part 6
PART 6
The recess lasted twenty minutes.
It was enough time for Vale Holdings to begin shaking.
Adrian’s phone would not stop buzzing.
Board members.
Trust officers.
Bank counsel.
His chief financial officer.
His private assistant.
Then Celeste’s phone buzzed too.
Her face changed with every message.
Evelyn sat on a bench outside the courtroom with Noah against her shoulder.
Margaret stood beside her like a guard dog in pearls.
Adrian approached alone.
For once, Celeste was not at his elbow.
“Can I see him?”
Evelyn looked at him carefully.
The question sounded human.
That made it more dangerous.
“Noah is asleep.”
Adrian swallowed.
“Noah.”
It was the first time he said his son’s name.
Evelyn hated that it affected her.
He stared at the baby’s face.
“He looks like…”
“Like a child.”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“Not an heir.”
Adrian flinched.
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“I didn’t know there was anything to ask.”
Evelyn looked up at him.
“You made sure there wasn’t.”
He stepped back as if she had struck him.
Celeste appeared at the end of the hallway.
Her expression was controlled again.
Too controlled.
“Adrian, do not speak to her without counsel.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
Celeste had spent a year teaching Adrian to ignore his wife.
Now she was teaching him to ignore his son.
Margaret’s phone rang.
She answered, listened, then looked at Evelyn.
“What is it?” Evelyn asked.
Margaret’s eyes moved to Celeste.
“Interesting timing.”
Celeste stiffened.
Margaret ended the call.
“Vale Holdings legal just discovered a pending transfer agreement.”
Adrian frowned.
“What transfer?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Twenty-eight percent of voting shares were scheduled to move into a new private entity after your divorce decree.”
Celeste’s lips parted.
Adrian turned slowly toward her.
“What entity?”
Margaret held up her phone.
“Marrow Strategic Trust.”
Celeste’s surname was Marrow.
For the first time all day, Adrian looked at Celeste the way he had once looked at Evelyn.
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As if he was realizing someone had been standing beside him with a knife.
Read the full story 👉 The frozen shares exposed Celeste’s hidden plan to receive Adrian’s voting control after the divorce.
