Chapter 6 - The Anatomy of a Theft
"How long?" Adrian asked, his voice echoing off the wet stone walls. "How long was I a asset to be managed?"
Celeste stepped into the light of his flashlight beam, her hands trembling slightly, though her posture remained erect, disciplined.
"Four years ago, I applied for the position at the family office," she said quietly. "I had spent seven years tracing the paper trail. My father died in a veterans' hospital in Boston, Adrian. He died believing my mother had ruined her own career through negligence. He died in disgrace while your father built a healthcare empire on her stolen research."
"So you targeted me," Adrian said, stepping forward, the flashlight beam trembling in his grip. "You made me fall in love with you. You let me plan a life with you."
"I didn't plan on loving you!" Celeste suddenly cried out, her voice cracking, tears spilling over her lashes as her composure shattered for a single, raw moment. "I thought you were like Malcolm! I thought everyone who carried the Vale name was a cold, arrogant sociopath who saw people as property!"
"And what am I, Celeste?!" Adrian shouted back, his voice raw with fury and agony. "Am I just the idiot son who handed you his father's keys?!"
"You're not like him!" Celeste sobbed, wiping her face with the back of her sleeve. "You cared about the employees. You spent three weeks fighting Margot to keep the pension fund intact! You held your mother's hand every night while your brother was out spending money in Nassau! You were the only good thing in this cursed house, Adrian!"
"Then why did you steal Lenora's credentials last night?" Adrian demanded, pointing at the empty safe. "Why did you break into my father's vault?"
"Because your sister was going to sell Vance-Holloway's residual patents to a Swiss pharmaceutical conglomerate on Friday!" Celeste yelled back, pointing toward the stairs. "Margot found the offshore file two weeks ago! She didn't care about the history—she wanted to liquidate the patents to pay off the company's debt covenants! If she sold them, my mother's name would have been erased from the medical registry forever!"
Adrian froze.
Margot.
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"Margot knew about Kestrel?" Adrian whispered.
"Margot was the one who authorized Dr. Vance to adjust your mother's medication three months ago!" Celeste revealed, her voice dropping into a desperate, furious hurry. "Your mother isn't suffering from vascular dementia, Adrian! Margot has been paying her physician to administer low doses of scopolamine to keep her confused so she couldn't challenge the trust amendments!"
