Chapter 5 - My Sister’s Perfect Lie
Victor Hale entered the office and said, “Give me the phone.”
Gabriel stood between him and Simone while Preston placed the pistol on the floor.
A red recording light still blinked on Preston’s screen.
Beside it was one saved audio file.
SAMUEL.
Victor saw the filename.
For the first time, he lost his smile.
“You stupid boy.”
Preston backed away.
“You told me it was only about forcing a sale.”
“It was.”
“You admitted Samuel discovered your shell companies.”
Victor’s gaze moved toward Simone.
“People admit many things when somebody secretly records half a conversation.”
Gabriel said, “Then you won’t mind playing the whole thing for the police.”
Victor laughed.
“Police?”
“You seem disappointed.”
“I’m surprised you still believe ordinary institutions solve extraordinary problems.”
Simone stepped beside Gabriel.
“No.”
He glanced at her.
She kept her eyes on Victor.
“I believe evidence does.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“You think one dead man’s affidavit and an illegal recording will save your company?”
“My company.”
He smiled.
“There she is.”
“Who?”
“Samuel Ward’s daughter.”
Simone felt the insult he intended.
Instead she accepted it.
“Yes.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“My father built that company too.”
“Then why spend forty years trying to steal it?”
Victor stepped closer.
Gabriel did the same.
Victor stopped.
“You’ve been told a sentimental version of events,” he said. “Samuel was going to destroy everyone over accounting irregularities.”
“Fake subcontractors.”
“Financial structures.”
“Money laundering.”
“Words chosen by prosecutors.”
“And dead engineers?”
Victor’s eyes turned flat.
“I didn’t kill Samuel.”
Preston spoke.
“You said, ‘I should have let the brakes fail sooner.’”
Victor slowly turned.
Preston raised the phone.
“It’s on the recording.”
Silence.
Simone’s skin went cold.
Brake failure.
Samuel had supposedly died when his vehicle lost control on a service road outside a construction site.
Gabriel’s voice changed.
“Send me the file.”
Preston hesitated.
Victor lunged.
Everything happened fast.
Gabriel intercepted him.
Preston stumbled backward.
The phone flew from his hand and skidded beneath a desk.
Simone dove toward it.
Victor shoved Gabriel aside and reached for her.
A second figure appeared in the doorway.
“Don’t touch my sister!”
Celeste.
She swung a heavy bridal bouquet stand into Victor’s arm.
He recoiled.
Gabriel pinned him against the wall.
Security guards rushed in moments later.
Gabriel had apparently called them before entering the building.
Victor cursed.
Celeste stood shaking.
Still wearing her wedding gown.
Simone stared at her.
“You followed us.”
“I know.”
“I told you not to.”
“I know.”
“That was a boundary.”
“I know.”
Despite everything, Simone almost laughed.
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“I’m bad at this.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
The apology seemed too small for the night.
Yet it was the first genuine one Simone had heard from her.
Police arrived.
Then lawyers.
Then more police.
By dawn, Victor Hale had been taken into custody for questioning related to financial crimes and possible obstruction connected to Samuel Ward’s death.
Preston voluntarily surrendered his devices.
He admitted forging Simone’s signature.
He admitted conspiring with Victor to transfer Bellamy & Ward assets.
He also admitted Celeste did not know about the forgery.
Simone listened from a conference room while investigators took statements.
At seven in the morning, Celeste sat beside her.
For nearly ten minutes, neither spoke.
Finally Celeste said, “I ruined my wedding.”
Simone looked at her.
“You think?”
Celeste gave a wet laugh.
Then cried.
Not elegantly.
Not like a bride in a movie.
Her shoulders shook.
Mascara ran.
Simone did not immediately comfort her.
She needed Celeste to sit inside what she had done.
After several minutes, Celeste whispered, “I hated you for something Mom never did.”
“Yes.”
“I thought she gave you the company because she loved you more.”
