CHAPTER 8 — CELESTE’S REAL REASON
Adrian stepped between Celeste and Milo.
“You won’t shoot him.”
“You still don’t know me.”
“I’m starting to.”
Celeste’s hand was steady.
“Move.”
“No.”
Her eyes shifted toward Jonah.
“This is your fault. You should’ve stayed quiet.”
Jonah’s voice trembled with anger.
“You ordered my apartment burned.”
“You had copies of the safety reports.”
“My wife was inside!”
Milo stared at his father.
“You said Mom died in an accident.”
Jonah closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Celeste showed no regret.
“Your mother made a bad choice. She ran back for the files.”
Milo began crying silently.
Adrian’s voice turned cold.
“You murdered a woman to hide stolen vehicle codes.”
Celeste laughed once.
“You think this started with vehicle codes?”
She looked at Adrian.
“Your father destroyed mine.”
Adrian frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“Twenty-six years ago, your father forced a smaller company into bankruptcy. My father owned it. He lost everything. Two months later, he took his own life.”
Adrian had heard hundreds of stories about his father’s ruthless deals.
He had never heard hers.
“You married me for revenge.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Her face tightened.
“For a while, I believed I could live with you. Then you announced you were donating half your shares to the employee trust.”
Adrian understood.
“That would’ve limited what you inherited.”
“It would’ve left me with scraps.”
“You call billions of dollars scraps?”
“I call it less than what your family stole.”
Jonah shook his head.
“Marcus used your anger.”
Celeste pointed the gun at him.
“Marcus understood me.”
“No,” Adrian said. “He understood your price.”
A siren sounded outside.
Celeste glanced toward the entrance.
Grant groaned on the floor and reached inside his jacket.
Milo saw him move.
“Adrian!”
Grant fired.
Jonah threw himself sideways, knocking Milo’s chair over.
The bullet struck Celeste’s shoulder.
She screamed and dropped the weapon.
Adrian kicked Grant’s gun away.
Luis tackled him against the wall.
Police vehicles surrounded the building.
Celeste crawled toward her pistol.
Adrian reached it first.
She stared up at him.
“You wouldn’t.”
“No,” he said. “I wouldn’t.”
He emptied the magazine onto the floor and stepped back.
Federal agents rushed inside.
As they placed Celeste in handcuffs, she looked at Adrian with pure hatred.
“You think Marcus will let you walk away?”
Adrian paused.
May you like
Celeste smiled through the pain.
“He has your entire board trapped upstairs.”
