The Woman Behind the Curtain
Chapter 04 - The Woman Behind the Curtain
Celeste had spent the entire wedding playing the gracious mother of the groom. She had adjusted Olivia’s veil, praised her mother’s gown, and cried during the vows. Now her chair was empty, and so was Richard’s private briefcase.
The police arrived as security locked the ballroom doors. Officers found Marcus in the kitchen trying to burn a folder over a catering flame. Inside were copies of the forged authorization, the false medical assessment, and payment records showing that Celeste had financed Cross Meridian Partners.
But the original trust amendment was missing.
Without it, Julian’s lawyers could claim Olivia’s protective transfer was invalid and keep the company tied up in court for years. Celeste had known exactly which document mattered most.
Olivia remembered seeing a flash of silver beneath Celeste’s shawl after the champagne tower fell. She had not been escaping through the ballroom. She had entered the hotel’s private bridal suite, where Olivia’s mother’s personal letters were stored for the ceremony.
Olivia, Richard, and an officer hurried upstairs. They found Celeste beside the fireplace, holding the original trust amendment over the flames.
Richard begged her to stop.
Celeste laughed. Years earlier, her husband’s company had collapsed after losing a contract to Bennett Holdings. She had raised Julian to believe the Bennett family had stolen their future. The marriage was her revenge: take the company, destroy Olivia’s credibility, and force Richard to watch his legacy disappear.
“You taught your son to marry a woman he hated,” Olivia said.
“I taught him to win.”
Celeste dropped the document.
Olivia lunged. The officer pulled Celeste back while Richard smothered the flames with a cushion. The bottom edge of the amendment burned, but the signatures and filing number survived. Thomas confirmed that a certified digital copy also existed with the court.
For the first time that night, Olivia allowed herself to breathe.
Julian, Marcus, and Celeste were arrested before dawn. The doctor who signed the false assessment agreed to cooperate. The hotel footage had not been destroyed after all; Marcus had only disabled the public system. A backup server recorded him tampering with the champagne and stealing Richard’s access card.
Outside, reporters waited beneath flashing lights.
Richard asked Olivia to let the family’s public-relations team handle the story.
May you like
She shook her head. “Silence is what made them believe they could do this.”
Still wearing her torn wedding dress, Olivia walked toward the cameras to tell the truth herself.