“She gave me Samuel’s shares.”
“I know.”
“You could have asked Dad.”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“You could have asked me.”
“You didn’t know.”
“You still could have talked to me.”
Celeste nodded.
“I was ashamed.”
“Of what?”
“That I wanted what you had.”
Simone looked through the conference room window.
Gabriel spoke with detectives outside.
Even exhausted, he remained calm.
Celeste followed her gaze.
“Do you like him?”
Simone almost choked.
“We are not discussing Gabriel Moretti.”
“He called you his future wife.”
“As a legal strategy.”
Celeste raised one eyebrow.
“He looked ready to tear the building apart when Victor moved toward you.”
“He is protective.”
“Of everybody?”
Simone said nothing.
Celeste leaned back.
“Mom used to joke about you two.”
“What?”
“You really don’t remember?”
“No.”
“When we were kids, Gabriel came to the office with his dad. You made him carry your backpack.”
“I was seven.”
“He was ten.”
“That makes it worse.”
Celeste smiled weakly.
“You told everyone you were going to marry him because he gave you the bigger half of a cookie.”
Simone stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That did not happen.”
“It did.”
“Why do you remember this?”
“Because I spent twenty years making myself remember everything you got that I didn’t.”
The honesty hurt.
But it also opened something.
Simone reached across the table.
Celeste stared at her hand.
Then took it.
“I am still angry,” Simone said.
“I know.”
“I don’t forgive you yet.”
“I know.”
“You pulled my chair out from under me.”
Celeste squeezed her eyes shut.
“I know.”
“But I don’t want to hate you.”
Celeste looked at her.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Maybe.”
They sat quietly.
Later that morning, Richard was discharged from the hospital.
Simone insisted they all meet at his house.
No ballroom.
No lawyers speaking for them.
No secrets.
Richard sat in his wheelchair by the fireplace.
Celeste sat across from him.
Simone remained standing.
Gabriel stayed near the door.
Richard looked older than he had twenty-four hours earlier.
“I failed both of you,” he said.
Celeste immediately looked away.
Simone did not.
“Tell us everything.”
So he did.
Samuel Ward had been Eleanor’s first love.
They separated in their twenties.
Eleanor married Richard.
Years later, during a period when Richard and Eleanor were separated, she briefly reunited with Samuel.
Simone was conceived.
Richard knew before Simone was born.
He chose to stay.
Samuel agreed not to disrupt the family but created a trust protecting his business shares for Simone.
Before his death, Samuel discovered Victor Hale’s fraud.
Antonio Moretti helped secure evidence.
But Samuel died before he could testify.
Richard and Eleanor became terrified.
They buried the investigation.
Victor grew stronger.
Antonio Moretti preserved copies of the evidence and built protective provisions around the jointly owned river land.
“Why didn’t you go to police later?” Simone asked.
“We did.”
“When?”
“After your mother became ill.”
“And?”
“Evidence disappeared. Witnesses changed statements. Victor had friends everywhere.”
Gabriel said, “My father tried too.”
Richard nodded.
“Antonio eventually decided the only thing he could do was preserve the properties until the next generation.”
Simone folded her arms.
“And you decided lying to me was safer.”
“Yes.”
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
Celeste spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Samuel?”
Richard looked at her.
“Your mother asked me not to while Simone was young.”
“I’m forty-two.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“I kept waiting for the right moment.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“So I spent years believing Mom chose her over me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You let me hate my sister.”
“No,” Richard said quietly. “You chose what you did with your pain.”
Celeste froze.
Simone looked at him.
It was the first time Richard had not protected Celeste from consequences.
He continued.
“My silence hurt you. But I did not make you humiliate Simone.”
Celeste’s eyes dropped.
“No.”
“You owe her more than an apology.”
“I know.”
Richard turned toward Simone.
“And I owe you control of what should have been yours nine years ago.”
Simone breathed in.
“I don’t know if I want it.”
