Chapter 11 - Cameras, Cops, and Receipts
Sophia did not steal the money.
But her signature had authorized the transfers.
She was horrified.
The foundation's financial manager had placed documents among routine paperwork.
Sophia signed them without reading every page.
The manager was Nathan Voss.
Celeste's older half brother.
Suddenly the pieces aligned.
Not completely.
But enough to see a shape.
Nathan had handled Elena's foundation finances.
Marco had received payments.
Celeste's company had been used for fake reviews.
Yet Celeste claimed she knew nothing.
I wasn't ready to believe her.
Roman was ready to believe nobody.
Detective Ellis obtained warrants.
Nathan disappeared.
Celeste came to my bakery after closing.
Alone.
Roman moved toward her.
I stopped him.
Celeste placed a flash drive on the counter.
“My brother used my company.”
“Why help us?”
“Because I finally understand what he's doing.”
She looked at me.
“He thinks this building belongs to Elena.”
“It doesn't.”
“He believes Roman stole Elena's legacy by letting it be sold.”
Roman's voice hardened.
“I didn't know she wanted it.”
“Nathan did.”
Celeste swallowed.
“He was in love with her.”
Silence.
That explained obsession.
Not violence.
Celeste continued.
“Elena rejected him.”
Lily appeared from the kitchen.
Roman immediately stepped toward her.
She shook her head.
“I want to hear.”
Celeste's eyes softened.
“Your mother wanted the café to belong to young people. Nathan wanted to finance it. She refused because she knew his money came with strings.”
I almost laughed at the cruel symmetry.
Elena and I had apparently learned the same lesson about men who believed money entitled them to control.
The flash drive contained financial records Celeste had copied.
Enough to prove Nathan's theft.
Enough to connect him to Marco.
Maybe enough to end it.
Then Lily noticed a folder.
“MOM.”
Roman opened it.
Inside were scanned letters.
Elena had written them before her death.
One addressed to Roman.
He stared at the file.
“Open it,” Lily whispered.
Roman did.
The letter wasn't long.
Elena told him she loved him.
Then she asked him to stop trying to solve every problem with money.
Lily cried.
Roman did too.
Quietly.
I held his hand.
Then another file appeared.
A property document.
Elena had made an offer on my building.
Nathan had been listed as financial guarantor.
But handwritten across the scanned page was one sentence:
I DON'T WANT NATHAN INVOLVED.
A sound came from the bakery's back room.
We all froze.
The security camera monitor went black.
May you like
Then the lights went out.
And someone unlocked the kitchen door from the inside.
