“We tried,” the surgeon replied, “but it was lodged too deep. We had to treat it conservatively. Didn’t Dr. Sutton explain this to you?”
Celeste’s eyes widened in shock. She turned to head back to the manor–but just then, her phone vibrated.
A subordinate’s voice came through the line, panicked:
“Bad news, Ms. Hartwell! He’s dead!”
Celeste was frantic as they rushed the patient to the hospital again. She tried to reach Dr. Sutton, but he was nowhere to be found.
When she finally got through to him, his response left her cold.
“I’ve been doing research abroad. I never went to Boston.”
Her mind went blank.
The phone slipped from her hand and crashed to the ground.
When she snapped out of it, her voice was sharp:
“Keep an eye on Damien–but don’t alert him.”
The surgeon stepped out of the operating room again. She rushed forward, desperate for good news.
But the surgeon only shook his head.
“It was too late.”
Celeste nearly collapsed.
Then the surgeon held out a transparent sealed bag.
“We removed the object from the patient’s heart, just as he requested. He said it was important to you.”
Inside was half of a rusted razor blade.
Celeste’s hands trembled.
“That… That’s…”
The surgeon added quietly, “He left a suicide note. It was sewn inside his shirt.”
He handed her a blood–stained paper.
The first lines read:
[If you’re reading this, I’ve already died. There’s something in my heart that must be removed.]
[It matters to Celeste–and to my brother, Alden.]
1/2 85.0%
22:19 Tue, 5 Aug
[I probably won’t live long enough to testify. That night, this is what really happened…]
Quietly, Celeste kept everything from Damien.
66%
The police matched the blade fragment to the broken knife. Acting on the letter’s contents, they returned to the crime scene–and sure enough, more evidence turned up.
Sierra was arrested at the airport.
As for Damien–he remained unaware. Celeste’s people shadowed his every move, but he had no idea.
At the police station, Celeste sat alone on a bench as people bustled around her. The surgeon’s words echoed in her ears:
“Removing the blade was basically suicide.
Not removing it might’ve given him a slim chance… but he could’ve died at any moment.”
Now, she understood. Gideon hadn’t lost control. He had made a choice.
He left behind all the proof she needed.
But instead of feeling victorious–she felt nothing at all.
Later, Celeste visited a secluded villa she had arranged for Damien.
He hadn’t noticed anything unusual. He didn’t even realize she was there–nor that the person he was messaging wasn’t his sister.
He sent a voice recording:
“I hope you’re settling in abroad. Everything’s fine back home.”
“Celeste went ballistic when that show got interrupted earlier.”
“And now that Gideon’s really dead… no one’s going to expose us.”
“Once I get enough out of Celeste, I’ll come join you.”
Celeste’s fingers clenched tightly around the phone,
So that injury… It was all a lie.
Damien and Sierra weren’t strangers.
They were siblings.
And the one truly connected to Sierra… was never her husband.
It was Damien all along.
Chapter 9
