Chapter 13 - August’s First Cover-Up
Rebecca Shaw came to Daniel’s suite at midnight.
She brought records.
In 2014, Celeste had been executive vice president of acquisitions.
She approved the purchase of a distressed resort in Key Largo.
The seller secretly rebated $4 million to a consulting entity she controlled.
August discovered it.
Instead of reporting his daughter, he quietly bought out the seller’s litigation claims, reimbursed investors, and buried the internal investigation.
Total cost:
$12 million.
Rebecca’s husband had been outside counsel handling the settlement.
“He didn’t receive twelve million,” Rebecca said. “His firm administered it.”
“Why hide it?”
“To protect Mercer Coastal.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That phrase has ruined this family.”
Rebecca did not disagree.
“August removed Celeste from acquisitions but never told the board why.”
“So she learned there were no consequences.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at the papers.
His father had helped create the disaster they were now living through.
Power had protected Celeste.
Then protection became entitlement.
Rebecca continued.
“There’s more.”
Daniel almost smiled from exhaustion.
“Of course.”
“Your father wrote a confession about the cover-up shortly before he died.”
“In the red ledger?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“He told me.”
“Why?”
“He planned to disclose everything to the board after removing Owen.”
Daniel stared at the city lights.
“He was finally going to stop protecting her.”
“Yes.”
Too late.
Always too late.
The next morning, prosecutors executed search warrants at Owen Price’s home and office.
Owen was gone.
Unlike Kroll, he had not simply emptied an apartment.
His passport remained in a safe.
His car was found at the airport.
But there was no record of him boarding a commercial flight.
Daniel did not assume kidnapping, murder, or some cinematic disappearance.
Owen had money.
Private aviation contacts.
And a reason to flee.
The red ledger remained missing.
Then Daniel suffered another blow.
The trust court ordered an independent temporary fiduciary to co-manage Lily’s voting shares while the investigation continued.
Daniel retained parental rights and remained trustee in other respects, but he lost unilateral voting control.
The judge explained that the family conflict had become too entangled with corporate interests.
Legally, it was reasonable.
Emotionally, Daniel felt punished.
Outside court, he told Helen, “Celeste caused this.”
Helen corrected him.
“Celeste caused much of it. Your own decision to publish Lily’s video is in the record too.”
Daniel went quiet.
Actions had consequences even when the other side was worse.
At the Ocean Crown, Lily was packing for school.
Daniel noticed she had put the metal dog bowl into her backpack.
He stopped.
“Why do you have that?”
Marcus had recovered it from the villa as part of the incident evidence after police photographed it. Lily had later asked for it back because it belonged to Oscar.
Lily shrugged.
“Oscar needs water after school.”
“I can buy another bowl.”
“I want this one.”
Daniel knelt.
“Why?”
She touched a dent along the rim.
“Aunt Celeste scared me with it.”
“Yes.”
“But it didn’t do anything.”
Daniel frowned.
Lily searched for the words.
“She did.”
He understood.
The bowl had become separate from the terror.
An object was only an object.
That idea stayed with him.
At noon, Daniel received a message from an unknown encrypted number.
A photograph appeared.
The red ledger sat open on a table.
Beside it was Owen Price’s hand.
The message read:
CELESTE WILL SACRIFICE EVERYONE. SHE ALREADY OFFERED ME TO PROSECUTORS.
Another message followed.
I WANT SAFE PASSAGE AND $5 MILLION. THEN YOU GET THE LEDGER.
Daniel showed Helen.
“Absolutely not,” she said.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“I’m learning.”
They contacted federal investigators because the fraud crossed state lines and involved wire transactions.
Agents instructed Daniel not to negotiate independently.
He followed instructions.
For six hours.
Then Owen sent another photograph.
This one showed a page from the ledger.
A handwritten note from August:
Daniel does not know Nora signed the marital waiver. Keep it that way until I fix the transfer.
Daniel stared.
“What marital waiver?”
Helen looked genuinely confused.
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
Owen wrote:
ASK YOUR LAWYER WHAT NORA GAVE UP THREE MONTHS BEFORE SHE DIED.
Daniel turned toward Helen.
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, the conspiracy touched his marriage directly.
Not through Celeste’s lies.
Through Nora’s own secret.
May you like
And whatever Nora had signed, August had deliberately hidden it from Daniel.
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