Chapter 14
Marcus chose bargaining.
He admitted financial misconduct through counsel.
He admitted using Northbridge to hide vendor markups.
He admitted ordering Daniel to intercept Raffaele’s car.
But he insisted Anna’s death had been unforeseeable.
He denied wanting anyone killed.
The prosecutors would decide what charges the evidence supported.
Raffaele no longer needed Marcus to use the word murder.
The facts were enough to destroy the lie that Anna had simply lost control in the rain.
Celeste made a different choice.
She signed a full cooperation agreement concerning the financial transfers and provided every message, account, and calendar entry she still possessed.
She also accepted responsibility for trying to take Lucy out of the country.
Her attorney did not call it protection.
Celeste did not either.
“I was scared,” she told Raffaele during their final meeting.
“That doesn’t make the suitcase disappear.”
“I know.”
“You could’ve called me.”
“I thought if you knew what Marcus had done, you’d kill him.”
Raffaele looked at her.
Eighteen months earlier, she might have been right.
That truth embarrassed him.
Celeste continued.
“I kept telling myself silence was protecting everyone.”
“It protected Marcus.”
“And me.”
“Yes.”
She looked down.
“I know.”
Their divorce had already begun.
There was nothing left to negotiate emotionally.
Then Celeste asked:
“Will I ever see Lucy again?”
Raffaele did not answer immediately.
“You’re asking me to decide for a child you terrified.”
“I loved her.”
“I believe you.”
Celeste looked up.
That answer hurt her more than disbelief.
Raffaele continued.
“But love doesn’t cancel what you did.”
He would follow whatever legal and therapeutic guidance protected Lucy.
No promises.
No private visits.
No secret reconciliation because adults felt guilty.
Celeste nodded.
Before leaving, she placed an envelope on the table.
“For someday.”
“What is it?”
“A letter to Lucy.”
Raffaele did not open it.
“You don’t get to send messages through me.”
“I’m not asking you to give it to her now.”
Celeste pushed the envelope forward.
“If she’s older someday and asks why I disappeared, I want her to hear me say I was wrong.”
Raffaele stared at it.
Then picked it up.
Not as forgiveness.
As something Lucy might one day have the right to choose.
An hour later, Claire called.
May you like
The relevant evidence had formally moved into the prosecutors’ hands.
Whatever happened next could no longer be stopped by the Corsini family.
