Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Built Her Family on a LieCeleste Holloway had always believed that money could make the truth negotiable.
For decades, she had protected the family's reputation with expensive lawyers, private settlements, and carefully chosen public appearances.
She had buried scandals.
She had silenced employees.
She had convinced people that the Holloway name was synonymous with integrity.
But there was one mistake she had never managed to erase.
Daniel Mercer.
Twenty years earlier, Daniel had discovered irregular transfers inside Holloway Industries.
The money had been moved through shell companies controlled by Thomas Vale.
When Daniel confronted Richard, he expected an explanation.
Instead, he was offered a promotion and a generous bonus.
He refused.
Two weeks later, he was accused of stealing company funds.
Richard had been preparing to expose the fraud when Celeste intervened.
She had authorized the original transfers.
She had used the money to cover personal investments that had failed.
Thomas had helped disguise the transactions.
Daniel had become the convenient scapegoat.
His career collapsed.
His reputation disappeared.
His wife died shortly afterward, and his daughter grew up believing her father was a failure.
Celeste had considered the matter finished.
Until Grant married Lydia.
Now the past was coming back.
That evening, Celeste arrived at the estate without warning.
She found Grant in the library.
“Your investigator is asking questions about matters that were settled twenty years ago.”
Grant didn't offer her a seat.
“Were you involved?”
Celeste looked offended.
“I built this family.”
“That's not an answer.”
“I protected your father.”
“From what?”
She looked toward the window.
“From himself.”
Grant placed the photograph on the desk.
“Did you frame Daniel Mercer?”
Celeste's silence lasted several seconds.
Then she said, “Your father made decisions. I handled the consequences.”
“You destroyed an innocent man's life.”
“I protected your inheritance.”
“My inheritance?”
She stepped closer.
“You were supposed to inherit a stable company. A respectable family. Everything your father worked for.”
“And Lydia's father?”
“He was expendable.”
Grant's expression hardened.
“Get out.”
Celeste stared at him.
“You would throw away your mother for a woman you barely know?”
“I would throw away anyone who deliberately hurt her.”
Celeste laughed.
“Then you know nothing about that woman.”
Grant went still.
“What?”
Celeste reached into her purse and removed a folded document.
“Ask Lydia why her father contacted your father again six months before he died.”
Grant took the paper.
It was a copy of a bank transfer.
One hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
Paid from an account belonging to Daniel Mercer to an account connected to Grant's personal investment company.
The date was six months before Lydia's father died.
Grant stared at it.
“That account was inactive.”
“Apparently not.”
“Where did this come from?”
“Your father kept records. I kept copies.”
Grant's eyes lifted.
“Why would Daniel send me money?”
Celeste smiled without warmth.
“Perhaps your wife knows.”
When she left, Grant sat alone for nearly an hour.
He remembered the day he had arranged the marriage.
He had received a call from Daniel Mercer.
The old man had been desperate.
He had asked Grant to protect Lydia.
Grant had assumed the money was part of the arrangement.
Now he wondered whether Daniel had been trying to return something.
Something that belonged to Grant.
Meanwhile, Lydia was upstairs reading an old letter her father had left among his belongings.
She had brought the small box with her when she moved into the estate.
Inside were photographs, receipts, and a handwritten note.
She unfolded it.
My little girl,
If you ever meet Grant Holloway, don't let him believe his father was the only person who suffered because of what happened.
There is something I couldn't tell you while I was alive.
Your mother didn't die because she was sick.
Lydia stopped breathing.
Her mother had died when Lydia was seven.
The official explanation had been complications from an accident.
She read the next sentence.
She was trying to tell the truth.
A knock sounded.
Grant stood in the doorway.
“Lydia, we need to talk.”
She looked up, tears already gathering.
“So do I.”
She held out the letter.
Grant read it.
When he reached the final line, his face changed.
Then his phone rang.
The investigator.
“Sir, Thomas Vale has agreed to meet. But he has one condition.”
“What?”
“He wants Lydia there.”
Grant looked at his wife.
“Why?”
May you like
The investigator hesitated.
“He says he has proof that her mother was murdered.”
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