Chapter 3 - Celeste Was Never Just the Mistress
Celeste disappeared the morning after Nathan assaulted me.
Nathan claimed he didn't know where she went.
Police didn't believe him.
Neither did I.
Rebecca obtained financial records.
Nathan had paid Celeste $420,000 over eighteen months.
Some payments were disguised as consulting fees.
Others went through jewelry purchases.
Then we found something strange.
Celeste had been buying diamonds.
Not wearing them.
Moving them.
High-value stones were being purchased through Nathan's stores, then resold through intermediaries in Europe.
Diamonds are small.
Portable.
Valuable.
Perfect for moving wealth.
Rebecca stared at the transactions.
“Your husband's jewelry business may have been laundering money.”
“For my father?”
“We need evidence.”
We got it faster than expected.
Nathan was arrested for assault.
His attorney negotiated release conditions.
Then Nathan asked to speak with me.
I refused.
He sent a message through Rebecca:
DANIEL WILL KILL ME IF EMMA TAKES THE SHARES.
That changed the conversation.
We arranged a meeting with attorneys present.
Nathan entered with a bruise-colored shadow under his eyes.
The powerful man from the jewelry store was gone.
“Your father approached me two years ago.”
I stared at him.
“You knew he was alive?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“He threatened me.”
“You were sleeping with Celeste.”
Nathan looked down.
“Yes.”
“Was that a threat too?”
“No.”
At least he didn't insult me with another lie.
Daniel had contacted Nathan through Celeste.
He promised international expansion.
Access to European suppliers.
Money.
Then he revealed the trust structure.
Nathan became greedy.
The plan was simple.
Forge my share transfer.
Obtain voting control before my twenty-ninth birthday.
Once my inheritance vested, use the combined voting position to force Whitmore Fine Holdings into a merger.
The buyer?
A Luxembourg company called Aurelius Crown SA.
Beneficial owner:
Daniel Whitmore.
My supposedly dead father intended to buy back the empire he had tried to steal seventeen years earlier.
Using my husband.
Using my signature.
Using my inheritance.
I looked at Nathan.
“Why did you hit me?”
He cried.
I felt nothing.
“Because I panicked.”
“No.”
He looked up.
“You hit me because you thought you could.”
Silence.
“That part belongs to you, Nathan.”
He lowered his head.
Then he said:
“Friday isn't just about the shares.”
“What else?”
“Daniel is coming back.”
“To Baltimore?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
May you like
Then at me.
“To attend your birthday.”
