Chapter 16 - Celeste Finally Tells Everything
Celeste asked to speak with me alone.
My father objected.
I agreed anyway.
We met in a secured conference room at Bennett Tower before sunrise.
Celeste no longer looked like the woman who had sat in my living room sipping champagne.
Her white dress was stained.
Her hair was loose.
The arrogance had disappeared.
She looked exhausted.
I sat across from her.
“If you lie once, I leave.”
She nodded.
“Fair.”
“Did Adrian kill my mother?”
“I don’t know.”
I stood.
She spoke quickly.
“But my mother believed he did.”
I sat again.
Celeste looked down at her hands.
“Margaret and Adrian were half siblings.”
That explained the surname.
“Adrian was older.”
“He was brilliant.”
“Angry.”
“He believed wealthy families controlled everything and deserved to be robbed.”
“My mother believed Blackthorn began as revenge.”
“Against my family?”
“Against every family like yours.”
I frowned.
“But then he became wealthy using it.”
Celeste smiled sadly.
“Most revolutionaries discover they enjoy the palace.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
She continued.
“My mother helped your mother investigate the network.”
“Adrian found out.”
“What happened?”
“Margaret staged her death.”
I stared.
“She’s alive?”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“She was.”
“When did she really die?”
“Eight years ago.”
“How?”
“Cancer.”
I sat back.
For years, Celeste had carried a mother I never knew existed.
“Why did Richard raise you?”
“Because my mother trusted him.”
“Was Richard part of Blackthorn?”
“He pretended to be.”
“Did Adrian know?”
“Eventually.”
“And you?”
“I grew up inside the lie.”
She looked at me.
“Richard trained me to stay close to Adrian.”
“Adrian trained me to stay close to Nathan.”
“You were everybody’s spy.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody’s daughter.”
Celeste’s expression broke for a moment.
I understood more than I wanted to.
That did not erase what she had done.
“Why did you encourage Nathan to hurt me?”
She looked down.
“At first, I needed the marriage destabilized.”
“Adrian believed Nathan would steal the pendant if he became desperate enough.”
“So you pushed him.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about me.”
“Yes.”
“You accused me of attacking you.”
“Yes.”
“You watched him abuse me.”
Her voice dropped.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you stop?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Because I told myself the mission mattered more.”
I stared at her.
“That is what my father told himself too.”
She flinched.
I continued.
“That is what Richard told himself.”
“That is what everyone tells themselves right before another person becomes expendable.”
Celeste wiped her cheek.
“I know.”
“No.”
“You know now.”
She nodded.
“You are right.”
I hated how much I needed people to admit that.
Not because it healed anything.
Because denial had been another weapon used against me for years.
“Where is Adrian?”
Celeste looked toward the glass wall.
“There is one place he goes when everything fails.”
“Where?”
“My mother’s old house.”
“Address?”
She wrote it down.
I looked at the paper.
A small town three hours north.
“Why hasn’t Richard gone there?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“You never told him?”
“No.”
“Why tell me?”
Celeste met my eyes.
“Because Adrian called me twenty minutes ago.”
My body tightened.
“What did he say?”
“He knows Gerald is in custody.”
“He knows Sloan is alive.”
“He knows the archive is open.”
“And?”
“He told me Blackthorn needed a new custodian.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“You.”
I laughed.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No.”
“He has always believed the strongest networks survive by absorbing their enemies.”
“I would never join him.”
“He knows.”
“Then why me?”
“Because your signature can legally activate parts of the old financial architecture your mother built.”
I remembered the trust.
The dormant voting authority.
The activation key.
Celeste continued.
“With you, he can rebuild Blackthorn legally.”
“Without you, most of the network dies.”
I looked at her.
“So he needs me alive.”
“Yes.”
That was not comforting.
My phone buzzed.
A video had arrived from Adrian.
I opened it.
He stood inside an old farmhouse.
Behind him hung a portrait.
My mother.
Younger.
Smiling.
Adrian looked into the camera.
“Claire.”
“Bring the pendant.”
“Come alone.”
“Or I release every Bennett account, every protected identity, and every security asset Laura ever hid.”
He stepped aside.
Someone sat tied to a chair behind him.
My breath stopped.
It was Richard.
My uncle’s face was bruised.
Adrian smiled.
May you like
“You have two hours.”
The screen went black.
