Chapter 8 - Meeting Grant Wasn’t an Accident Either
Grant had believed he met Celeste three years after Elena’s death.
At a museum benefit.
Celeste now admitted that was not accidental.
She followed Grant’s public life from a distance after leaving St. Catherine’s.
At first out of fear.
Every news article about him made her wonder:
Did he find out?
Every hospital lawsuit frightened her.
Every anniversary article about Elena made her sick.
Then years passed.
No investigation.
No call.
Grant remained a widower.
Celeste saw him again at the museum benefit and made a decision.
“I wanted to see you.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
She looked ashamed.
“I wanted to know whether you suspected anything.”
Grant stared.
“So you approached me.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Camille—no, Celeste—shook her head.
“I didn’t plan the rest.”
They talked.
Grant was lonely.
Celeste was attentive.
She knew about the hospital night but pretended she knew only what newspapers reported.
She expected one conversation.
Instead Grant called.
Then called again.
Months passed.
Fear turned into affection.
Affection turned into a relationship.
The secret became harder to tell with every day.
“I loved you,” Celeste said.
Grant’s face remained hard.
“You loved me while deciding what I was allowed to know.”
“I was afraid you’d hate me.”
“That was my right.”
She closed her eyes.
Same theme again.
Ruth hid the document to protect Grant.
Celeste hid the error to protect herself.
Different motives.
Same theft of choice.
Grant looked toward the room where Ethan was resting.
“And when Ethan appeared?”
Celeste’s voice became almost inaudible.
“I thought the past had walked into the house.”
She began watching him.
His face.
His mannerisms.
His age.
Then she saw something that terrified her.
Ethan rubbed his thumb against the side of his index finger whenever anxious.
Grant did the same thing.
Meaningless habit?
Genetic?
Learned coincidence?
Celeste did not know.
She did not want to know.
May you like
So she tried to remove the question.
That was why the accusations started.
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