Chapter 9 - The Fall of Celeste
Two weeks later.
The high-end café on Madison Avenue was filled with the afternoon chatter of Manhattan's elite.
Celeste Marr sat at a small corner table, wearing a dark coat and large sunglasses, frantically typing on her phone. Over the past fourteen days, her life had completely collapsed.
She had been fired from Vale Meridian for gross professional misconduct and corporate embezzlement. Her name had been dragged through every major business publication in the country. Her professional reputation was completely incinerated, and no public relations firm in New York would return her calls.
The chair across from her was pulled back.
Celeste looked up quickly, expecting to see her lawyer.
Instead, I sat down across from her, holding a hot cup of black tea.
Celeste flinched, her hands shaking as she pulled off her sunglasses. "Claire... what are you doing here?"
"I came to deliver a message in person, Celeste," I said, taking a quiet sip of my tea.
"Look, Claire!" Celeste stammered, her voice high and defensive. "Adrian pursued me! He told me your marriage was over! He told me you were living separate lives and that you didn't care about his personal business!"
"I don't care about Adrian, Celeste," I said calmly. "He is an empty shell of a man who gets his validation from expensive watches and young women who believe his lies."
Celeste blinked, caught off guard by my response. "Then... why are you here?"
I pulled a thin blue folder from my handbag and laid it on the marble tabletop between us.
"Inside this folder is a civil lawsuit filed this morning by the Meridian Estate for recovery of stolen corporate assets," I explained softly. "We are suing you personally for four hundred and fifty thousand dollars—the exact amount of corporate funds Adrian spent on gifts, travel, and jewelry for you over the past eighteen months."
Celeste’s eyes widened in absolute terror. "I don't have four hundred thousand dollars! I spent it! The apartment I rented in Soho... the landlord evicted me yesterday!"
"Then I suggest you sell that gold bracelet on your wrist," I said, looking down at the sparkling jewelry Adrian had bought her in Napa. "Because if the full amount isn't returned to the corporate trust by the end of the month, my legal team will ensure you face the exact same criminal indictment as Adrian."
I stood up from the table, smoothing down my coat.
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"You thought you were climbing a ladder, Celeste," I said softly, looking down at her weeping face. "You didn't realize you were standing on a trapdoor."
I turned on my heel and walked out of the café into the crisp afternoon air, leaving her sitting alone at the table, surrounded by the ruins of her ambition.
