Chapter 5 — Celeste’s First Betrayal
Chapter 5 — Celeste’s First Betrayal
The cry came through the darkness.
Thin.
Desperate.
Alive.
Maren stopped breathing.
"A baby."
Her father's face hardened.
"Yes."
Evelyn grabbed Maren's hand.
"Don't panic."
"How can you tell me not to panic when you just told me I had a brother?"
The emergency lights flickered back on.
Daniel was already speaking into his radio.
"Seal the hospital. Nobody enters or leaves."
Marcus moved toward the archive door.
"We don't have time."
Maren stared at him.
"Where is my brother?"
Marcus stopped.
"I don't know."
"You said he was alive."
"I said you had a brother."
"That's not an answer."
Her father looked at Evelyn.
She lowered her eyes.
Maren's voice shook.
"Mom."
Evelyn finally spoke.
"He was born three minutes before you."
Maren stared.
"Three minutes?"
"You were twins."
The room seemed to shrink around her.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because he was taken."
"By whom?"
Evelyn looked toward Marcus.
"Adrian."
Maren's heart pounded.
"My uncle?"
Marcus nodded.
"He believed your brother was the only person who could eventually challenge the trust."
"Why?"
"Because your grandfather's original inheritance agreement included both children."
Maren whispered:
"So he took my brother."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"We don't know."
Maren looked at the hospital report.
"Then why is there a baby there now?"
Marcus's expression changed.
"Because someone found him."
At Beacon Crest Medical Center, the neonatal corridor was under lockdown.
Nurses stood behind secured doors.
Security officers moved through the halls.
A single incubator sat beneath a warmer.
Inside was a newborn boy.
His tiny fists moved beneath the blanket.
A nurse whispered:
"He's stable."
Another nurse looked toward the door.
"Who brought him?"
"No one knows."
"What does his chart say?"
The nurse hesitated.
Then:
"Whitaker."
Silence.
"Which Whitaker?"
She turned the screen.
PATIENT: LUCA WHITAKER.
The other nurse stared.
"Luca?"
"Yes."
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because Maren Whitaker has no surviving siblings."
The nurse looked at the infant.
"Apparently, she does."
Celeste sat in a police interview room.
Her wrists were cuffed.
Her mascara had run down her cheeks.
But she wasn't crying anymore.
A detective placed a photograph on the table.
"Recognize him?"
Celeste stared.
It was Reed.
Then another photograph.
Richard Mercer.
Then Adrian Whitaker.
Celeste looked away.
"You know all three."
"No."
"You've been receiving payments from Reed for three years."
"No."
"You transferred money to offshore accounts."
"I was helping him."
"Helping him do what?"
Celeste said nothing.
The detective leaned forward.
"Where is the child?"
Celeste's face changed.
"What child?"
"The one taken from the hospital."
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm telling you the truth."
The detective placed another photograph on the table.
Celeste stared.
A newborn.
A small silver bracelet around his wrist.
Her face went white.
"Where did you get that?"
"Answer the question."
Celeste swallowed.
"I don't know."
The detective watched her carefully.
"Then why are you afraid?"
Celeste lowered her eyes.
Because she knew.
She had seen that bracelet before.
Twenty-seven years ago.
The first time Celeste betrayed Maren happened long before Reed.
Before the affair.
Before the money.
Before the poison.
It happened when they were children.
Maren was nine.
Celeste was six.
Their father had taken them to the family estate.
Maren had discovered a hidden room behind the library.
Inside was an old wooden box.
She opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
And two silver bracelets.
One had her name engraved.
The other had no name.
Maren picked it up.
"Maybe it's yours."
Celeste shook her head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Dad said I wasn't supposed to touch it."
Maren frowned.
"Why would he say that?"
Celeste didn't know.
But she remembered something.
The night before, she'd heard her parents arguing.
Her father had said:
"They'll come for the children."
Her mother had cried.
And someone had said:
"Then we'll have to choose."
Celeste never forgot those words.
Choose.
One child.
Or the other.
That night, Celeste made her first decision.
She took the unnamed bracelet.
And hid it.
Back in the present, Celeste stared at the photograph.
The detective waited.
"Do you know him?"
Celeste whispered:
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
She closed her eyes.
"Luca."
"Who is Luca?"
"My brother."
The detective froze.
"You have a brother?"
Celeste nodded.
"His name was supposed to be Gabriel."
"Supposed to be?"
"That's what my father called him."
"Where has he been?"
Celeste looked up.
"Missing."
"For how long?"
"Twenty-seven years."
Maren sat in the hospital conference room.
Her hands trembled.
"Twenty-seven years."
Marcus nodded.
"I searched for him."
"You said Adrian took him."
"He did."
"Why didn't you find him?"
"Because Adrian didn't keep him."
Maren stared.
"Then who did?"
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn whispered:
"Celeste."
Maren's blood went cold.
"My sister?"
"She was six."
"She couldn't have taken a baby."
"She didn't."
"Then what?"
Evelyn looked away.
"She gave him away."
Maren stopped breathing.
"What?"
"Celeste knew where he was."
"For twenty-seven years?"
"Yes."
"And she never told me?"
"No."
Maren's face hardened.
"Why?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"Because she believed if you found him, you would inherit everything."
Maren laughed.
It was a broken sound.
"So she betrayed me."
"She was a child."
"She knew."
"She was manipulated."
"She still knew."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Your sister was terrified."
"Of what?"
"Of Adrian."
Maren looked at him.
"Then why work with him?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Maren's voice rose.
