Chapter 10 - Celeste's Bargain
I refused to meet Celeste alone.
Maya arranged for her to come to the office that afternoon.
Celeste arrived wearing an ivory coat and oversized sunglasses.
Without them, she looked younger.
And exhausted.
The confidence I'd seen in Nathan's showroom was gone.
"I don't have much time," she said.
Maya closed the conference room door.
"Then don't waste it."
Celeste looked at me.
"I'm sorry about what happened at the store."
I didn't answer.
She shifted in her chair.
"I didn't know Nathan was going to hit you."
"But you smiled."
Her eyes dropped.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted you to leave him."
It was an ugly answer.
At least it was honest.
Celeste had met Nathan during a luxury-brand marketing campaign the previous year.
He'd told her his marriage was effectively over.
Then he'd promised that after the company sale, they would move to London.
"He said he'd become a partner in Sable & Finch," she explained.
"And I would manage the new brand."
Maya opened her notebook.
"What did you know about the voting proxy?"
Celeste hesitated.
"Nathan told me Emma had agreed to let him vote the shares."
"Did you believe him?"
"At first."
"Then why bring the document to Nora Price?"
"Because Nathan asked me to. He said Emma was busy and had signed everything already."
I stared at her.
"Did you ever speak to me about it?"
"No."
"Did you ask why my husband needed you to carry a document supposedly signed by his wife?"
Celeste flushed.
"No."
Maya asked, "When did you first suspect the signature wasn't genuine?"
Celeste stared at her hands.
"Last week."
"What happened?"
"Nathan asked whether Nora had kept a copy of Emma's identification. He was worried about the journal. I asked why."
"And?"
"He told me to stop asking questions."
She took out her phone.
There were messages.
Nathan instructing her to contact Nora.
Nathan asking whether the notarization was complete.
Nathan warning her not to discuss the document with anyone.
There was no explicit admission that he had forged my signature.
But the messages connected him directly to the process.
"Why bring us these now?" I asked.
Celeste's face tightened.
"Because yesterday he told me I was responsible for any problems with the proxy."
"So you're protecting yourself."
"Yes."
I appreciated the honesty more than another fake apology.
She pushed her phone toward Maya.
"I'll provide the messages through my attorney."
Maya nodded.
"That would be advisable."
Celeste rose to leave.
Then she stopped.
"Emma, he did love you once."
I looked at her.
"Maybe."
She swallowed.
"He talks about you like you're the reason everything went wrong."
I thought about the store, the proxy, and the envelopes waiting for my mother's employees.
"That's easier than admitting he made his own choices."
Celeste gave a small, unhappy nod.
After she left, Maya received another call.
This one came from the court.
Our request for temporary relief had been scheduled for an emergency hearing Friday morning.
The same morning as Nathan's shareholder meeting.
Maya checked the time.
"Nine o'clock."
I stared at her.
"The meeting is at ten."
"We'll ask the judge for immediate relief."
"And if the judge refuses?"
Maya didn't pretend.
"Then we'll need to pursue other available remedies, and the consequences could be much harder to unwind."
I looked toward the window.
For months, Nathan had planned a future in which I would simply disappear from his life while he kept everything my mother had built.
Now Friday would decide whether I could stop him.
May you like
But first, I needed to confront the one person who understood the past better than anyone alive.
My father.
