Chapter 10 - CELESTE’S FINAL PERFORMANCECeleste expected me to be afraid of the whip.
I was.
Fear did not disappear simply because I had survived once.
But fear was no longer the same as obedience.
Graham locked the main doors behind me.
He carried a pistol low beside his leg.
Celeste circled the white chair.
“You always looked so harmless,” she said.
“That was the trick, wasn’t it?”
“There was no trick.”
“You married Nathan while hiding billions.”
“I married him because I loved him.”
“And you let him believe he built everything.”
“He chose to believe that.”
Celeste’s expression sharpened.
“He promised me Ashford Global.”
“He promised you something he never owned.”
She struck the floor with the whip.
The sound echoed through the hall.
My body reacted before my mind did.
I forced myself not to step back.
“Where is Nathan?” I asked.
“In federal custody.”
“Then this is not his plan.”
Graham’s eyes moved toward Celeste.
It was slight.
But I saw it.
Celeste was not controlling the situation as completely as she believed.
She lifted the Ivory Ledger.
“This clears you.”
“It also convicts you.”
“Only if the authorities receive it.”
“What do you want?”
“Access codes to three Vale trusts.”
“You cannot use them without verification.”
“You will verify them.”
“And then?”
“You will record a statement saying you organized the shell companies.”
I almost laughed.
“You still think the same strategy will work.”
“The public already doubts you.”
“Nathan’s lawyers made sure of that.”
“All you need to do is give them a confession.”
Graham stepped closer.
“Do it.”
Celeste glanced at him.
“I am speaking.”
“You said this would be fast.”
“It will be.”
The tension between them confirmed my suspicion.
Graham did not care about Celeste’s revenge.
He wanted the money.
I looked at him.
“She will abandon you as soon as she gets the codes.”
“Be quiet.”
“She abandoned Martin.”
“She turned on Nathan.”
“She will claim you forced her to come here.”
Celeste’s confidence slipped.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Graham looked toward the cut tracking bracelet.
“You said your attorneys could protect us.”
“They can.”
“She has no attorneys left,” I said.
“The government seized her accounts.”
Celeste struck my shoulder with the handle of the whip.
The pain was sudden, but I remained standing.
“Give me the codes.”
“They change every sixty seconds.”
“Then call your father.”
“That is why you brought me here.”
Celeste smiled.
“Exactly.”
I removed my phone slowly.
Agents were listening through the hidden transmitter.
I called Dad.
He answered immediately.
“Madeline?”
“I am at Blackthorn.”
“I know.”
Celeste moved closer.
“Tell him to unlock the Vale Meridian emergency account.”
My father remained silent.
I repeated the demand.
“Dad, unlock the account.”
He understood that I was buying time.
“What authorization phrase should I use?” he asked.
The phrase was a signal.
Our emergency phrase had been established when I was a child.
If I gave the wrong answer, Vale security would assume I was under coercion.
“White roses,” I said.
The real phrase was blue harbor.
Dad responded calmly.
“Authorization accepted.”
Celeste grabbed the phone.
“Transfer sixty million dollars.”
“To which account?” Dad asked.
She read a number from the ledger.
Graham’s phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
“The transfer is pending.”
Celeste smiled triumphantly.
Then every light in Blackthorn Manor went dark.
Graham shouted.
The main doors burst inward.
Agents entered from three directions.
Celeste dropped the whip.
Graham raised his weapon, but Agent Sloan ordered him to lower it.
For one dangerous second, he hesitated.
Then red targeting lights appeared across his chest.
He placed the weapon on the floor.
Celeste attempted to run toward the service corridor.
Hannah stepped from behind an agent and blocked the doorway.
“You should have stayed away from her,” Hannah said.
Celeste was handcuffed beside the white chair.
Agent Sloan recovered the Ivory Ledger.
The account transfer had never occurred.
My father had sent Graham a false confirmation through a controlled banking system.
The operation was over.
Then Sloan opened the ledger.
Several pages had been torn out.
Graham looked at Celeste.
Celeste looked at me.
Neither of them had the missing pages.
May you like
Someone else had reached the ledger before they did.
And according to the final visible entry, that person had been working from inside Vale Dominion.