Everyone looked at her.
Richard seemed surprised.
“You trained for this.”
“No. I trained as an organizational consultant because I liked fixing companies from the outside.”
“You understand Bellamy & Ward better than you think.”
“Maybe. But inheritance isn’t destiny.”
Gabriel’s eyes shifted toward her.
Choice is the only part that matters.
Her mother’s words.
Simone understood them now.
She could take control.
Or sell.
Or restructure.
Or walk away.
For the first time, the future felt like hers.
That evening, after Richard went to rest and Celeste left to meet with an attorney about annulling her marriage to Preston, Simone stood alone on the back terrace.
Gabriel joined her.
“You should sleep,” he said.
“So should you.”
“I sleep badly.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s mostly coffee.”
She smiled despite herself.
He leaned against the stone railing.
“You don’t have to merge the trusts.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to run Bellamy & Ward.”
“I know.”
“And you definitely don’t have to marry me.”
Simone looked at him.
“That one was becoming a concern.”
“I thought I should clarify.”
She laughed.
The sound surprised her.
Gabriel looked at her.
Not like the woman on the marble floor.
Not like an inheritance.
Just Simone.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“Yes.”
“That’s generally considered rude.”
“I’ll work on it.”
She shook her head.
Then grew serious.
“Why were you at the wedding?”
“Your father invited me.”
“Because of the transfer?”
“He suspected something.”
“And you knew Celeste hated me?”
“No.”
“Did you know Preston planned to remove me?”
“I learned twenty minutes before it happened.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I was coming to.”
She looked at him.
“You were too late.”
His expression tightened.
“Yes.”
For some reason, that mattered.
He was not pretending omnipotence.
He had failed to stop the fall.
He had simply been there afterward.
Simone looked toward the garden.
“What happens to Victor?”
“That depends on prosecutors.”
“And Preston?”
“Forgery, conspiracy, attempted theft. He’ll need a good lawyer.”
“Celeste?”
“Legally?”
“Yes.”
“Probably a witness unless evidence shows otherwise.”
Simone nodded.
Gabriel became quiet.
Then he said, “There is one more thing.”
She groaned.
“No.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I’ve learned enough family secrets for one lifetime.”
“This one concerns me.”
“That isn’t better.”
He reached inside his jacket.
Simone tensed reflexively.
He pulled out an envelope.
Old.
Cream-colored.
Her name written across it.
“Where did you get that?”
“My father left it to me.”
“When?”
“He died six years ago.”
“And you never opened it?”
“It wasn’t addressed to me.”
Simone took it.
The handwriting was Antonio Moretti’s.
Across the front:
FOR SIMONE, AFTER THE TRUTH ABOUT SAMUEL IS KNOWN.
She stared at Gabriel.
“You’ve had this for six years?”
“Yes.”
“And carried it to my sister’s wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father told me he planned to confess.”
Simone slid a finger beneath the seal.
Gabriel stopped her.
“Before you open it, there’s something you should know.”
She looked up.
For the first time since meeting him, Gabriel Moretti seemed uncertain.
“What?”
“My father believed Samuel’s death wasn’t the only reason your mother created the marriage clause.”
Simone stared.
“What other reason?”
Gabriel looked toward the envelope in her hand.
“I don’t know.”
She opened it.
Inside was a single page.
She read the first sentence.
Then stopped.
Her eyes lifted toward Gabriel.
“You knew about this?”
“No.”
The letter trembled in her hand.
Antonio Moretti had written only three paragraphs.
But the final one contained a name.
A woman’s name.
And Simone recognized it immediately.
It belonged to someone who had been sitting at Celeste’s wedding.
Someone who had watched Simone fall.
Someone who had never once come forward.
Simone looked toward the house.
The front doorbell rang.
Richard called from inside.
Then a familiar woman’s voice answered him.
May you like
Simone went cold.
The person named in Antonio’s letter had just walked into the house.
