Chapter 18 - The Apology with a Price
I didn't let Celeste inside.
Nina joined us over speakerphone while Rebecca took Oliver to the back room.
Celeste held out the folder.
"I can prove Miles gave the orders," she said. "But I need you to withdraw your complaint."
"You poured cake over a child," I said.
Her eyes filled.
"I panicked. My father was going to ruin me if I failed."
"You had choices. Oliver didn't."
She offered copies of messages in which Miles demanded bank access and threatened to stop paying her debts. Nina instructed her to give them to her own lawyer and the investigators.
"You might be surprised what cooperation can accomplish," Nina said. "But Daniel isn't negotiating your accountability for his son's safety."
Celeste's face hardened.
"I was going to be his mother."
"He already had a mother," I replied. "And he needed a safe adult, not somebody trying to replace her."
For a moment she looked as if she might say something human. Then she turned away.
The next morning the court extended the preservation order. The bank began examining the alleged guarantee as suspected fraud, and investigators requested the wedding footage and financial records.
I thought we'd finally turned the corner.
Then my largest customer canceled a twenty-year relationship, citing the scandal and uncertainty around our company.
The canceled contract represented almost a third of our expected annual work.
Samir sat across from me that afternoon.
"You could sell the company," he said carefully. "Save what you can."
I looked through the window at the workshop where Hannah had once taught apprentices how to read blueprints.
May you like
I could keep my own house and walk away.
Or I could tell the staff the truth, risk everything I'd built, and ask them to help me fight for it.
