All Chapters of FOREVER CELESTE: From wife to aunt.: Chapter 41 - Chapter 48

The silence inside the Blackwood estate had never felt so heavy.Celeste stood beside the floor-to-ceiling windows of Lucien's private study, staring at the sprawling gardens below. The rain had stopped nearly an hour ago, but droplets still clung to the glass, reflecting the golden lights of the estate like tiny fragments of stars.Behind her, Lucien remained completely still.Neither of them had spoken since he revealed the truth.The bloodline secret.The truth about Celeste's connection to the Blackwood family.The truth that had been buried for generations.She turned slowly."So all these years..."Her voice was barely above a whisper.Lucien looked at her."Yes.""You knew?""No."That answer surprised her."You didn't know?""I knew there was something unusual about the records surrounding your family," Lucien admitted. "I didn't know the extent of it until tonight."Celeste stared at him."Then who knew?"Lucien's expression hardened."Someone who has spent decades making sur

For several seconds after the call ended, nobody moved.The study seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.Celeste stared at Lucien, searching his face for an explanation, but the man who had remained composed through boardroom wars, corporate scandals, hostile takeovers, and Adrian's endless mistakes now looked genuinely shaken."Marcus?" she whispered.Lucien slowly lowered his phone."Yes."Arthur's expression had gone rigid."That isn't possible."Lucien's eyes moved toward him."You heard the voice.""I did.""Then tell me what you think."Arthur swallowed."I think someone is impersonating a dead man.""He isn't dead."Lucien's voice was quiet."But the records—""Were falsified."The certainty in his voice silenced the room.Celeste stepped toward the desk."If Marcus is alive, why disappear for twenty-two years?"Lucien looked at her."Because he wanted the world to believe he was dead.""Why?""I don't know."Celeste glanced at the photograph still lying on the desk.The litt

The door handle turned.Celeste's entire body went rigid.For one terrifying second, she couldn't move.Then her father's voice broke through the darkness."Celeste, now!"She grabbed the black metal box and shoved it into her handbag.The door opened.A shadow appeared in the doorway.Celeste's heart slammed against her ribs."Who are you?"The figure stepped inside."Don't scream."It was a woman.She wore a dark security uniform, but there was something immediately wrong about her.The hospital badge hanging from her neck was upside down.Celeste instinctively stepped backward."You're not hospital security."The woman smiled faintly."Good. Your mother was right about you."Celeste froze."You knew my mother?"Before the woman could answer, a loud crash echoed from the hallway.Her expression changed."They're here.""Who?""The people who have been looking for that box."The woman pointed toward the bathroom."There's an emergency stairwell behind the service panel. Take your fat

The notification appeared on Lucien's phone at exactly 11:17 p.m.EVE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.For several seconds, he simply stared at the screen.The color drained from his face.Arthur, who had been standing across the room reviewing security reports, immediately noticed."Sir?"Lucien slowly lowered the phone."Find the old biomedical institute."Arthur frowned."The North District facility?""Yes.""We already searched it.""You searched the building."Lucien's voice became dangerously quiet."I want everything beneath it."Arthur's expression changed."You think she found the laboratory?""I know she did."He reached for his coat.Arthur stepped forward."Sir, if Eve has been activated, going there personally could be dangerous."Lucien stopped."I don't care.""Lucien—"The older man looked at him.Arthur immediately fell silent.Lucien's expression wasn't that of a chairman protecting a corporate asset.It was the expression of a man who had just discovered the one secret he'd spen