Chapter 5 - THE LAST SECRET OF CELESTE HART
Three weeks later, Celeste's attorney requested a private meeting.
Elena agreed.
She expected manipulation.
She did not expect fear.
Celeste entered the room looking twenty years older.
“You have the trust,” she said.
“Yes.”
“You have the company shares.”
“Yes.”
“You have everything.”
Elena watched her.
“No.”
Celeste looked surprised.
“You took everything from me.”
“I took nothing.”
“You took Lorenzo.”
Elena shook her head.
“You lost him yourself.”
Celeste looked away.
Then she whispered,
“There is something you don't know.”
Elena waited.
“Your mother wasn't supposed to die.”
Silence.
Elena's entire body went cold.
“What?”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“The accident.”
Elena stood.
“What about it?”
“It wasn't an accident.”
Elena's breathing stopped.
“Who caused it?”
Celeste looked at her.
“Adrian.”
Elena stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“Adrian was trying to escape.”
“From whom?”
“Me.”
Elena's voice became sharp.
“Tell me everything.”
Celeste finally broke.
Years earlier, Celeste had discovered Adrian intended to leave the family business.
He planned to expose illegal operations and move Isabella and Elena somewhere safe.
Celeste threatened him.
Adrian refused.
Then she hired someone to sabotage his car.
But Adrian survived.
Isabella did not.
Elena covered her mouth.
“You killed my mother.”
Celeste shook her head.
“I didn't know she would be in the car.”
“That doesn't make it better.”
“I know.”
Elena stepped backward.
“And Adrian?”
“He survived.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
“Where?”
Celeste looked toward the door.
“You already met him.”
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
Older.
Thin.
With gray hair.
Elena stared.
The resemblance to her mother was unmistakable.
The man whispered,
“Elena.”
Her knees almost gave out.
“Dad?”
Adrian DeMarco cried.
He had spent twenty-six years hiding.
May you like
And now he was standing in front of his daughter.
Alive.