Chapter 15 - BEHIND CELESTE'S PORTRAIT
They returned to the mansion before sunrise.
The portrait hung at the end of the upstairs gallery.
Celeste smiled from the canvas in a white summer dress.
Adrian had avoided looking at it for two years.
Now he pulled it from the wall.
Victoria whispered, "Charles installed that."
"What's the code?" Gabriel asked.
Noah pointed.
"Red bird."
A tiny painted cardinal sat in the lower corner.
Beneath it were six numbers almost invisible under the varnish.
246119.
Adrian opened the safe.
Inside was a phone sealed in plastic.
And Celeste's wedding ring.
Adrian's throat closed.
He had been told the ring was lost at the hospital.
Emma touched his arm.
He did not pull away.
The phone still had power when they connected it to a charger.
Celeste appeared in the nursery.
"Adrian, if you're watching this, I was right about Harrison."
"He knows I found the Carver documents."
"He also knows your father recorded him."
"Victoria is not innocent."
Victoria lowered her eyes.
"But she is not the person who started this."
Celeste held up a medical form.
"Harrison forged my treatment preference."
"He told Victoria the surgery would almost certainly kill Noah."
Celeste's voice softened.
"I think she believed him because believing him gave her what she wanted most."
"An heir."
Celeste continued.
"If I die, do not let hatred turn you into them."
"Protect Noah."
"Protect Emily."
"And find Gabriel."
Celeste smiled faintly.
"Your family can still become something better than what built it."
"There is one more thing."
"Harrison did not kill Charles by himself."
The video glitched.
Emma leaned closer.
Adrian froze the frame.
The reflected face was unmistakable.
May you like
Martin Shaw.
And in his hand was Charles Walker's missing maintenance file.
