Chapter 25 - CELESTE TELLS THE JURY WHY SHE CLOSED THE LID
Celeste testified.
She did not deny the suitcase.
Could not.
She began with Sophie.
“I loved her.”
Past tense hurt.
Then:
“I still love her.”
Probably true.
She described entering a house where Rebecca’s photographs remained.
Rebecca’s recipes.
Rebecca’s friends.
Rebecca’s trust.
A child who said:
“Mommy did it this way.”
“I felt like a guest in my own marriage.”
The feeling was understandable.
Then the postnup.
“I wanted security.”
Understandable.
Then Mason.
“I thought family involvement in the trust would make me less afraid Daniel could use money to exclude me.”
But the trust was not mine.
She admitted.
Then London.
“Were you leaving your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Were you taking Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“Did Daniel approve?”
“No.”
“Why take her?”
Celeste looked at me.
“Because I believed if I left without Sophie, Daniel would never speak to me except through a divorce lawyer.”
There.
“So Sophie was leverage?”
Her attorney objected.
Argumentative.
Sustained.
The prosecutor rephrased.
“Did you expect Daniel to negotiate differently because Sophie was with you?”
Long silence.
“Yes.”
Then the suitcase.
“Why?”
“She was screaming.”
“Why not let her scream?”
Celeste cried.
“I was panicking.”
“Why lock?”
“I needed her to stop running.”
“Was she dangerous?”
“No.”
“To herself?”
“No.”
“To anyone?”
“No.”
“Then the suitcase controlled movement.”
“Yes.”
No euphemism.
Then the photograph.
“Why did you want it?”
“I knew Rebecca had written instructions.”
“How?”
“Sophie showed me once.”
“What were you afraid Daniel would learn?”
“That the trust was designed so I could never have any role.”
“Did you have a right to a role?”
“No.”
That answer mattered.
Then:
“What did you mean when you said Daniel did not understand what Rebecca left behind?”
Celeste wiped her face.
“I meant she left rules that made me feel like I would always be second.”
No secret curse.
No hidden child.
No scandal.
A trust and a letter.
But emotionally, Celeste treated them as Rebecca still standing in the marriage.
Then the draft email.
“Did you plan to send it?”
“Yes.”
“Would Sophie come home if Daniel refused the postnup?”
Celeste hesitated.
That was the entire case.
Finally:
“I don’t know.”
The prosecutor waited.
“I thought he would sign.”
There.
She had never fully confronted the possibility that I would refuse.
May you like
Her plan depended on me behaving predictably under terror.
When I did not, everything collapsed before the airport.
