The Woman at the Lake House
Chapter 15 - The Woman at the Lake House
Thomas urged Vivienne to cancel the board meeting, but she refused. “If there is another traitor, fear will make them visible.”
Elena stayed at the hospital with Amelia until dawn. Her mother spoke more clearly when the room was quiet. She remembered Gregory arguing with someone after the crash, and Regina saying that the baby would solve the succession problem.
“What problem?” Elena asked.
“Your grandfather’s trust,” Amelia said. “If I had a child, control passed through my line. Gregory wanted the company sold in pieces. Regina wanted Celeste raised as the only granddaughter.”
Celeste arrived under attorney supervision. She stood outside the room for several minutes before entering.
Amelia recoiled at first because Celeste resembled Regina. Elena stepped between them.
“She did not know what happened to you,” Elena said, though she was not entirely certain.
Celeste’s eyes fell to the floor. “I knew there were secrets. I did not know this.”
She removed the diamond tiara from a velvet bag and placed it on the table. “My mother told me it belonged to the future of the family. I think it belonged to the lie.”
Amelia touched the tiara. “It was mine.”
Celeste began to cry. “I am sorry I hit her.”
Elena waited.
“And I leaked the reporter card,” Celeste continued. “My mother said if I made Elena look like a fraud, the board would reject her.”
“Why are you telling us now?”
“Because she sent the note.”
Celeste produced messages from Regina instructing a board member named Everett Sloan to frighten Amelia into silence. Sloan had served as Hawthorne’s chief operating officer for fifteen years and was scheduled to chair the emergency meeting.
Thomas called federal agents.
Sloan was not at home.
May you like
At Hawthorne headquarters, security footage showed him entering the executive floor before sunrise with a locked metal case.
Vivienne was already on her way there.
