Chapter 6 - The unexpected guest
The ballroom erupted into chaotic whispers. Camera flashes strobed like lightning, blinding the front rows. Reporters who had been half-asleep moments before were suddenly on their feet, frantically recording the scene on their phones.
Celeste couldn't breathe. The air in the room felt thick, heavy, and suffocating. She stared at the woman walking down the aisle toward the stage. Evelyn Hayes looked nothing like the terrified nineteen-year-old girl Celeste remembered. She walked with a quiet, lethal grace, wearing a simple, elegant black dress. Her eyes, identical to her late father's, locked onto Celeste with unblinking intensity.
As Evelyn passed her in the aisle, she paused. She didn't say a word. She just offered a small, knowing smile that chilled Celeste to the bone, before continuing up the steps to the stage.
Daniel stood back, offering Evelyn the microphone with a respectful nod.
"Twelve years ago," Evelyn began, her voice steady and clear, "my father, Arthur Hayes, was ousted from the company he built. Shortly after, he was found dead. The official story was that he couldn't handle the failure. The official story was that he had gambled away our family's fortune."
She paused, letting the silence hang heavy over the thousand influential guests.
"But the truth," Evelyn continued, her gaze snapping back to Celeste, "is that he was framed. By someone he trusted. Someone who forged his signature, drained his accounts, and then staged my accident to ensure I could never contest the takeover."
The cameras aggressively pivoted toward Celeste. She threw her hands up, her sophisticated mask cracking completely.
"Lies!" Celeste shrieked, her voice shrill and desperate, shattering the quiet dignity of the room. "She's an imposter! Daniel Mercer paid this woman to ruin me! He's the one who stole the money!"
Daniel stepped up to the microphone, towering over the podium. "If that were true, Celeste, why is the FBI currently raiding your penthouse?"
Celeste felt her knees buckle. She grabbed the edge of a guest's table to stay standing.
"Every document," Daniel said, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "Every forged signature, every wire transfer, every bribe you paid to keep Evelyn quiet before she escaped. Mark gave us access to your private servers an hour ago. It's over."
The doors of the ballroom opened again. This time, it wasn't a ghost from the past. It was three men in dark windbreakers with federal badges clipped to their belts. They walked straight down the aisle toward Celeste.
"You set me up!" she screamed, pointing a trembling, manicured finger at Daniel. "You orchestrated this whole party just to humiliate me publicly!"
"No," Daniel replied softly, though the microphone caught every word. "I bought your company to trap you. I threw this party to watch you fall."
As the federal agents grabbed her arms, pulling her backward, Celeste thrashed in her silver gown. But as she was dragged toward the exit, she locked eyes with Daniel one last time. He wasn't smiling. He was completely serious. And she realized, with a sudden, terrifying clarity, that bringing her to justice for Arthur's death wasn't the end of his plan. There was one piece of the puzzle that still didn't fit.
May you like
If Evelyn was alive, why did she need Daniel to buy the company? Why couldn't she just go to the police years ago?
Celeste screamed as the heavy doors slammed shut behind her, plunging her into the flashing red and blue lights of the police cruisers waiting outside.
