Chapter 3 - THE FIANCÉE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
“Where did you get that?”
Celeste's eyes were fixed on the paper in Grace's hand.
Grace immediately slipped it into her apron pocket.
“What?”
“The document.”
Grace said nothing.
Celeste stepped into the kitchen.
Her heels clicked against the marble floor.
“You know, Grace, I've always admired how quiet you are.”
Grace looked at her.
“Thank you.”
“But quiet people notice things.”
Celeste stopped a few feet away.
“They hear conversations. They see documents. They learn secrets.”
Grace's heartbeat accelerated.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Celeste smiled.
“I think you do.”
For four years, Grace had lived by one rule.
Never panic.
Panic made people careless.
Carelessness got people hurt.
So she kept her face expressionless.
“I have work to finish.”
Celeste laughed softly.
“Still pretending?”
Grace froze.
“Pretending what?”
“That you're just a housekeeper.”
Celeste leaned against the counter.
“I know who you are.”
Grace's blood turned cold.
“You're Grace Bennett.”
Celeste's voice dropped.
“Or should I call you Mrs. Noah Reed?”
Grace's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
Celeste saw it.
That tiny reaction was enough.
“You knew,” Grace whispered.
“I suspected.”
Celeste looked toward the hallway.
“Does Owen know?”
Grace didn't answer.
Celeste stepped closer.
“Does he know that his company destroyed your husband's reputation?”
“No.”
“Does he know that you believe Noah was innocent?”
Grace's eyes hardened.
“I don't believe it.”
Celeste smiled.
“You know it.”
Grace stared at her.
Celeste lowered her voice.
“You should have stayed invisible.”
“Why?”
“Because Owen is about to marry me.”
Grace said nothing.
“And I don't intend to let a dead man's widow destroy my family.”
Grace suddenly understood.
This wasn't about Celeste's jealousy.
It was about Graham.
About Volterra.
About whatever Noah had discovered.
“What did your father do?”
Celeste's face changed.
Only for a second.
But Grace saw it.
Fear.
Then the mask returned.
“You're making accusations you can't prove.”
“I have a letter.”
Celeste's eyes flickered.
“A letter from a dead man isn't evidence.”
“It will be.”
Celeste leaned closer.
“You don't understand what you're dealing with.”
“I understand enough.”
“You think Owen will believe you?”
Grace looked toward the staircase.
“He might.”
Celeste smiled.
“Then perhaps you should ask yourself what happens to your daughter if he doesn't.”
Grace's face went pale.
“Don't threaten Ivy.”
“I didn't.”
“You mentioned her.”
“I mentioned reality.”
Grace stepped forward.
“You stay away from my daughter.”
For the first time, Celeste's smile disappeared.
Then footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Owen.
Both women turned.
He entered the kitchen.
“What are you two doing?”
Celeste immediately smiled.
“Nothing.”
Grace looked at Owen.
She wanted to tell him.
Everything.
Noah.
The letter.
Graham.
Volterra.
But something stopped her.
She didn't know who she could trust.
Owen noticed the tension.
“Is something wrong?”
Grace opened her mouth.
Celeste answered first.
“Grace was just telling me Ivy's project was ruined.”
Owen looked at Grace.
“Is that all?”
Grace hesitated.
“Yes.”
Owen knew she was lying.
He had learned to read people in boardrooms where a single expression could mean millions of dollars.
Grace was hiding something.
But before he could ask, his phone rang.
Martin.
Owen answered.
“Tell me you found something.”
“We did.”
Martin's voice was serious.
“We found an archived Volterra server.”
Owen straightened.
“And?”
“There are deleted files.”
“How many?”
“Hundreds.”
“Can you recover them?”
“We already did.”
Owen looked at Graham's name on the document in his hand.
“What do they show?”
Martin paused.
“Someone changed the thermal safety data three days before the warehouse fire.”
Owen closed his eyes.
“Who?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Find out.”
“We're trying.”
Owen hung up.
Celeste watched him carefully.
“What happened?”
Owen looked at her.
“Work.”
She smiled.
“Anything serious?”
“Maybe.”
He walked away.
Celeste waited until he disappeared.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message from Graham.
He knows.
Celeste stared at it.
Another message appeared.
Destroy the archive. Tonight.
Her hands began to tremble.
---
That night, Grace sat beside Ivy.
The letter from Noah lay hidden beneath her pillow.
She read it again.
Project Lantern.
Engineering archive.
Owen Calloway.
She didn't know whether Noah had been trying to save Owen or expose him.
But she knew one thing.
Noah had believed Owen was innocent.
And if that was true, then Graham Mercer had lied to everyone.
Grace stood.
She walked to the window.
Below, Owen was standing alone on the terrace.
He looked up at the night sky.
For a moment, Grace wondered what would happen if she told him everything.
Then she saw Celeste enter the room behind him.
She put a hand on his shoulder.
Grace stepped away from the window.
She had survived four years without justice.
She could survive one more night.
But she couldn't know that by morning, someone would break into the Volterra archive.
And someone would leave behind a single message.
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NOAH WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO KNEW.
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