Chapter 15 - The Evidence She Couldn't Destroy
Celeste didn't suddenly become my friend.
She didn't apologize for the affair.
She didn't pretend she'd been innocent.
She sat across from Maya and me while her attorney joined by phone, and she answered questions cautiously.
At first, she admitted only that she had helped organize the acquisition documents.
Then Maya asked about the proxy.
Celeste's hands tightened around her coffee cup.
"Nathan told me Emma had already agreed."
"Did you see her sign it?" Maya asked.
"No."
"Did you arrange the notarization?"
Celeste hesitated.
"My office coordinated the paperwork."
"With whom?"
She gave us the notary's name.
The same name appearing on the disputed document.
Maya wrote it down.
"Did you know Emma was in Oregon on the execution date?"
"No."
"Did you ever verify that she appeared before the notary?"
Celeste looked toward the window.
"No."
Her attorney interrupted.
"We're not making further statements without reviewing the underlying records."
Maya nodded.
"Understood."
But Celeste had already brought copies of internal correspondence.
One email from Nathan contained the scanned signature page and a request to prepare the necessary documentation before Emma's birthday.
Another referred to securing Martin's cooperation concerning the design rights.
There were also messages about the proposed purchase price and Celeste's success fee.
The emails didn't answer every question.
They didn't establish precisely who had copied my signature.
But they showed that Nathan had coordinated the documents and pushed for control of the transaction long before telling me about the sale.
Maya arranged for the material to be preserved and reviewed through the appropriate legal channels.
When the meeting ended, Celeste approached me.
"Emma."
I stopped.
For a moment, she looked younger than she had in the jewelry store.
Less polished.
Less certain.
"I didn't think he'd hit you."
I studied her.
"But you watched."
She lowered her eyes.
"I know."
"You smiled."
Her face tightened.
"I was angry. He told me you were trying to ruin him. I believed things I wanted to believe."
I waited.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me," she said.
"Good."
She swallowed.
"I thought he loved me."
I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
Then I remembered the way she'd looked at me lying on the showroom floor.
"Nathan likes people who make his life easier," I said.
"He doesn't seem to love them very well."
She turned away.
I didn't stop her.
Outside, the city was bright with evening traffic.
I stood beside Maya beneath the courthouse district's streetlights, exhausted.
"Do you think she'll cooperate?" I asked.
"To whatever extent her attorney believes protects her interests."
"That doesn't sound reassuring."
"It's more useful than pretending she's suddenly trustworthy."
I nodded.
Maya checked her phone.
"Your father called."
I looked at her.
"Again?"
"He says he has something for you. Not evidence this time."
I sighed.
"What?"
"A birthday present."
I closed my eyes.
Of all the things I'd imagined receiving on my twenty-ninth birthday, a present from the father I'd mourned for seventeen years hadn't been one of them.
"Tell him I don't want anything expensive."
Maya smiled faintly.
"I doubt that's what he has in mind."
I looked toward the street.
Then I made a decision.
"Ask him to meet me at the workshop tomorrow morning."
May you like
For once, I was going to choose when a difficult conversation happened.
And I was going to stay long enough to finish it.
