Chapter 5 - CELESTE THOUGHT ADRIAN LOVED HER
Celeste denied everything at first.
Then Mara showed her the email.
Once Celeste is discharged, the foundation vote becomes easier.
Celeste looked at Adrian.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian shrugged.
“Exactly what it says.”
“You told me the board was trying to steal our family legacy.”
“They are.”
“Mara is the board chair.”
“She is the problem.”
Celeste looked at Mara.
For a moment, the old twin connection appeared.
Then vanished.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He told me you wanted to sell the center.”
Mara stared.
“What?”
“To cover your debts.”
Mara almost laughed.
“I don’t have debts.”
Adrian interrupted.
“Everyone has debts.”
Mara ignored him.
Celeste continued.
“He said you moved out of the apartment because you were broke.”
Mara understood the “homeless loser” insult.
She had moved out of the penthouse she shared with Adrian two months earlier.
Not because she was broke.
Because the building was undergoing structural repairs after a pipe burst.
She had been staying in a foundation-owned guest residence near the hospital.
Adrian turned inconvenience into insolvency.
Then used Celeste’s old resentment.
Mara had always been the stable twin.
The trusted one.
The one their father gave responsibilities to.
Celeste had always believed stability was favoritism.
Adrian fed that wound.
He told her Mara controlled the foundation because she wanted to erase Celeste.
He told her Northpoint would restore “family balance.”
He told her the management deal would give Celeste an executive role after discharge.
Salary:
$300,000.
Housing allowance.
Public title.
Board influence.
Celeste stared at him.
“You said we were building something together.”
Adrian’s face stayed cold.
“We were.”
May you like
“Were?”
That single word changed her.
