CHAPTER 19 — SINS OF THE MOTHER
“Tell me she’s lying,” Nathan said.
Celeste looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“I ordered the house searched.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I believed your parents had stolen Nightingale documents.”
“Did you order the fire?”
Celeste remained silent.
Nathan’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Evelyn stepped between them.
“You can kill her later. First we save the city.”
Nathan’s voice shook.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Everyone knew except me.”
Beatrice laughed.
“That is how this family survives. We each carry someone else’s secret.”
Mara shouted from the control panel.
“The shutdown requires three authorization codes.”
“Whose?” Evelyn asked.
“Daniel, Beatrice, and Celeste.”
Daniel was trapped underground.
Beatrice smiled.
“And Celeste will never remember hers.”
Celeste stared at the keyboard.
“The code was removed during treatment.”
Evelyn looked at Beatrice.
“Give Mara yours.”
“No.”
Julian pushed himself upright against a table.
“Mother, thousands of people will be hurt.”
“Empires require casualties.”
Evelyn heard Daniel’s words in Beatrice’s voice.
They had hated each other because they were the same.
She walked toward Beatrice.
“You spent your life proving you could defeat my father.”
“I did defeat him.”
“No. You became him.”
Beatrice’s face changed.
Evelyn held up her phone.
A live broadcast had been running since they entered the mansion.
Millions of people had heard everything.
Beatrice stared at the camera.
“You foolish girl.”
“No more private rooms. No more sealed files.”
Outside, sirens filled the estate.
Mara worked quickly.
“Public exposure triggered emergency regulatory controls. The financial collapse is slowing.”
“How much time?”
“Three minutes.”
Celeste suddenly approached the keyboard.
Her fingers moved without hesitation.
She entered a twelve-digit sequence.
The system accepted it.
Nathan stared at her.
“You said you didn’t remember.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
Celeste looked at Evelyn.
“Because if the transfer stopped, Daniel’s hidden empire would remain intact.”
Mara turned toward her.
“You wanted the collapse.”
“I wanted the assets moved.”
“To Evelyn?”
Celeste smiled faintly.
“To me.”
The system flashed.
PRIMARY BENEFICIARY UPDATED: CELESTE VANCE
Beatrice whispered, “You planned this from the beginning.”
The countdown reached ten seconds.
Celeste pressed the final key.
May you like
Every screen went black.
Then the mansion’s lights died.
