Chapter 5 - CELESTE'S VERSION
Celeste requested immunity.
She did not get it.
Then she requested a deal.
Prosecutors listened.
Her first interview lasted four hours.
She admitted the affair.
She admitted knowing about the $12 million insurance policy.
She admitted removing Maren’s emergency injectors.
She admitted placing a peanut-based sauce in the trash to support the accidental-contamination story.
But she blamed Reed for everything else.
“He said Maren would be unconscious.”
“He said it would happen quickly.”
“He said we would call emergency services.”
The detective asked.
“When?”
Celeste hesitated.
“After.”
“After what?”
Silence.
Then.
“After it was too late.”
The detective continued.
“Why?”
Celeste cried.
Because Reed loved Maren’s power more than Maren.
Because Celeste had spent her life being second.
Because Graham Voss told her Maren’s company should have been divided equally.
Because Reed promised to marry her.
Because the insurance money would solve everything.
Each answer was partly true.
None was sufficient.
Then detectives asked about the car accident.
Celeste went completely still.
“I had nothing to do with that.”
Nobody had accused her yet.
That answer mattered.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing.”
“Celeste.”
“I said nothing.”
Then the detective placed Reed’s phone records on the table.
The night before Maren’s accident, Reed called Celeste six times.
They were not publicly close then.
Celeste began crying harder.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
The room changed.
“What wasn’t?”
Celeste covered her face.
“He only wanted her to miss the vote.”
Maren learned the rest from the interview transcript.
Six years earlier, Whitaker Medical was preparing a board vote to remove Graham Voss from an advisory role.
Maren had discovered irregular consulting payments.
Reed knew.
He also knew Celeste needed money.
The plan was supposedly simple.
Disable Maren’s car enough that it would not start correctly.
Keep her from reaching the board meeting.
Create chaos.
Delay the vote.
Instead, Reed loosened the wrong component.
The brakes failed on the highway.
Maren crashed.
Celeste claimed Reed came to her apartment afterward covered in rain and shaking.
He said.
“I think I killed her.”
May you like
She survived.
And instead of confessing, they turned the tragedy into opportunity.
