Chapter 13 - What Victor Feared
Victor’s letter was dated nine days before his death.
Laura read it aloud.
Celeste has always believed love is measured by who is chosen first.
When your mother left us, Celeste decided abandonment was the only thing worse than losing.
I fear I taught her the wrong lesson by rewarding competence and excusing cruelty.
Laura stopped.
She could hear Victor’s voice in every sentence.
The letter continued.
I have evidence she moved company funds without authorization. Owen has advised me it may be explainable. I no longer trust Owen’s advice.
If I accuse her publicly before I understand the full structure, she may destroy records or force a confrontation between you.
Do not let her make you choose between your husband and your sister.
That choice is the weapon.
Laura lowered the page.
Daniel sat across from her.
Neither spoke.
Victor had predicted the method.
Not the crime.
The method.
Celeste had not merely wanted money.
She wanted Laura to choose her.
To distrust Daniel.
To depend on Celeste when everything collapsed.
And Laura had.
For nineteen days.
Laura cried for the first time since Daniel’s rescue.
Not loudly.
She simply folded over the letter and wept.
Daniel moved toward her.
Then stopped.
He no longer assumed touch was welcome.
Laura noticed.
After a moment, she held out her hand.
He took it.
That did not fix their marriage.
It meant she was not ready to abandon it.
The flash drive from Victor’s cabinet contained partial accounting records from three years earlier.
Victor had traced the first unauthorized Wintermere payments.
He had also written notes about Celeste’s personal guarantees.
The motive sharpened.
Celeste had secretly invested in a distressed-property venture through Northstar.
The venture failed.
She owed Owen nearly two million dollars.
To cover the debt, she began moving money through fake company vendors.
Then she discovered a larger opportunity.
If she used company money to obtain voting control before Laura completed the fifty-one-million-dollar sale, Celeste could block the sale and strip assets into companies she controlled.
“She wasn’t saving Dad’s company,” Laura said.
Naomi shook her head.
“She was saving herself.”
Samuel added, “And trying to end up owning the pieces.”
Power disguised as loyalty.
The story would have been almost complete.
Except Celeste was still missing.
And she still had the locket.
Then Sophie received a message.
Her tablet had been disconnected from the internet.
No one knew an old gaming app still had cellular access.
The message appeared under the username STARFISH17.
Sophie recognized it.
“Aunt Celeste.”
Laura grabbed the tablet.
Why?
“Because she calls me Starfish.”
The message read:
I found your necklace.
Sophie whispered, “She has it.”
Another message arrived.
Your dad lied about what is inside.
Then:
I can prove he planned to leave you and your mom.
Laura felt fury rise.
Daniel took the tablet.
“Don’t answer.”
Sophie looked at him.
“What if she’s telling the truth?”
“She isn’t.”
“How do I know?”
Daniel stopped.
He had taught Sophie to trust evidence.
Now he wanted faith.
“That’s fair,” he said quietly.
Laura looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“You don’t know. But adults who love you don’t ask you to keep dangerous secrets from your parents.”
Sophie stared at the screen.
Another message.
Meet me where Grandpa taught you to skate. Come alone and I’ll give it back.
The old pond.
Half a mile beyond the estate woods.
Laura called Torres immediately.
Police traced the account.
The signal disappeared.
But the message accomplished what Celeste wanted.
It put the locket back into Sophie’s mind.
That evening Sophie asked whether Daniel really planned to leave.
“No,” Daniel said.
“Did you and Mom fight?”
“Yes.”
“Did you sleep somewhere else?”
“One night.”
“Were you sad?”
“Yes.”
“Did you want another family?”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“No.”
Sophie looked at Laura.
“Did Mom think he did?”
Laura could have lied.
She didn’t.
“Yes.”
Sophie absorbed the answer.
Celeste’s weapon had always been doubt.
Even now, it worked.
The next morning Laura made a mistake.
She allowed Sophie to accompany Elias to the estate stable under police supervision.
Sophie begged for an hour that felt normal.
The officers agreed the fenced property was secure.
Laura agreed because guilt made her generous.
At 11:17 a.m., one officer received a false emergency call about a vehicle crash near the front gate.
The second heard glass break behind the stable.
For forty-seven seconds, Sophie was alone.
A man in a dark jacket stepped from the tack room.
Mason Redd.
He held up the silver locket.
“Looking for this?”
Sophie froze.
May you like
Mason smiled.
“Your aunt wants to talk to you.”
