Chapter 10
Bianca admitted Sofia knew Celeste was alive.
Not immediately.
Six months before Sofia died.
“How?”
“She followed Marcus.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
I almost smiled.
Sofia always had better instincts than me when it came to people.
“What did she find?”
“Celeste.”
“Where?”
“At the Charleston house.”
“What happened?”
Bianca looked at Marcus.
He did not rescue her.
Good.
“Sofia confronted her.”
“And?”
“They argued.”
“About Lucy?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
Bianca’s jaw tightened.
“Celeste said Lucy would eventually become a problem.”
My hands became still.
“A three-year-old?”
“She was one then.”
Worse.
“What kind of problem?”
“The shares.”
Of course.
Bianca continued.
“Sofia told her if anybody ever tried to use Lucy, she would expose everything.”
“Everything meaning?”
“Celeste. The council. The men backing Marcus.”
I looked at him.
His face was gray.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I told Celeste to stop.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
There.
Pattern again.
Men claiming opposition while staying inside the plan.
I looked at Bianca.
“What happened after Sofia threatened exposure?”
She said nothing.
“Bianca.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
Specific denial.
I noticed.
“What did you do?”
Silence.
Marcus whispered:
“Tell him.”
Bianca snapped.
“You’re pathetic.”
He stared back.
“Tell him.”
Her composure cracked.
“I visited the clinic.”
My chest tightened.
“When?”
“The night before Sofia got worse.”
The room disappeared around me.
“What did you say to her?”
“She was already sick.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Bianca looked at me.
“I told her if she exposed Celeste, Marcus would lose everything.”
“And?”
“She laughed.”
I could hear Sofia doing it.
That soft laugh when somebody threatened her with something she did not value.
Bianca’s eyes hardened at the memory.
“She said Marcus could lose everything and finally learn what he deserved.”
I almost smiled.
Yes.
That was Sofia.
“What did you do?”
Bianca looked away.
“I told the nurse Sofia wanted no visitors after that.”
My breathing slowed.
“You isolated her.”
“For one night.”
“Why?”
“So Celeste could speak to her.”
May you like
Silence.
Celeste had entered Sofia’s clinic room the night before my wife’s condition suddenly worsened.
