Chapter 4 - THE MAN AT THE GATES

Victor Arden arrived at Crosshaven Manor before sunset.

His armored sedan stopped outside the locked gates.

Two attorneys sat behind him.

A private security vehicle waited near the road.

Victor called Damien.

“Open the gate.”

“No.”

“My daughter has been assaulted.”

“She is being questioned about assaulting Nora.”

“Do not compare them.”

Damien looked through the mansion windows toward the officers searching Celeste’s office.

“Why not?”

Victor’s voice became colder.

“Because Celeste is your wife.”

“Nora is an employee.”

“That is not a legal distinction between human beings.”

“You are emotional.”

The word sounded practiced.

Damien had heard it from Celeste whenever he questioned a decision after travel.

You are exhausted.

You are confused.

You are emotional.

He had treated the language as concern.

Now he heard control.

Victor lowered his voice.

“Police involvement will destroy the company.”

“If the company depends on hiding crimes, it deserves the damage.”

“You have no idea what has been happening around you.”

“That is becoming clear.”

Victor threatened to freeze bank relationships.

He threatened board action.

He threatened a public statement showing Damien throwing Celeste into the pool.

Damien looked toward the terrace camera.

The angle faced the glass doors.

From that position, the video would show Damien shoving his wife.

It would not show Nora on the floor.

Celeste had planned the angle.

She expected him to react physically.

The confrontation had not only been an attempt to silence Nora.

It was supposed to create evidence that Damien was violent and mentally unstable.

“I know about the terrace recording,” Damien said.

Victor became silent.

“You prepared the story before I entered the room.”

“You should speak to counsel.”

“I will.”

“After the police finish collecting the full footage.”

Victor arrived with his lawyers once officers allowed him inside.

He walked through the mansion without glancing at Nora’s blood on the floor.

Celeste rushed toward him.

“Daddy.”

Victor placed one hand on her shoulder.

“Say nothing else.”

“She ruined everything.”

Victor’s fingers tightened.

“You are in shock.”

“No.”

“She found Alice’s files.”

Victor looked toward the police.

Celeste realized he was distancing himself from her.

“You told me to make Nora sign the confession.”

Victor’s expression remained calm.

“My daughter is confused.”

Detective Ward stepped forward.

“Confusion appears to run in this family.”

Officers searched Victor’s briefcase.

Inside were unsigned medical affidavits declaring Damien incompetent.

The documents described violent outbursts.

Memory loss.

Alcohol abuse.

Paranoid suspicion toward his wife.

One affidavit was dated the following week.

Dr. Lucas Arden, Celeste’s uncle, had already signed it.

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The family was preparing to remove Damien from control of Crosshaven Resorts.

The pool incident was supposed to be the public trigger.