"Why?"
"Because Adrian convinced her that if she helped him, he would return your brother."
Maren stared.
"And did he?"
"No."
"Then what did he do?"
"He used her."
"How?"
Marcus looked toward Daniel.
"Show her."
Daniel opened a file.
Inside were photographs of Celeste.
Older.
Teenage.
Then twenty.
Then twenty-five.
Then thirty.
Always beside different people.
Different cities.
Different names.
Maren stared.
"She was moving."
"Every few years."
"Why?"
"Adrian kept changing the location of your brother."
Maren whispered:
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he didn't want Celeste to find him."
"But she knew."
"She knew pieces."
Maren looked at the photographs.
"Where is she now?"
"In custody."
Maren looked at the door.
"I want to see her."
The interrogation room was cold.
Celeste sat on one side.
Maren entered alone.
Celeste looked up.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Celeste whispered:
"You know."
Maren pulled out the chair.
"Tell me everything."
Celeste began crying.
"I was six."
Maren's voice remained cold.
"So was I."
"I didn't understand."
"You understood enough to hide the bracelet."
Celeste froze.
"You remember?"
"Yes."
"I thought you forgot."
"I remember everything."
Celeste looked down.
"Adrian told me you would take everything."
"I was nine."
"I know."
"He told you that?"
"Yes."
"Why would you believe him?"
"Because he showed me documents."
"What documents?"
"Your grandfather's will."
Maren leaned forward.
"What did it say?"
"That only one child could inherit."
Maren frowned.
"That's a lie."
"I know that now."
"You believed him for twenty-seven years?"
Celeste wiped her eyes.
"I was six."
Maren stared at her.
"And then you became an adult."
Celeste looked away.
"You could have told me."
"I tried."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
Maren's expression changed.
"What?"
"The night you found the messages."
"You didn't try to tell me."
"I was going to."
"But you chose Reed."
Celeste began shaking.
"Because Reed threatened me."
"With what?"
"He said he'd kill Luca."
Maren froze.
"Where is he?"
Celeste closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
"Where is my brother?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
Maren slammed her palm onto the table.
"Twenty-seven years!"
Celeste flinched.
"Twenty-seven years of lies!"
"I know."
"You watched me believe I was alone."
"I know."
"You let me think you were the only person I had."
"I know."
"You slept with my husband."
Celeste covered her face.
"I know."
Maren stared at her.
"Why did you wear my robe?"
Celeste looked up.
"What?"
"The night I came home and found you downstairs."
Her face collapsed.
"You remember."
"I remember everything."
Celeste whispered:
"I wanted to know what it felt like."
"What?"
"To be you."
Maren stared.
"That was the first time I realized I hated you."
Maren's eyes hardened.
"No."
Celeste shook her head.
"I didn't hate you because you were cruel."
"I hated you because everyone loved you."
"You had everything."
Maren whispered:
"You had me."
Celeste looked away.
"And I destroyed that too."
The door opened.
Daniel entered.
"Maren."
She turned.
"What?"
"We found something."
"What?"
"A recording from the hospital."
"Of what?"
"Celeste."
Maren frowned.
"She was seen entering the neonatal ward."
"Why?"
Daniel hesitated.
"She wasn't alone."
He handed Maren a tablet.
The video showed Celeste walking down the corridor.
Behind her was a man.
Maren stared.
"Who is that?"
Daniel zoomed in.
The man's face appeared.
Maren's blood ran cold.
"Reed."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Maren looked again.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
But older.
Much older.
Marcus entered the room.
The moment he saw the screen, he stopped.
"That's Richard Mercer."
Maren stared.
"But Richard is dead."
Marcus's face became grim.
"Apparently not."
The hospital alarm sounded.
Everyone froze.
A nurse's voice came over the intercom.
"Security breach in neonatal wing."
Maren's heart stopped.
"Luca."
Marcus grabbed her wheelchair.
"We're going."
They raced through the corridor.
Security officers were already moving.
A nurse ran toward them.
"Someone entered the nursery."
"Where's the baby?"
"He's gone."
Maren's face went white.
"No."
They reached the room.
The incubator was empty.
The blanket remained.
The bracelet lay on the floor.
Maren picked it up.
Engraved across the silver was one word.
GABRIEL.
She stared at it.
Her brother had been there.
Alive.
Then another object caught her attention.
A folded piece of paper sat beneath the blanket.
She opened it.
Three words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
Maren turned.
Evelyn was standing in the doorway.
Her face was devastated.
Maren whispered:
"Where is he?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
"Mom."
"I don't know."
"You do."
"No."
"You've always known."
Evelyn began crying.
Maren pushed herself closer.
"Where is my brother?"
Evelyn finally whispered:
"He's not the child they took tonight."
Maren froze.
"What?"
"Gabriel was never missing."
"Then where has he been?"
Evelyn looked toward Marcus.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Maren's voice trembled.
"Tell me."
Evelyn whispered:
"He's been living under another name."
"What name?"
She looked directly at Maren.
"Reed Whitaker."
The room went silent.
Maren stared.
"No."
Evelyn nodded.
"Reed isn't Reed."
Maren's face drained of color.
"Then who is my husband?"
Evelyn whispered:
"Your brother."
Maren couldn't breathe.
Behind them, Daniel dropped his tablet.
Marcus looked toward the empty incubator.
And somewhere beneath the hospital, a hidden security camera turned toward the darkness.
A man's voice whispered:
"She finally knows."
Then another voice answered:
May you like
"Good."
"Now bring her to me."
