Chapter 12 - The Woman in the Wedding Dress
Celeste requested to speak with me three days later.
My first answer was no.
My second answer was also no.
Then Detective Brooks explained Celeste had information about another recording.
So I agreed.
We met inside a secure interview room at the prosecutor’s office.
The woman sitting across from me barely resembled the bride from the Whitmore Hotel.
No designer gown.
No diamonds.
No perfect makeup.
She wore county-issued gray clothes and looked exhausted.
“I’m sorry about Sophie.”
I stared at her.
“No, you’re not.”
Her eyes dropped.
“I didn’t know Preston would hit her.”
“You knew he was going to frame her.”
“Yes.”
“You watched him accuse her.”
“Yes.”
“You watched her cry.”
Celeste swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then you watched him hit her and worried about your carpet.”
She closed her eyes.
“I panicked.”
“No.”
“You revealed yourself.”
Celeste flinched.
I leaned back.
“What recording?”
She took a breath.
“Margaret recorded everybody.”
“My mother?”
“She didn’t trust anyone.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“She kept a second phone.”
“Where?”
“In a safety-deposit box.”
Detective Brooks, sitting beside me, began taking notes.
Celeste continued.
“Margaret believed Nathan might confess.”
“So she recorded him.”
“She recorded Preston too.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
That word sounded exactly like my mother.
“What is on the recordings?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“What do you know?”
Celeste hesitated.
Then she looked at me.
“Your father wanted the wedding plan canceled.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“He thought it had become too dangerous.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he stop it?”
“Margaret threatened him.”
“With what?”
“Evidence that he approved the fraudulent transactions.”
My parents’ marriage had always looked perfect from the outside.
Now I realized they had not been partners.
They had been mutually assured destruction.
Each protected the other because each could destroy the other.
Celeste continued.
“Charles wanted Preston to repay the money and leave the company.”
“Preston would never agree.”
“He didn’t.”
“And my mother?”
“She said Sophie was the only obstacle.”
My fingers tightened.
“What exactly did she mean?”
Celeste looked toward Brooks.
“I think you should ask her.”
“I’m asking you.”
Celeste’s eyes filled with fear.
“Margaret talked about sending Sophie away.”
My heart hammered.
“Where?”
“She never said.”
“What did Preston say?”
“He laughed.”
“What did Nathan say?”
Celeste hesitated again.
“What did my husband say?”
“He told them nobody was taking his daughter.”
For one second, confusion overwhelmed me.
Nathan had betrayed Sophie.
But somewhere inside the conspiracy, he had apparently drawn a line.
Celeste continued.
“That’s when Margaret stopped trusting him.”
“So the wedding framing was also meant to trap Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“If Nathan filed for custody, your mother planned to control him.”
Celeste nodded.
“And if he refused?”
“She had financial evidence that could send him to prison.”
Everything connected.
My mother had manipulated everyone.
Nathan.
Preston.
Celeste.
My father.
But manipulation did not excuse them.
They had still chosen to participate.
As I stood to leave, Celeste spoke again.
“Evelyn.”
I turned.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The oak board.”
My stomach tightened.
“What about it?”
“Preston didn’t grab it randomly.”
I stared at her.
“He told me the week before the wedding that if Sophie embarrassed him, he was going to teach her a lesson.”
The room became silent.
The assault wasn’t an impulsive loss of temper.
May you like
Preston had imagined hurting my daughter before the wedding even began.
And suddenly, every argument his lawyers might make about temporary anger disappeared.
