Chapter 9 - One Night Beside Celeste
Her name was Amelia Vale.
Born May 14, 1987.
Mother: Evelyn Hart.
Father: Richard Vale.
Beckett read the document on his phone seven times.
“My father had another child.”
Violet sat across from him.
“What happened to her?”
“I don't know.”
“Your mother?”
“Wasn't her mother.”
He looked again.
Amelia would be thirty-nine now.
If she was alive.
Mason sent another file.
A settlement agreement.
Evelyn Hart received money in exchange for silence and relinquishment of any claim against Richard Vale or Vale Industries.
Everett Shaw had represented Richard.
The payments suddenly made sense.
His father had hidden a daughter.
For decades.
Violet whispered, “The letter.”
Beckett nodded.
Children complicate inheritance.
Someone had used his father's ugliest secret to frighten Violet.
“Why now?” she asked.
“The merger.”
“With Arclight?”
“Maybe someone believed a child of mine would affect control.”
“But you're thirty-four. Having a child isn't exactly shocking.”
“No.”
He thought.
Vale Therapeutics stock was structured through several family trusts.
Beckett controlled most voting power.
Upon his death, some rights would transfer to direct descendants.
A hidden daughter could alter long-term control assumptions.
Not enough to justify threats.
Unless someone had much more at stake.
“What if Amelia has a claim?” Violet asked.
Beckett looked at her.
“She might.”
“Could that affect the merger?”
“Yes.”
“Then someone wanted to prevent another unexpected heir.”
Beckett's face went cold.
Violet reached across the table.
“Don't disappear into that expression.”
“What expression?”
“The one where you become CEO Beckett.”
He looked down at her hand.
“What should I become?”
“Celeste's father.”
He looked toward the bassinet.
The anger changed shape.
He no longer wanted revenge.
He wanted safety.
“What would Celeste's father do?”
Violet thought.
“Find the truth without burning down Manhattan.”
“That's disappointingly restrained.”
“Practice.”
He almost smiled.
That night, Celeste remained stable.
Beckett stayed.
At 1:00 a.m., Violet insisted he sleep.
“I’m fine.”
“You've been awake almost forty hours.”
“I've done longer.”
“That isn't impressive.”
“It used to impress investors.”
“Investors are idiots.”
“Some are.”
“Sleep.”
He stretched awkwardly across two hospital chairs.
Violet watched him.
Thirty minutes later, he was asleep.
She had almost forgotten what he looked like when he wasn't controlling himself.
His face softened.
He looked younger.
More like the man she had first met.
That meeting had occurred in an elevator.
Violet had spilled coffee on his coat.
He had been furious for exactly five seconds.
Then she had told him the coat looked overpriced anyway.
He asked for her number.
She refused.
He returned to the same building three days later pretending he had another appointment.
She eventually gave it to him because his persistence amused her.
He loved her quickly.
Not always well.
But deeply.
That was what made leaving so difficult.
Around three, Beckett woke.
Violet was feeding Celeste.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
He sat up.
“Can I?”
“Feed her?”
He nodded.
Violet handed him the bottle.
Then placed Celeste into his arms.
Beckett followed every instruction like a man defusing a bomb.
“You can relax.”
“I am relaxed.”
“You look like you're negotiating with her.”
“I am.”
“With a newborn?”
“She has strong opinions.”
Celeste drank peacefully.
Afterward, Beckett tried burping her.
Nothing happened.
He frowned.
“Is she supposed to—”
Celeste burped loudly.
Violet laughed.
Beckett stared down.
“That came out of something this small?”
“Welcome to fatherhood.”
The word hung between them.
Fatherhood.
Beckett smiled.
Not the polished smile from magazine covers.
Something unguarded.
Violet's heart betrayed her.
Later, Celeste slept against Beckett's chest.
Violet watched them.
“You look natural.”
“I feel terrified.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Fear means you understand something matters.”
He looked at her.
“Did you spend the whole pregnancy afraid?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“I’m sorry I created a version of love where you believed fear was something you had to carry alone.”
Violet's eyes filled.
Beckett continued.
“I can't change what I said.”
“No.”
“I can't change the months I missed.”
“No.”
“But I can change who I am when you remember them.”
Violet looked away.
It was too much.
Too close to the apology she had imagined.
“Don't say things because you're emotional.”
“I’m emotional all the time now. It's exhausting.”
She laughed through tears.
At sunrise, Dr. Ramirez entered.
“I have good news.”
Both stood.
“Celeste responded well overnight. If she remains stable through tomorrow, we can discuss discharge.”
Violet exhaled.
Beckett smiled.
Then Elena added, “We need to talk about home monitoring and follow-up.”
Home.
The word created another problem.
Violet expected to take Celeste back to Brooklyn.
Beckett expected nothing.
But one thought suddenly terrified him.
When the hospital doors opened, Violet could disappear again.
May you like
And this time, Beckett knew exactly what he would lose.
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