CHAPTER 1: The Woman Behind the Transfer
Celeste recovered before anyone else.
She turned toward the crowd, eyes shining as though she were the wounded one. “There has been a misunderstanding. Daniel asked me to handle wedding assets. The transfer was temporary.”
Daniel’s attorney, Priya Shah, stepped out from beside the stage. “There is no such instruction in writing, and the holding company was opened without Mr. Hart’s knowledge.”
Celeste looked at Daniel. “You brought a lawyer to our engagement celebration?”
“I brought a lawyer to a charity event after my finance director found a forged transfer.”
Naomi watched the exchange with the instincts of someone who had spent years separating panic from performance. Celeste was frightened, but not confused.
A man near the back of the crowd began moving toward the exit. He was tall, gray-haired, and wearing the badge of Victor Kane, chief executive of Hart Automotive’s largest competitor.
Naomi recognized him immediately.
“Why is Victor Kane here?” she asked.
Daniel followed her gaze. Victor vanished through the side gate.
Celeste folded her arms. “Half the industry is here.”
“Victor wasn’t invited,” Daniel said.
The event staff closed the gate, but he was already gone.
Priya handed Daniel a tablet. “There’s more. The holding company received a payment of four hundred thousand dollars from an overseas consulting firm. The payment arrived the day after the Vesper’s encrypted design files were copied.”
The crowd erupted with questions.
Celeste shook her head. “You think I stole your car and your designs? Based on what—one blurry camera?”
Daniel turned one of the courtyard screens toward her. The footage showed her entering his office, but the camera angle did not reveal what she had taken.
Celeste saw the weakness and smiled.
“Exactly,” she said. “You have nothing.”
Then Naomi’s phone vibrated.
An anonymous message contained a photograph of Celeste standing in a private parking garage beside Victor Kane. Between them was a silver case stamped with the Vesper project code.
The date was two nights earlier.
Naomi looked from the photograph to Celeste. “Mr. Hart may not have everything.”
She held up her phone.
Celeste’s expression changed again—this time not to fear, but fury.
“You,” she whispered.
Naomi had never met her before that evening.
Yet Celeste stared at her as though she had been waiting for this confrontation.
Daniel noticed.
“You know each other?”
“No,” Naomi said.
Celeste took one step backward.
Then she leaned toward Naomi’s microphone and spoke so softly only the three of them could hear.
“You should have ignored the envelope I sent you.”
Naomi’s breath caught.
The anonymous source who had warned her about stolen designs was standing in front of her.
And somehow, Celeste had just admitted it.
