Chapter 10 - Celeste’s Last Perfect Dinner
Celeste refused to disappear quietly.
Three days after Thomas Reed gave a formal statement, she invited the entire Vale family to dinner.
Walter.
Mason.
Victoria.
Adrian.
And me.
I laughed when the invitation arrived.
Then I noticed the handwritten line at the bottom.
I have something Daniel left behind. Come alone if you want it.
Rachel nearly tore the card in half.
“Absolutely not.”
“I won't go alone.”
“Good.”
“I'll bring federal agents.”
“Better.”
The investigators agreed to controlled surveillance.
So on Friday evening, I returned to the Vale mansion.
The same marble foyer.
The same chandelier.
The same staff moving quietly between rooms.
Except the family had changed.
Walter looked exhausted.
Mason looked furious.
Victoria looked free.
Adrian looked like he hadn't slept in days.
Celeste looked perfect.
Of course.
She wore black.
Not mourning black.
Power black.
“Welcome,” she said.
Nobody answered.
Dinner was served.
No one ate.
Celeste lifted her wineglass.
“To family.”
Victoria laughed.
“You locked me in a house for six years.”
“You were unstable.”
“I wanted to report you.”
“Exactly.”
Mason slammed his hand down.
“Can we stop pretending Lena belongs here?”
I looked at him.
“I agree with Mason.”
Everyone turned.
“I don't belong here.”
Mason smiled.
Then I continued.
“Neither does anyone else. This house belongs to a trust that's likely going to be frozen by investigators.”
His smile disappeared.
Victoria snorted.
Walter almost smiled.
Celeste ignored us.
She looked at me.
“You came for Daniel's property.”
“Yes.”
She gestured toward the library.
“After dinner.”
“No.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I want it now.”
“You always were impatient.”
“I've been patient for twenty-five years.”
That silenced the table.
Celeste stood.
“Fine.”
We entered the library.
Agents listened through the audio transmitter beneath my collar.
Celeste removed a book from a shelf.
Behind it was a small safe.
She entered a code.
Inside was a watch.
My father's watch.
I knew it instantly.
Cheap stainless steel.
Scratched face.
I had bought it for him with babysitting money when I was fourteen.
The room disappeared.
“How did you get that?”
Celeste took it out.
“From the crash.”
My hands tightened.
“You stole it from him.”
“I kept it.”
“Why?”
She turned it over.
“Because Daniel hid something inside.”
The watch back popped open.
Inside was a tiny folded strip of microfilm.
Even Walter looked stunned.
“You knew?”
Celeste smiled.
“Daniel told me moments before he lost consciousness.”
My entire body went cold.
“You spoke to him.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Her eyes met mine.
“He said, ‘You can take the papers, but Lena will still beat you.’”
Tears hit my eyes before I could stop them.
That sounded exactly like Dad.
Celeste studied my face.
“He never stopped believing you were extraordinary.”
“Don't say his name like you knew him.”
“I knew him better than you did.”
“You knew him as an enemy.”
“I knew him as the only man Walter ever respected.”
Walter said quietly, “Give her the watch.”
Celeste ignored him.
“The film contains account numbers.”
“For what?”
“Insurance.”
“Whose?”
“Daniel's.”
I frowned.
“You said he had no insurance.”
“Not life insurance.”
Celeste smiled.
“Evidence insurance.”
The microfilm contained encrypted references to additional copies of Northline records stored across multiple legal jurisdictions.
Dad had built a dead-man switch before people commonly used the term.
If something happened to him, the evidence could eventually be reconstructed.
Celeste had kept the watch hidden because she couldn't decode it.
But modern forensic technology could.
She held it out.
I reached.
Then she pulled it back.
“Sign away your claim to the Northline trust.”
I stared.
“You're bargaining with evidence in a criminal investigation?”
“I'm offering you a future.”
“You're offering me stolen property.”
“I'll give you the watch. You give the trust to Mason.”
Mason stepped into the doorway.
Even he looked surprised.
“Mother—”
“Quiet.”
I began laughing.
Celeste frowned.
“What?”
“You still don't understand me.”
I stepped closer.
“You thought Adrian could scare me into signing away my gyms.”
Another step.
“You thought your family name would scare me away from my father's trust.”
Another.
“You thought money would buy my silence.”
I stopped in front of her.
“And now you're trying the exact same trick.”
Her expression hardened.
“Everyone has a price.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the watch.
“Mine is the truth.”
Then federal agents entered.
Celeste's face changed for the first time.
Not fear.
Rage.
One agent said, “Celeste Vale, step away from the safe.”
She threw the watch toward the fireplace.
I moved without thinking.
Caught it inches before the stone hearth.
Adrian grabbed his mother's arm before she could interfere.
She slapped him.
Hard.
“You traitor.”
He released her immediately and stepped back.
“No, Mom.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I just finally stopped being your son before being a human being.”
They arrested Celeste that night.
But as agents escorted her through the foyer, she turned toward me.
“You think this ends with me?”
I said nothing.
She smiled.
“Mason knows where the rest of Daniel's evidence is.”
Everyone turned.
May you like
Mason Vale was gone.
And so was the second box from the Boston locker.
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