Chapter 14
Celeste apologized to Erin.
Badly.
“I shouldn’t have poured the champagne.”
Erin stared.
That was all Celeste offered.
Not the wager.
Not the withheld money.
Not the applications.
Not the planned video.
Just the part everyone saw.
Erin looked at me.
I said nothing.
Her conversation.
Celeste tried again.
“I was drunk.”
Erin shook her head.
“No.”
Celeste frowned.
“What?”
“You knew my sister needed treatment before you started drinking.”
Silence.
“You knew I applied for help.”
Nothing.
“You knew my father’s name.”
Celeste’s face tightened.
Erin continued.
“You picked me because you thought I’d do anything.”
Celeste looked away.
“Yes.”
Finally.
“And?”
Erin asked.
Celeste stared.
“What?”
“And what did you think that made me?”
The room went quiet.
Celeste struggled.
“Desperate.”
Erin nodded.
“I was.”
Then:
“That didn’t make me funny.”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
There it was.
The heart of it.
Poverty had become entertainment because Celeste never imagined desperation happening to someone whose dignity mattered.
She whispered:
“No.”
Erin continued.
“You could have given me the money.”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“You could have ignored me.”
“Yes.”
“You chose to make me perform for it.”
“Yes.”
Erin nodded.
Conversation finished.
Celeste looked toward me.
Maybe she expected punishment.
I had already decided.
She lost all access through the Vaughn family to Rinaldi events, internal gatherings, charity functions, and family-controlled opportunities.
Not because I needed revenge for the kiss.
Because she used vulnerable people as amusement and actively helped protect her father’s system.
She stared.
“You’re banning me over a waitress?”
I looked at Erin.
Then back at Celeste.
“No.”
My voice stayed quiet.
May you like
“I’m removing you because you still think ‘waitress’ makes the sentence smaller.”
That was the last thing I said to her.
