Chapter 4 - THE MILLION-DOLLAR LIE
By midnight, the ballroom had become a crime scene.
The guests who had arrived expecting champagne and gossip were now being escorted out through side entrances.
Nobody talked about Celeste's humiliation anymore.
Nobody talked about the million dollars.
Everyone was talking about Rose Vale.
My mother.
The missing heiress.
The woman who had apparently spent thirty years hiding from her own family.
But I couldn't stop thinking about one thing.
Celeste.
I found her alone in a private lounge.
She was removing her earrings with shaking hands.
"You knew."
She looked at me through the mirror.
"I knew there was a woman named Rose."
"You knew she was my mother."
"No."
"You recognized the pendant."
Celeste turned.
"Because I saw it in Adrian's family archives."
"Why were you looking at his family archives?"
She didn't answer.
"Why?"
"Because I was supposed to marry into this family."
"You already were."
Her face tightened.
"Do you think I wanted tonight to happen?"
"You offered my six-year-old daughter a million dollars to humiliate her."
"I was drunk."
"You weren't."
Celeste's eyes filled with anger.
"Do you know what it feels like to spend five years being measured against a family that doesn't even consider you worthy?"
"I don't care."
"You should."
"Why?"
"Because Adrian doesn't love me."
The words surprised me.
She laughed bitterly.
"He never did."
I stared at her.
"Then why are you marrying him?"
"Because his family promised me something."
"What?"
"Power."
I waited.
She lowered her voice.
"Adrian's grandmother promised that if I married him, she would transfer control of the Winthrop Foundation to me."
"That's why you wanted the marriage."
"That's not the worst part."
She stepped closer.
"Your mother knew."
My stomach tightened.
"Knew what?"
"That Eleanor was planning to transfer everything."
"Why would my mother care?"
"Because your mother had a claim."
"To what?"
Celeste whispered:
"Half of the Vale fortune."
I stared at her.
"No."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Rosalie was supposed to inherit alongside Eleanor."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It does if Eleanor's father changed his will."
I couldn't speak.
Celeste reached into her purse.
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed two young women.
Eleanor and Rosalie.
Between them stood a wealthy older man.
Their father.
On the back was a handwritten note.
My daughters will inherit equally.
My hands shook.
"Where did you get this?"
"I found it in Adrian's study."
"Why?"
"Because I was looking for leverage."
"You stole it."
"Yes."
"You're unbelievable."
"I know."
She looked away.
Then she said something that changed everything.
"There's a trust."
"What trust?"
"The Rose Vale Trust."
I frowned.
"Where is it?"
"Nobody knows."
"Then why tell me?"
"Because I think your mother knew."
Before I could respond, the door opened.
Adrian stood there.
His expression was cold.
"Celeste."
She flinched.
"I didn't—"
"Give me the photograph."
She handed it over.
Adrian looked at it.
Then at me.
"My grandmother has been searching for that photograph for decades."
"Why?"
"Because it contains a clue."
"To what?"
"The trust."
He turned the photograph over.
I watched his face.
He suddenly stopped breathing.
"What?"
He handed it to me.
The handwritten note had a sentence beneath it I hadn't noticed.
The money goes where the song goes.
I felt my heart pound.
"The song."
Adrian nodded.
"The private family song."
"The one my mother taught me."
"The one your daughter danced tonight."
We stared at each other.
Lucia appeared in the doorway.
She was holding her stuffed rabbit.
"Mama?"
I turned.
"What's wrong?"
She looked at Adrian.
"Mr. Adrian?"
"Yes?"
"Grandma said not to trust the pretty lady."
Celeste went pale.
"What grandma?"
Lucia pointed at herself.
"My grandma."
My heart stopped.
"Lucia, Grandma Rose is dead."
Lucia frowned.
"No."
I knelt.
"Baby."
"She isn't dead."
My voice broke.
"How do you know?"
"Because she called me."
Adrian stepped forward.
"When?"
"Before we came here."
"What did she say?"
Lucia looked at me.
"She said I had to dance."
"Why?"
"Because if I danced the falling star, everyone would know who I am."
The room went silent.
Adrian whispered:
"Who you are?"
Lucia nodded.
Then she reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a tiny folded piece of paper.
"She told me to give this to Mama after the dancing."
I opened it.
Three words.
THE TRUST IS MINE.
Below them was a signature.
Rose.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked at me.
Then Celeste screamed.
May you like
Because the lights in the entire mansion went out.
And from somewhere upstairs, we heard a woman's voice singing our family song.
