Chapter 7 - The Woman at My Father’s FuneralCeleste slept for six hours under medical supervision.
The blood on her blouse belonged to Raymond Pike.
That fact changed everything.
When she woke, two federal agents were waiting.
So were Adrian and I.
The agents objected to our presence.
Celeste refused to speak unless I remained.
They compromised.
I sat across from my half-sister at the long dining table overlooking the ocean.
She looked smaller without her tailored suits.
More human.
More like me than I wanted to admit.
Same chin.
Same way of pressing our lips together when afraid.
I wondered whether Dad had noticed.
“I didn’t know Rebecca was alive,” Celeste began.
“You called her your mother.”
“Because that’s what she is.”
“You said she died.”
“She told me to.”
My head hurt already.
“Start at the beginning.”
Celeste took a trembling breath.
“My mother raised me believing Henry Hartwell abandoned us.”
“Did he?”
“Yes and no.”
I waited.
“She became pregnant while Henry was engaged to your mother. Henry panicked. He offered money. Mom refused. She disappeared before I was born.”
“So Dad didn’t know where you were.”
“Not for five years.”
“What happened then?”
“Mom contacted him.”
“Why?”
“She needed money.”
According to Celeste, my father began quietly supporting them.
School fees.
Rent.
Medical expenses.
But Rebecca refused to let him publicly acknowledge Celeste.
“She said she was protecting me from scandal.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“Really, she was preserving leverage.”
“Blackmail.”
“Eventually.”
Adrian leaned against the far wall, silent.
“What promise did Dad break?” I asked.
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“When I was twelve, he promised that when I turned eighteen, he would tell you and your mother about me.”
“He didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Your mother got sick.”
I remembered.
Mom’s first cancer scare.
Benign eventually.
But terrifying.
“He delayed it.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Then every year there was another reason.”
My graduation.
Dad’s business expansion.
Mom’s second health crisis.
My engagement that ended before the wedding.
Life became an endless excuse.
“How did you end up working for Adrian?”
“My mother’s idea.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“She knew Hartwell Medical and Vale Meridian were negotiating.”
“Yes.”
“She wanted you inside my company.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To collect information.”
I felt sick.
“You were spying.”
“At first.”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“Then I built a career. You trusted me, Adrian. I stopped reporting to her.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why stay?”
“Because I liked who I was when I wasn’t being her daughter.”
That sentence landed harder than expected.
I understood it.
“Then Dad got sick,” I said.
Celeste nodded.
“He contacted me privately. Said he couldn’t die without making things right.”
My throat tightened.
“He was finally going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After your wedding.”
I looked at Adrian.
Nine days later Dad died.
“He never got the chance.”
“No.”
“Why sabotage my marriage?”
Tears ran down Celeste’s face.
“I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”
My anger exploded.
“You blocked ninety-one calls.”
“Yes.”
“You hid my pregnancy.”
“Yes.”
“You let him think I forged documents.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I didn’t create those.”
“Then why?”
She looked at Adrian.
“Your mother asked me to investigate Mara and Lucas. Rebecca found out. She told me this was our chance.”
“Chance for what?”
“To make Henry’s legitimate family feel what we felt.”
The word legitimate cut.
Celeste continued.
“I redirected calls. Emails. I thought Adrian would be gone a few weeks. I thought you’d fight. I thought he’d come back.”
“You thought emotional torture was a prank?”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“I was angry.”
“You were cruel.”
“Yes.”
She didn’t defend herself.
That somehow made it harder.
“What about my pregnancy?”
“I found the appointment because your name appeared in a security report. I panicked. I told Lenora. She ordered me to stop.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“My mother said if Adrian knew, he’d come home immediately.”
“She was right.”
Adrian’s face twisted.
Celeste looked at him.
“I deleted the voicemail.”
His jaw tightened.
“I changed your assistant routing. I blocked Mara’s emails from reaching your priority inbox.”
“You watched me nearly end my marriage.”
“I’m sorry.”
Adrian laughed coldly.
“You don’t get to use that word yet.”
Celeste lowered her head.
I asked the question that mattered.
“Who forged the trust papers?”
“My mother.”
“And Julian?”
“She recruited him.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“How?”
“She knew he resented you. She offered him access to Raymond’s offshore accounts.”
“Why would Raymond agree?”
“Raymond was her husband.”
“Did he know about Henry?”
“He knew everything.”
The room fell silent.
Rebecca Ward married Raymond Pike twelve years earlier.
Together, they began siphoning Hartwell Medical.
Part greed.
Part revenge.
When Dad discovered it, they threatened to expose Celeste.
But according to Celeste, Dad had finally refused.
“He told them he was confessing everything,” she said. “The affair. Me. The money. All of it.”
“Then he died.”
“Yes.”
I stopped breathing.
“Did they kill him?”
Celeste looked down.
“I don’t know.”
My chair scraped backward.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Mara.”
“No.”
I looked at Celeste.
“My father had pancreatic cancer.”
“Yes.”
“He was dying.”
“Yes.”
“Did they speed it up?”
“I don’t know.”
The federal agents intervened.
They asked about Raymond’s death.
Celeste explained that Rebecca summoned her to the Albany motel.
Raymond was already dying when she arrived.
He had apparently decided to cooperate with authorities.
Rebecca poisoned him.
Celeste tried to help.
Rebecca stabbed her in the shoulder and fled.
“Where would she go?” an agent asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What does she want?”
Celeste looked at me.
“To finish what she started.”
“Meaning?”
“Destroy Henry Hartwell’s legacy.”
I almost laughed.
“My father is dead.”
“Legacy isn’t.”
Her gaze dropped to my stomach.
Adrian moved instantly between us.
Celeste flinched.
“I’m not threatening her.”
“What do the babies have to do with anything?”
“They inherit Hartwell voting rights.”
I froze.
“Not until they’re adults.”
“If Mara dies without a revised will, the trust passes temporary authority to her closest blood relative.”
I stared.
“My closest blood relative.”
Celeste.
She nodded miserably.
“I didn’t know until last month.”
Adrian looked furious.
“Rebecca did.”
“Yes.”
The room chilled.
“So if I die,” I said, “Celeste gets Hartwell.”
“Temporarily.”
“And Rebecca controls Celeste.”
“Not anymore.”
“You hope.”
Celeste met my eyes.
“I came here because I refuse to let her hurt you.”
A federal agent’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then stood abruptly.
“Excuse me.”
He walked outside.
When he returned, his face was grim.
“Mrs. Pike’s vehicle was found.”
“Where?”
“Near Portland.”
Marcus appeared in the doorway at the same moment.
“We have a breach.”
Adrian turned.
“What kind?”
“Security cameras went offline thirty seconds ago.”
Every light in the house died.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then the emergency lights flashed red.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“Safe room. Now.”
Adrian grabbed my hand.
This time, I didn’t pull away.
We moved toward the hallway.
A gunshot cracked downstairs.
Then another.
Celeste whispered, “She found us.”
Marcus pushed us toward a reinforced door.
Adrian shoved me inside.
“Come with me.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Another gunshot.
Celeste cried out.
I turned.
A figure stood at the far end of the hallway.
A woman.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
Gun raised.
I recognized her from my father’s funeral.
Eleanor Pike.
Rebecca Ward.
My father’s former lover.
She looked directly at me.
“Hello, Mara.”
May you like
Then she smiled.
“You have your father’s eyes.”
