Chapter 3 - The Setup Unfolds
The door flew inward, crashing against the rubber baseboard stop. Celeste strode in first, her silk chiffon gown sweeping around her ankles like the robes of an executioner. Her phone was already raised, the LED flashlight blinding me as she swept the beam across the room.
"Nathaniel! Look at her!" Celeste shrieked, her face twisted in theatrical horror. "Look at what she tried to do to your father!"
Nathaniel stood framed in the doorway, his tie loosened, his eyes wild and bloodshot. He took one look at me—huddled on the floor, wrapped in curtains, sweating and disoriented—and then looked at Graham, whose shirt was torn and hair disheveled.
"Harper..." Nathaniel’s voice cracked, not with grief, but with sheer, gutless disgust. "How could you? On our wedding night? In my father’s house?"
"Nathaniel, wait," I slurred, fighting to pull myself upright against the wall. The drug made my tongue feel thick, heavy like lead. "Your mother... she gave me something. She locked me in here."
"Oh, of course! Blame me!" Celeste scoffed, stepping closer, holding her camera just inches from my face. "Look at her pupils, Nathaniel. She’s completely unhinged. She came down here while you were in the bathroom, lured Graham inside, and started tearing at his clothes! If I hadn't heard Graham yelling for help, God knows what she would have accused him of!"
Graham let out a low, ragged breath, leaning heavily against the dresser, his hand clutching his chest. "Celeste... stop. Just call the police. Let them handle this."
"The police?" Nathaniel stepped forward, his fists clenching at his sides. He didn't come to check my pulse. He didn't ask if I was okay. He looked at Graham with a pathetic blend of sympathy and humiliation. "Dad, are you hurt? Did she touch you?"
"I pushed her away," Graham said, his voice flat, exhausted. "She fell against the chair. She was babbling about money. About the trust fund."
The lie was delivered so smoothly that for a terrifying fraction of a second, I wondered if Graham had turned on me. But then I saw his eyes flicker toward the corner of the room, toward the hidden camera, before dropping to his shoes. He was sticking to the script Celeste had planted in his mind days ago.
"The trust fund," Nathaniel spat, glaring down at me. "I knew it. My mother told me you were too eager to sign the prenuptial agreement without your own attorney. You wanted the family name, and when you realized the trust was locked up until Dad passed, you decided to skip a generation!"
"Nathaniel, look at me!" I yelled, pulling myself up by the windowsill, the velvet tearing in my grip. "Look at my eyes! I can barely stand! Your mother forced a drink down my throat in our suite upstairs! Check the glass on the nightstand!"
"I already took the glasses down to the kitchen, darling," Celeste said sweetly, a triumphant smile touching the corners of her mouth. "You left a mess. Spilled wine everywhere. You’ve been drinking heavily since the reception ended."
"You're lying!" I lunged toward her, but my knees gave out completely. I hit the hardwood hard, the shock vibrating through my collarbone.
Nathaniel didn't reach out to catch me. He stepped back, tucking his hands into his pockets, letting his mother step between us.
"We aren't calling the police," Celeste announced coldly, lowering her phone. "A scandal like this would destroy the family business before tomorrow's market opens. Nathaniel, you’re signing the annulment papers tonight. My legal team already drafted the emergency filings. Harper, you’re going to pack your things, sign the non-disclosure agreement, and leave this estate before the staff arrives at dawn. If you refuse, this video—and the footage from the room's security feed—goes straight to the District Attorney."
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"What video?" I whispered, my face pressed against the cold wood floor.
Celeste smiled down at me like an exterminator admiring a trapped roach. "The video of you assaulting your father-in-law on your wedding night. The video that will make sure no firm in this country ever hires you again."
