📖 CHAPTER 3: THE WIFE WHO WAS ALWAYS LISTENING
Celeste Vale was not a woman who reacted.
She observed.
Which made her more dangerous than rage ever could.
When she returned the next morning, she kissed Dominic on the cheek like nothing had changed.
Then she looked at Mara.
Longer than usual.
“You didn’t sleep well,” Celeste said lightly.
Mara nodded.
Celeste smiled.
“Working for men like my husband has that effect.”
Dominic didn’t respond.
That was new.
Celeste noticed.
THE INVITATION
That evening, Celeste asked Mara to bring wine to the private lounge.
Only her.
No guards.
No staff.
Just silence and glass.
Mara entered carefully.
Celeste was already waiting.
“You’re attached to him,” Celeste said.
It wasn’t a question.
Mara placed the tray down.
“I’m employed here.”
Celeste laughed softly.
“That’s what all of them say before they become emotional liabilities.”
A pause.
Then Celeste leaned forward slightly.
“Do you know what happens to emotional liabilities in this house?”
Mara didn’t answer.
Celeste’s smile sharpened.
“They disappear.”
THE MESSAGE UNDER THE GLASS
When Celeste left the room, Mara noticed something under the wine glass.
A photograph.
Her father.
Alive.
Standing beside Celeste.
Smiling.
Mara’s blood turned cold.
On the back, handwritten:
“We all work for someone. Even your father did.”
Her hands trembled for the first time.
May you like
Because now it wasn’t just murder.
It was ownership.
