I’m coming.”
Maya, now beside Gabriel, shook her head.
Elena heard David’s words.
“Don’t.”
“He’ll hurt you.”
“He wants you angry.”
David went silent.
Elena continued.
“That has always been how they controlled you.”
He closed his eyes.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“Come.”
Maya stared at him.
Elena added:
May you like
“But come as the man who finally learned to listen.”
The call ended.
