Chapter 6 - The Visitor at the GatesFour days after Adrian’s arrest, I was sitting in the sprawling, sunlit solarium of my parents’ estate, watching nursemaids wheel Noah, Leo, and Lucas through the manicured rose gardens in custom imported prams.
The estate gates were guarded by private security contractors equipped with biometric scanners and armored vehicles. So when the intercom buzzed, alerting security that an uninvited guest was screaming at the front gates, I wasn't surprised—I was mildly amused.
"Miss Sterling," the head of security said over my encrypted earpiece. "A woman identifying herself as Celeste Monroe is demanding entry. She claims she needs to speak with you urgently. Shall we have her removed by local authorities?"
"No," I replied smoothly, taking a sip of my iced lemon tea. "Let her in. But escort her all the way to the glass pavilion. I want to see the view from this side."
Ten minutes later, the heavy glass doors of the pavilion slid open. Celeste looked like a ghost of the woman who had swaggered onto my front porch a week earlier. Her designer cream trousers were stained with mud, her hair was unwashed and tangled, and she was no longer carrying her beloved black Birkin bag—it had likely been seized or pawned.
She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked around the breathtaking, glass-enclosed palace overlooking the Pacific coastline, realizing for the very first time the unimaginable scale of the world she had tried to conquer and destroy.
"Evelyn," Celeste breathed, her voice trembling, her eyes wide with shock and terror. "Evelyn, please... you have to help me."
I didn't stand up. I remained seated in my plush velvet chair, looking at her with cold, detached curiosity. "Help you, Celeste? Why would I do that? Didn't you tell me outside my house that Adrian wanted a fresh start? That he had excellent taste?"
Celeste burst into hysterical tears, collapsing onto her knees against the polished marble floor. "Adrian lied to me! He told me you were a penniless nobody! He told me your marriage was already over and that he owned everything! He used me, Evelyn! He made me take the fall for the offshore accounts—his lawyers are trying to pin the entire embezzlement scheme on my name!"
"And you were happy to help him," I reminded her softly, "as long as you thought you were stepping over my corpse to get his money."
"Please!" Celeste sobbed, crawling forward across the floor like a broken animal. "You have billions! This is nothing to you! Drop the criminal charges, tell your father’s lawyers to let me go, and I'll leave the country! You’ll never have to see me again!"
I set my teacup down, the tiny clink echoing sharply in the quiet pavilion.
"Celeste," I said, leaning forward to look her directly in the eyes. "When Adrian brought you into my hospital room while I was still bleeding, when you looked down at my newborn children and mocked my exhausted body, you made a choice. You thought pain made me weak. You thought cruelty made you powerful."
I stood up slowly, towering over her as she knelt on the floor.
"In this world, actions have consequences. My father taught me how to build empires, but he also taught me how to crush pests. You hitched your wagon to a sinking ship, and now you get to drown with the captain."
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I tapped my earpiece. "Security. Remove the trash from the premises. And make sure the federal prosecutors handling the wire fraud case receive the security footage of her boasting about the embezzled funds."
As two massive security guards lifted Celeste by her arms and dragged her kicking and screaming out of the pavilion, I turned back toward the sunlight, watching my three healthy sons sleeping peacefully in their prams.
