Chapter 3: The Secret Partner
The name on the document belonged to someone I never expected.
Daniel Pierce.
My father’s former financial advisor.
The man who had handled Ashford Global investments for nearly a decade.
The same man who had recommended Celeste when my father first met her at a charity event.
I stared at the paper.
“No.””
The detective watched me carefully.
“You know him?””
“Yes.””
“Close?””
I swallowed.
“Close enough.””
Daniel had always been part of our family circle.
He attended holidays.
He knew my father’s habits.
He knew which investments mattered.
He knew exactly where the weaknesses were.
And now I understood.
Celeste wasn’t just a woman chasing money.
She was part of a plan.
When I arrived at my father’s house that afternoon, he was sitting in the library.
The same room where I had once asked him about the estate changes.
The same room where he told me to give Celeste a chance.
He looked exhausted.
“I received a call from Daniel,” he said.
I stopped.
“He called you?””
My father nodded.
“He said the allegations were ridiculous.””
I walked closer.
“Dad, Daniel is involved.””
His expression changed.
“No.””
“Yes.””
I placed the documents on the table.
“He helped her.””
My father picked them up.
His hands shook as he read.
“This can’t be right.””
“I wish it wasn’t.””
He looked toward the window.
For a moment, I saw something break inside him.
Not because of the money.
Because of betrayal.
“Everyone I trusted…”
His voice faded.
I sat beside him.
“Not everyone.””
He looked at me.
“I should have believed you.””
I didn’t say anything.
Because part of me wanted to forgive him.
And another part remembered all the times he defended her instead of listening to me.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?””
A woman’s voice spoke.
Quiet.
Urgent.
“Evelyn Ashford?””
“Yes.””
“You need to stop investigating Celeste.””
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Who is this?””
A pause.
Then:
“Someone who knows what she did before she came into your family.””
I stood.
“Tell me your name.””
But the woman didn’t answer.
Instead, she said:
“Look into the accident three years ago.””
My heart stopped.
“What accident?””
The line went silent.
I pulled the phone away.
“Hello?””
Nothing.
My father looked at me.
“What happened?””
I stared at the dark screen.
Three years ago.
The accident.
There was only one accident that mattered.
The one that killed my mother.
But my mother’s death had always been ruled exactly that.
An accident.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
I walked back to my office and opened the old files.
The reports.
The photographs.
The documents nobody had touched in years.
And then I saw something.
A signature.
A name.
A connection I had missed.
My mother’s accident investigation had been approved by someone inside the company.
Someone who had access before Daniel ever became my father’s advisor.
Someone who had been there from the beginning.
I was still staring at the file when another notification appeared on my phone.
A message.
From Celeste.
Only four words.
“I know what you found.””
I looked at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
“I know what happened to your mother.””
And beneath it was a photo.
May you like
A photo that made me forget how to breathe.
Because standing beside Celeste in the picture was the one person I thought had been dead for three years.
