Chapter 7 - CELESTE'S SECRET
Celeste had betrayed us.
Or at least that's what it looked like.
But Adrian didn't believe it.
Neither did I.
"She wouldn't leave with him voluntarily," he said.
"You barely know her."
"I know her better than you think."
"She tried to humiliate my daughter."
"Yes."
"She tried to steal from your family."
"Yes."
"Then why defend her?"
Adrian looked at me.
"Because Celeste is many things."
He paused.
"But stupid isn't one of them."
We found her phone near the estate gate.
The screen was cracked.
There was one unsent message.
I found him. He knows where Rose is.
I stared.
"She was looking for my mother."
Adrian nodded.
"Why?"
I remembered Celeste's words.
Your mother knew.
She wasn't simply after money.
She had been investigating.
We searched her apartment.
Inside a locked drawer, we found dozens of newspaper clippings about Rose Vale.
There were also photographs.
My mother.
Eleanor.
Adrian's grandfather.
And Daniel Bennett.
One photograph made me stop.
It showed Daniel standing beside Celeste's father.
I looked at Adrian.
"What does this mean?"
He studied it.
"Her father knew Daniel."
"How?"
"We need to find out."
We returned to the mansion.
Eleanor finally told us everything.
Thirty-two years earlier, Rose had discovered that Adrian's grandfather had been secretly transferring money from the Vale estate.
The money wasn't going overseas.
It was going into shell companies.
Controlled by Daniel Bennett.
Rose threatened to expose him.
Then she disappeared.
But before disappearing, she gave birth.
To me.
"Why didn't she take me?"
"She tried."
Eleanor's voice broke.
"Daniel found her."
"What did he do?"
"He threatened to kill you."
"So she left me with him?"
"She thought it was the only way."
I closed my eyes.
My entire childhood suddenly looked different.
Every time my father told me my mother had abandoned us.
Every time he called her unstable.
Every time he refused to answer questions about her.
Every time he told me I should be grateful he stayed.
It had all been a lie.
"Where did my mother go?"
Eleanor shook her head.
"We don't know."
"But Celeste does."
"Maybe."
Adrian received a message.
A location.
An abandoned dance studio in South Boston.
I recognized the address immediately.
My mother's old studio.
The one I thought had been sold after she disappeared.
We drove there.
The building was empty.
Dust covered the windows.
Inside, the wooden floor remained.
The same floor where my mother had taught me the falling star.
I stepped onto it.
For a moment, I was six years old again.
My mother's hands guided mine.
"Don't fight the music."
I whispered:
"Let it carry you."
Then I noticed something beneath the floor.
A loose plank.
Adrian pulled it up.
Inside was a metal box.
A key.
And a letter.
My name was written on it.
Not my mother's handwriting.
Daniel's.
I opened it.
If you're reading this, Rose has failed to stay away.
I stopped.
The next line made my blood freeze.
Your daughter is not safe because she carries something Rose stole from us.
I looked at Lucia.
"Something she stole?"
Adrian read the letter.
Then he saw the final sentence.
The trust was never money.
I looked at him.
"What?"
He turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
The trust is evidence.
Suddenly the studio door slammed.
Celeste stepped inside.
Blood covered her sleeve.
I rushed toward her.
"Where is Daniel?"
She shook her head.
"He has Rose."
My heart stopped.
"She's alive?"
Celeste nodded.
"Yes."
"Where?"
Celeste looked at Lucia.
Then at Adrian.
"He wants the girl."
"Why?"
"Because Rose hid the evidence inside her."
"What evidence?"
May you like
Celeste whispered:
"The proof that Daniel Vale murdered his own father."
