Chapter 3: The Woman Who Knew Too Much
“I know you found it.””
Celeste’s voice echoed through the clock tower.
Calm.
Certain.
Not the voice of someone searching.
The voice of someone who already knew the answer.
I held my breath, clutching the documents against my chest.
Beside me, Silas stood completely still.
The old man who had spent decades around death, secrets, and the darkest corners of the Hale family suddenly looked like he was facing something far more dangerous than a grave.
A person who knew exactly where to strike.
“Adrian,” Celeste called again from below.
Her heels clicked against the wooden stairs.
“She’s coming up,” I whispered.
Silas nodded.
“Then you need to listen carefully.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“Your father didn’t hide these documents because he didn’t trust you.””
He pointed at the papers in my hands.
“He hid them because he knew someone would try to take them.””
The footsteps continued.
Closer.
“You need to leave.””
I shook my head.
“I’m not running.””
Silas looked at me sharply.
“Adrian—”
“My whole life, everyone has been making decisions for me.””
I looked toward the staircase.
“My father pushed me away. Celeste threw me out. Everyone keeps telling me what I can and cannot know.””
My grip tightened.
“I’m done walking away.””
For a moment, Silas studied me.
Then something changed in his expression.
Not fear.
Respect.
“Your father would have been proud to hear that.””
A floorboard creaked below.
Celeste was almost there.
Silas pointed toward the clock mechanism.
“Behind the gears.””
I looked at the enormous machine.
“There’s no space.””
“There is.””
He moved quickly to a section of the wall and pushed against a hidden latch.
A narrow opening appeared.
A passage.
I stared.
“How many secrets does this house have?””
Silas gave a sad smile.
“More than you know.””
Before I could answer, Celeste reached the top of the stairs.
“Adrian.””
Her voice was softer now.
Almost gentle.
I stepped away from the opening.
Celeste entered the clock room.
She looked exactly the same as she had outside.
Perfect black dress.
Perfect hair.
Perfect composure.
But now I saw what I hadn’t noticed before.
Her eyes.
They weren’t angry.
They were calculating.
She looked around the room.
Then at Silas.
Then at me.
“You always were curious,” she said.
I stared at her.
“You knew about this room.””
She didn’t deny it.
“I knew your father had secrets.””
“You knew about the compartment.””
A small pause.
“Yes.””
The answer shocked me.
“You admit it?””
Celeste walked toward the center of the room.
“Why wouldn’t I?””
“Because you lied to me.””
She looked confused.
“About what?””
“About my inheritance.””
Her expression changed slightly.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“You found the papers.””
I didn’t respond.
Celeste sighed.
“Adrian, you don’t understand what you’re holding.””
“Then explain it.””
She looked at the documents.
“That isn’t an inheritance.””
I remembered my father’s recording.
Evidence.
My father’s exact words.
I felt my pulse increase.
“Funny,” I said.
“My father said the same thing.””
For the first time, Celeste’s confidence cracked.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
“You listened to the recording.””
I stared.
“How did you know there was a recording?””
Silence.
The room became painfully quiet.
Silas moved slightly closer to me.
Celeste realized her mistake.
She recovered quickly.
“Your father was paranoid.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“He was afraid.””
Her face hardened.
“You always thought you knew him better than everyone else.””
“I was his son.””
“And I was his wife.””
The words came out sharper than she intended.
For the first time, emotion appeared.
Not sadness.
Anger.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed for that man.””
I stepped closer.
“Then tell me.””
She looked away.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because you won’t believe me.””
“Try.””
Celeste laughed quietly.
A cold, humorless sound.
“Your father built an empire by trusting no one. Not even me.””
I watched her carefully.
“But he trusted you enough to marry you.””
“Marriage doesn’t mean trust.””
The answer came instantly.
Too instantly.
I glanced at Silas.
He looked down.
Like he already knew.
“Who are you, Celeste?””
Her eyes met mine.
“That’s the question you should be asking your father.””
The words confused me.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
She walked toward the window overlooking the estate.
“Jonathan Hale spent years pretending he was protecting people. But sometimes protecting people means controlling them.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“No.””
She turned back.
“It’s a warning.””
My father’s voice still echoed in my head.
Celeste Hale is not who she claims to be.
But now Celeste was standing in front of me, telling me my father was the one hiding things.
Someone was lying.
The question was who.
“Why did you throw me out?”” I asked.
Celeste’s expression softened slightly.
“Because I wanted you to leave before you found this.””
“Why?””
“Because once you knew the truth, there would be no going back.””
A chill moved through me.
“What truth?””
Celeste looked at the recorder.
Then at the documents.
“Your father wasn’t just hiding money.””
She stepped closer.
“He was hiding what happened ten years ago.””
The words hit me.
Ten years.
The message.
CLOCK TOWER.
TEN YEARS.
“What happened?””
Celeste looked at Silas.
The old man’s face became unreadable.
Then she said:
“Your father destroyed someone’s life.””
I stared.
“Whose?””
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached into her purse.
Silas immediately moved.
“Don’t.””
Celeste stopped.
Slowly, she pulled out a small photograph.
She held it between two fingers.
“Do you recognize him?””
I looked.
The photograph showed my father.
Younger.
Standing outside Hale Industries.
Beside him was another man.
A Black man in his forties.
Someone I had never seen before.
“Who is that?””
Celeste looked directly at me.
“That is Marcus Reed.””
The name meant nothing.
But the way she said it told me everything.
“Why should I care?””
“Because ten years ago, Marcus Reed disappeared.””
The clock continued ticking above us.
“And your father was the last person to see him alive.””
My stomach dropped.
“No.””
Celeste watched my reaction.
“You want to believe your father was a good man.””
“He was.””
“Maybe.””
She placed the photograph on the table.
“But good people can still do terrible things.””
I looked at Silas.
“Is this true?””
The old man didn’t answer.
That silence hurt more than any confession.
“Silas.””
He finally spoke.
“Your father made mistakes.””
“Mistakes?””
His eyes met mine.
“Some mistakes follow families for generations.””
A sudden sound interrupted us.
A phone ringing.
Not mine.
Not Celeste’s.
The recorder.
The device my father left behind.
It turned on by itself.
Static filled the room.
Then a new recording began.
My father’s voice.
But this time, he sounded different.
Panicked.
“Adrian, if Celeste is with you, listen carefully…”
Celeste froze.
My eyes locked onto her.
My father continued.
“She will tell you I betrayed Marcus.””
The room went silent.
Celeste’s face changed.
“But she won’t tell you the truth.””
The recording crackled.
“She was the reason he disappeared.””
Celeste whispered:
“No.””
My father’s voice continued.
“And Adrian…”
A pause.
A long one.
Like he was struggling to say the words.
“If you are hearing this, it means I failed to protect you.””
My heart pounded.
“Your mother’s death was not an accident.””
Everything stopped.
The clock.
The room.
My breathing.
My mother.
A subject my father never discussed.
A wound I had carried since childhood.
The recording continued.
“Someone in this house knows what really happened that night.””
The speaker crackled.
Then came the final words.
“Trust no one.””
The recording ended.
No one moved.
Then Celeste slowly looked at me.
And for the first time since I met her…
She looked afraid.
Not of me.
Of what I had just learned.
Because somewhere inside Hale Manor was a secret that had survived ten years.
And my father had just revealed the first piece.
May you like
My mother’s death.
Was a lie.
