Chapter 4 - CELESTE COMES HOMENathan did not confront Celeste privately.
That was deliberate.
His attorney, Malcolm Reed, advised him not to.
Detective Mitchell advised the same.
“Do not try to trap her into a confession.”
Nathan hated waiting.
But for Sophia, he waited.
Celeste called seventeen times.
Then sent messages.
Please come home.
We need to talk.
Your mother is manipulating this.
I love you.
Sophia is confused.
That last message made Nathan shut off his phone.
By afternoon, Celeste appeared at Amelia’s house.
Nathan saw her through the window.
Perfect cream coat.
Blonde hair controlled despite the wind.
Her face looked devastated.
Amelia opened the door only halfway.
“You need to leave.”
“I want my husband.”
“He doesn’t want to see you.”
Celeste looked past her.
“Nathan!”
He stepped into the hallway.
Sophia was upstairs.
“Five minutes.”
Amelia frowned.
Nathan nodded.
He stepped onto the porch.
Celeste immediately reached for him.
Nathan moved back.
She stopped.
“Nathan, I had nothing to do with what Evelyn did.”
“Did you give her the phone?”
“No.”
“Did you prepare paperwork declaring me incapable?”
“No.”
“Did you contact my employees about my mental condition?”
Celeste hesitated.
“I was worried.”
“Did you put anything in my drinks?”
Her face went blank.
Nathan saw it.
There.
The pause.
“Nathan, that is insane.”
“Answer.”
“No.”
“I tested positive for something my doctor never prescribed.”
Celeste’s eyes flickered.
“I don’t know what you take.”
“You know everything I take.”
“I’m not your pharmacist.”
“No. Apparently you preferred being my doctor.”
She folded her arms.
“You’re angry and frightened.”
“Stop diagnosing me.”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“No. You’ve spent months telling everyone I’m unstable.”
“Because you have been unstable.”
Nathan stared.
“You forget meetings.”
“I know.”
“You fall asleep.”
“I know.”
“You repeat questions.”
“I know.”
“Then why is it impossible that I was concerned?”
“Because my daughter watched you put something in my drink.”
Celeste’s expression hardened.
“She’s six.”
“She knows what she saw.”
“You’re letting a traumatized child destroy our marriage.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Our marriage did not end because Sophia spoke.”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“Nathan—”
“It ended when I realized my wife was more interested in proving I was sick than finding out why.”
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But Nathan had spent years studying executives in negotiations.
He knew when someone lost control of a conversation.
Celeste whispered:
“Your mother planned this.”
“Which part?”
“The documents.”
“Then why is your name on them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you email my employees?”
“Because Evelyn kept saying you were deteriorating.”
“So you listened to her?”
“She’s your mother.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“My mother attacked Sophia.”
“I didn’t know she would do that.”
Nathan became still.
“You didn’t know she would do that.”
Celeste realized her mistake.
“I mean—obviously.”
“No. You said it like there were other things you did know.”
“That’s not fair.”
“What did you know?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you scared?”
“I’m not.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You were scared the moment you saw that burner phone.”
“I had just walked into a room with a broken vase and a screaming child.”
“You looked at the phone.”
“Nathan.”
“You looked at the phone before you looked at Sophia’s neck.”
Celeste said nothing.
The front door opened.
Amelia stood there.
“Five minutes.”
Celeste’s eyes moved toward her.
Then back to Nathan.
“You’re making a terrible mistake.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re throwing away our marriage.”
“Maybe.”
“Because of Evelyn.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the house.
“Because when Sophia said you gave Evelyn that phone, you called her imaginative instead of asking why your mother had been choking her.”
Celeste’s face tightened.
Nathan turned toward the door.
She called after him.
“There are things you don’t understand.”
Nathan looked back.
“Then explain them.”
Celeste opened her mouth.
Nothing came.
Nathan went inside.
Celeste returned to the estate later that day under police supervision to retrieve personal clothing.
She was instructed not to enter the study.
Nathan watched through security cameras.
At one point Celeste walked past Evelyn, who had been released pending the assault investigation but ordered not to contact Sophia.
Their eyes met.
Evelyn gave the smallest shake of her head.
Celeste continued walking.
The gesture lasted perhaps one second.
But the security camera caught it.
Nathan replayed the clip.
Again.
Again.
Not strangers.
Not two innocent women caught in the same disaster.
Partners.
The question was how deep the partnership went.
That night, Sophia climbed into Nathan’s bed.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Is Celeste mad at me?”
“No.”
“She looked mad.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Because I told?”
“Especially because you told.”
Sophia was quiet.
Then:
“Grandma said grown-ups wouldn’t believe me.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
“Grandma was wrong.”
“What if Celeste says I’m lying?”
“I believe you.”
“What if everybody says it?”
“I believe you.”
Sophia moved closer.
Nathan held her.
After she fell asleep, his phone rang.
Malcolm Reed.
“We had a handwriting expert do a preliminary review of the signature.”
“And?”
“It appears simulated.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Forged.”
“Likely.”
“By who?”
“We don’t know.”
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
“Yes.”
Malcolm sounded angry now.
“The document you found is not the only one.”
Nathan sat upright.
“What?”
“A lawyer I know discovered that someone has been assembling a much larger capacity file.”
“On me?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Approximately six months.”
Nathan whispered:
“Who?”
“The records identify the person providing most of the behavioral observations.”
He already knew.
Still, he asked.
“Who?”
May you like
Malcolm answered.
“Your wife.”
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