Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Red Dress
“VICTORIA DIDN'T JUST WANT ME TO REPLACE YOU, ELISE. SHE WANTED ME TO HELP CONVINCE EVERYONE THAT YOU WERE DESTROYING YOUR OWN MARRIAGE.”
Celeste Marrow said those words without looking away.
We were sitting across from each other at a quiet coffee shop near Lincoln Park.
It was Saturday morning.
Forty-eight hours had passed since Victoria humiliated me at Natalie's wedding.
And the woman who had smiled beside my husband was now trembling so badly that she could barely hold her coffee cup.
I had agreed to meet Celeste for one reason.
Information.
Not sympathy.
Not reconciliation.
And certainly not friendship.
Margaret had arranged the meeting after reviewing Celeste's messages. She sat at a neighboring table, close enough to intervene if the conversation turned into something involving legal threats or demands.
I studied the woman across from me.
Without her glamorous red dress, Celeste looked surprisingly ordinary.
She wore faded jeans, a cream-colored sweater, and very little makeup.
Her blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders.
She seemed exhausted.
But exhaustion didn't make her innocent.
“Start talking,” I said.
Celeste looked down.
“I met Daniel eleven months ago.”
I felt a familiar pressure behind my ribs.
“He told me you were living separate lives.”
“We weren't.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew at the wedding.”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
I waited.
Celeste rubbed her thumb against the edge of her cup.
“Victoria introduced us at a charity fundraiser. I was working in public relations. She hired me to help promote several projects for the Hale family.”
“And then you started sleeping with my husband.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“Yes.”
There was no excuse in her voice.
That surprised me.
I'd expected tears.
Defensiveness.
Some elaborate explanation about how Daniel was trapped in an unhappy marriage.
Instead, she admitted what she'd done.
“Did Victoria know about the affair?” I asked.
“Almost from the beginning.”
“And she approved?”
Celeste gave a bitter little laugh.
“She encouraged it.”
I leaned back.
“Why?”
“She said Daniel needed a woman who understood the importance of family loyalty.”
I stared at her.
“That's ironic.”
“I know.”
“Loyalty to everyone except his wife?”
Celeste nodded without arguing.
For the first time, I understood something about her.
She wasn't necessarily unintelligent.
She had simply chosen to believe whatever benefited her.
And now those choices had brought her somewhere frightening.
“Tell me about Monday,” I said.
Celeste opened her handbag.
She removed a thick white envelope and pushed it across the table.
Inside were copies of emails, consulting agreements, and payment instructions.
Several documents carried Victoria's name.
Others referenced Eastbank Strategic Services.
I recognized one immediately.
A proposed wire transfer.
$940,000.
Scheduled for Monday morning.
The originating account belonged to Meridian Bridge Advisory.
I went completely still.
“Where did you get this?”
“Daniel asked me to organize some correspondence for the family office. I was copied on the payment schedule.”
“Why would he involve you in company finances?”
“Because Victoria wanted me to become the public relations director for the development project.”
“What development project?”
Celeste hesitated.
“Riverpoint.”
The name meant nothing to me.
She continued.
“It's supposed to be a major commercial development along the Chicago waterfront. Victoria has been courting investors for nearly two years.”
I examined the transfer instructions.
The proposed destination was an entity called Riverpoint Civic Partners.
“Why is Meridian Bridge paying for a Hale family development?”
“I don't know all the details. Daniel said the money was part of a strategic investment arrangement.”
“There is no investment arrangement.”
Celeste swallowed.
“Then you need to stop that transfer.”
I looked at the date.
Monday.
Exactly as Natalie had warned.
“Does Daniel know you're here?”
“No.”
“Does Victoria?”
Celeste's face changed.
“Absolutely not.”
Something about her tone made me study her more carefully.
“What aren't you telling me?”
She looked toward the window.
For several seconds, she seemed to be deciding whether honesty was worth the risk.
Then she whispered, “Victoria has copies of documents I signed.”
“What documents?”
“Consulting invoices. Expense authorizations. Things I was told were completely legitimate.”
“Were they?”
“I don't know anymore.”
I frowned.
“Celeste, you need to be very careful about what you tell me.”
“I know.”
“Margaret can recommend independent counsel for you. She's my attorney, not yours.”
Celeste nodded.
“I understand.”
Then she said something that made my stomach tighten.
“Victoria told me that if I ever caused problems, she'd make sure I was blamed for the missing money.”
I stared at her.
“What missing money?”
Celeste's eyes filled.
“She said some accounting discrepancies would eventually come to light. She told me that if I stayed loyal, everything would be taken care of.”
I felt cold.
She hadn't merely been my husband's mistress.
She had allowed herself to become involved in financial transactions she didn't understand.
And now she was frightened that the people who welcomed her into their family might sacrifice her to protect themselves.
“Why come to me?” I asked.
“Because you're the only person Victoria seems genuinely afraid of.”
I almost smiled.
Victoria had never looked afraid of me.
She'd treated me like an inconvenience for eight years.
Celeste leaned closer.
“She talks about you constantly, Elise. Your company. Your money. Your refusal to do what she wants.”
I said nothing.
“She told Daniel that everything would be easier once you were out of the way.”
My heart pounded.
“Out of the way how?”
“Divorced. Discredited. Removed from anything connected to the Hale family.”
I looked at the documents.
“And after that?”
“Daniel would marry me.”
The words landed with surprising force.
Not because I still wanted him.
But because hearing my replacement described as part of a financial strategy made the betrayal feel even more calculated.
Celeste wiped her eyes.
“I thought he loved me.”
I looked directly at her.
“Maybe he told you he did.”
She nodded.
“But you knew he was married.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew I was going to be humiliated.”
“Yes.”
“Then don't ask me to feel sorry for the consequences of your choices.”
She lowered her head.
“I'm not.”
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked the question that had been bothering me.
“Why did you wear red?”
Celeste looked confused.
“At the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Victoria chose the dress.”
I stared at her.
“She bought it?”
“She sent it to my apartment with a note saying the family should notice me.”
I felt sick.
The red dress.
The gold place cards.
The photographer.
Everything had been arranged like a scene in a play.
And I had been expected to perform the role of the hysterical wife.
Instead, I'd walked offstage.
Celeste pushed one final document across the table.
“I found this in Daniel's email.”
It was a payment approval record.
The scheduled Monday transfer required authorization from a Meridian Bridge financial administrator.
I examined the approval field.
My own name wasn't there.
Instead, a familiar name appeared.
Nina Patel.
My chief financial officer.
My friend.
The woman who had looked me in the eyes and promised to help uncover the truth.
I read the notation beneath her name.
Authorization verified.
I looked up at Celeste.
“Are you telling me Nina approved this?”
“I don't know. I'm telling you what the document says.”
I photographed the page.
Then I called Margaret over to our table.
She read it carefully.
Her expression grew serious.
“Has anyone verified this authorization directly?” she asked.
Celeste shook her head.
Margaret looked at me.
“We need to treat it as disputed until we establish whether it's genuine.”
I nodded.
But deep inside, something painful had already begun to grow.
I could survive Daniel's betrayal.
I could survive Victoria's hatred.
I wasn't sure I could survive discovering that the woman I'd trusted to protect my company had betrayed me too.
As we prepared to leave, Celeste spoke again.
“Elise, there's something else.”
I stopped.
“Victoria said the transfer had to happen Monday because someone was starting to ask questions.”
“Who?”
Celeste looked frightened.
“Your company's financial director.”
I stared at her.
“Nina?”
She nodded.
May you like
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
“Victoria told Daniel that if Nina became a problem, they would make sure she took the blame.”
