What the hell was she doing?
Celeste pushed the door open.
Inside, Damien was still tapping away on his phone. He froze mid–text. The smile on his face vanished the moment he saw the phone in her hand–his sister’s phone.
Color drained from his face.
It didn’t take long before he was tied to a chair in the basement, his face battered and blood dripping from his mouth.
“Where’s my sister?” he snarled. “What did you do to her?”
Smack!
A hard slap landed on his cheek, snapping his head sideways. Blood mixed with tears as he stared up at Celeste, who planted a foot on his head, pressing him down.
“Didn’t you say someone had you beaten within an inch of your life?” she asked coldly. “Funny. You didn’t seem to be bleeding that badly in the hospital.”
Fear flickered in Damien’s eyes. “What… what are you trying to do?”
Celeste gave a humorless smile and waved her hand. A dozen men entered the basement. Her brother was among them, hefting a mace.
“If you’re going to fake an injury,” she said, “you might as well go all in. A little fake blood doesn’t cut it.”
She knelt beside him.
“That private medical team? They’ve already sold you out. You should’ve gone for the real thing. So let me help you.”
“No! Celeste–this is a crime! You’ll go to jail!”
She chuckled. “I’m not afraid of dying. Why would I be afraid of prison?”
He blinked, stunned. “What… what do you mean?”
Her smile deepened, her eyes filled with a strange light.
“Stop joking, Celeste…” he whispered, trying to laugh it off.
She unsheathed a dagger and held it against his chin.
“You think I’m joking?” she said softly. “Once I’m done with you, I’ll go straight to my husband’s grave and join him.”
Damien’s face twisted in horror. The madness in her eyes told him this wasn’t a bluff. Not this time.
He screamed. But the basement was soundproof–no one could hear him from above.
Celeste turned, stepped out, and closed the door behind her.
She let the men in.
A day later, Damien was barely breathing.
Chapter 0
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22:20 Tue, 5 Aug
That was enough.
ས . 66%
She went to the hospital, terminated the pregnancy, then headed straight for Gideon’s
grave.
Kneeling there, she cleaned his tombstone over and over again, her fingers trembling.
She tried to convince herself it had all been for justice–for her brother.
But had it really?
Did she really have to destroy the man she loved to protect the memory of another?
Had she gone too far?
Most of all… why hadn’t she just asked him what had happened?
Why hadn’t she investigated what changed him?
Why was her instinct always to push–to provoke–to rip him open instead of listening?
From school uniforms to wedding vows, they’d weathered so many storms. And yet… she’d led them both to ruin.
She collapsed at the base of his gravestone, her tears soaking into the earth.
And when she finally saw her lover and brother again in her mind’s eye…
She whispered only one thing:
“I’m sorry.”
With that, she closed her eyes… and never opened them again.
Chapter 10
