Chapter 10 - The Impersonation
Someone had been inside the locker eighteen days before them.
Someone knew Evelyn’s security answers.
Someone had left the photograph.
And someone had not taken Mara’s evidence.
That last fact bothered Leah most.
“If Celeste or Grant found the locker, why leave everything?”
Miriam considered it.
“Maybe they didn’t find what they wanted.”
“The ledger?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Mara’s binders summarize transfers, but Charles’s original ledger would connect names to account codes.”
Ethan returned.
His face looked exhausted.
When they explained the access entry, he asked the same question Leah had.
“Why leave evidence?”
Evelyn said, “Because removing it would reveal someone had been here. They were searching.”
“For what?”
“Something Mara separated from the rest.”
The encrypted drive became important.
Miriam took it to a forensic specialist rather than attempting random passwords.
Back in Connecticut, Ethan moved into the guest room.
Celeste returned Sunday afternoon accompanied by her attorney.
Her attorney, Julia Marks, was calm, professional, and clearly unhappy with the drama surrounding her client.
She informed Ethan that Celeste denied wrongdoing and had a lawful right to access the marital home.
Ethan did not argue.
He gave Celeste the primary bedroom.
He kept his office locked.
Leah locked hers.
Dinner became absurd.
Four people ate under the same roof like opposing delegations.
Celeste finally spoke.
“You went to New York.”
Leah’s fork stopped.
Ethan looked up.
“How do you know?”
Celeste smiled faintly.
“You took the SUV. The location history is shared.”
Ethan immediately disabled it.
“You found Mara’s locker.”
Nobody answered.
Celeste’s smile disappeared.
“What was inside?”
Ethan stared at her.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“Someone accessed it using Evelyn’s identity.”
Celeste looked genuinely surprised.
Leah watched closely.
“Was it Grant?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it you?”
“No.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Did you know Mara before you met me?”
Celeste did not answer.
“That photograph from six years ago exists.”
Something in her posture collapsed.
Finally.
“Yes.”
Leah’s heartbeat quickened.
Celeste looked directly at Ethan.
“I knew Mara.”
“How well?”
“Not well.”
“You came to this house.”
“Yes.”
“You called her.”
“Yes.”
“And three years later you introduced yourself to me as a stranger.”
Celeste’s voice cracked.
“Because I knew exactly what you would think if I told you.”
“What should I think now?”
She pushed her chair back.
“You want the ugly version? Fine.”
She looked at Evelyn.
“Your perfect Mara found evidence against me. I begged her not to report it.”
Leah flinched.
Celeste continued.
“I was twenty-four. My father had just died. Grant told me the transfers were legal. When I realized they weren’t, I was already exposed.”
“Then why did you continue after Charles died?” Evelyn asked.
“Because Grant said if I stopped, he would blame everything on me.”
Evelyn’s expression softened despite herself.
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? A frightened daughter you can forgive?”
“No.”
“I was frightened.”
She looked at Ethan.
“Mara believed me at first.”
“What changed?”
“She discovered I’d taken money.”
“How much?”
Celeste’s gaze dropped.
“Eighty thousand dollars.”
Evelyn whispered, “Celeste…”
“I was twenty-four!”
“You were an adult.”
“I know.”
The room went silent.
Then Celeste said something Leah did not expect.
“I approached Ethan because Grant told me to.”
Ethan’s face went blank.
Leah gripped the table.
Celeste continued.
“He wanted access to the Mercer company archives. He thought Mara had hidden Charles’s ledger there.”
“And you married me for access?”
“No.”
Ethan laughed once.
It sounded broken.
Celeste looked at him desperately.
“I was supposed to get close. That’s true. But I fell in love with you.”
Leah wanted to reject the sentence automatically.
But people could begin with a lie and later feel something real.
That was what made betrayal difficult.
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“The will wasn’t my idea.”
“Whose?”
“Grant’s.”
“Why?”
“Because he thinks the original ledger can still destroy him.”
Ethan frowned.
“What does my will have to do with a ledger?”
Celeste looked toward Leah.
“Because Mara didn’t leave the ledger to Ethan.”
Leah’s stomach tightened.
“She left it to me?”
Celeste whispered, “Grant thinks she did.”
Then somewhere upstairs, glass shattered.
Everyone froze.
Leah looked toward the ceiling.
May you like
Her bedroom.
Someone was inside it.
