The Woman Who Came After the Fire
Chapter 03 - The Woman Who Came After the Fire
Celeste entered Julian’s life three months after Leah’s funeral.
She was the new director of donor relations at the Cross Children’s Foundation. She remembered Leah’s favorite charity, brought books for Amara, and handled reporters when Julian could barely speak.
Julian mistook competence for loyalty.
He later mistook loyalty for love.
Their wedding was scheduled for the following week.
The recordings showed that Celeste knew about Leah’s investigation before the fire.
She also knew something Julian did not.
Amara’s trust would activate on her eighth birthday.
That birthday was four days away.
Leah had placed fifty-one percent of the voting rights in Cross Children’s Medical Network into a protected trust for their daughter. Julian served only as temporary administrator.
If Amara remained under his legal guardianship, the shares would transfer to an independent child-benefit board.
But if a court declared Julian unfit and placed Amara under a family-appointed guardian, the guardian would control the votes until Amara turned eighteen.
Celeste intended to marry Julian, remove him, and become the guardian.
Julian asked Marcus to check the family court system.
A sealed petition had already been filed.
It described Julian as violent, unstable, and frequently absent.
Photographs showed Celeste on the marble floor with blood at her lip.
The images had been uploaded minutes after she fell.
“She planned for this,” Marcus said.
Celeste had arranged hidden cameras in the hallway. The angle showed her falling but not the moment she grabbed Amara.
The bunny’s recorder told the rest.
Julian contacted Detective Lena Ortiz, a state investigator who specialized in financial crimes.
Ortiz listened to the audio.
“This protects you from the assault accusation,” she said. “It also suggests conspiracy, but we need the financial records.”
Amara held up the tiny brass key.
“Bunny had this.”
Julian recognized the symbol engraved on it.
A crescent moon above three stars.
Leah used the symbol on designs for the foundation’s first children’s hospital.
That hospital contained an old maternity wing sealed after the fire.
Leah’s private archive had been inside it.
Julian had never been allowed to enter.
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Victor Lane claimed the building was structurally unsafe.
Now Julian understood why.
