Chapter 10 - THE ORDER THAT COST HIM HIS FAMILY
“You told them to take her.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
Adrien sat motionless.
Agent Reyes replayed the final seconds of the recording.
“Bring Celeste in. I don't care what it takes.”
There was no confusion about the voice.
It belonged to Adrien.
The same man who had cried when his daughter called him Daddy.
The same man who had spent millions searching for his missing wife.
The same man who had been telling us that Victor betrayed him.
And now we knew something he'd failed to tell us.
He had given Victor permission to use force against Celeste.
I stood.
“You said you ordered him to find her.”
Adrien slowly lifted his eyes.
“I did.”
“No. You ordered him to bring her in whether she wanted to come or not.”
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
I stepped away from the table.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
His face tightened.
“Because I was ashamed.”
I stared at him.
“Your wife spent two years locked away from her children. You don't get to hide behind shame.”
Agent Reyes intervened.
“Mr. Bellandi, I need you to explain the circumstances of that call. Your attorney can be present.”
Adrien nodded.
“I'll tell you everything.”
He looked at me.
“For whatever it's worth, Evelyn, I didn't order anyone to hurt her.”
I shook my head.
“That's not the same as making sure nobody could.”
The words struck him harder than I expected.
He looked down.
And this time, he didn't defend himself.
His attorney arrived shortly afterward.
The interview lasted nearly two hours.
I wasn't present for most of it, but Agent Reyes later explained the parts investigators could share.
Two years earlier, Victor had shown Adrien falsified financial records suggesting Celeste was secretly withdrawing money from Bellandi accounts.
Adrien had confronted his wife.
Celeste insisted she'd moved funds to prevent them from being stolen by people inside the organization.
She begged him to investigate Mercy Transit.
Adrien accused her of lying.
During the argument, she'd threatened to go to federal authorities.
Terrified that his business empire might collapse, Adrien told Victor to bring her to a private meeting.
He knew Victor used intimidation.
He knew people didn't always come willingly.
He gave the order anyway.
Then Celeste disappeared.
Victor claimed she'd fled the country.
Adrien spent months searching, but the evidence Victor supplied repeatedly pointed toward her supposed betrayal.
And Adrien, who'd built his reputation on distrusting everyone, trusted Victor.
I didn't know whether Celeste would ever forgive him.
I wasn't certain I could.
But there was something important about his confession.
For once, Adrien had chosen an ugly truth over a convenient lie.
And Agent Reyes now had his sworn account to compare against the financial evidence.
Later that afternoon, I joined Dr. Morgan in the children's playroom.
Sophia was sitting on the carpet with her stuffed rabbit.
Matteo was building a crooked tower.
Luca was looking through a picture book.
I sat beside them.
“Would you like me to read?”
Luca nodded.
I opened the book.
It was about a little bird learning to fly.
Halfway through, Sophia touched my arm.
“Evie?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy sad?”
I looked at her.
Children noticed more than adults wanted to believe.
“Yes, sweetheart. Daddy's feeling sad.”
She thought about that.
“Daddy mad?”
I chose my words carefully.
“He made some mistakes. Grown-ups make mistakes, too.”
Sophia frowned.
“Bad mistakes?”
My heart tightened.
I glanced toward Dr. Morgan.
She gave me an encouraging nod.
“Some were serious,” I answered. “And when adults make serious mistakes, they need to tell the truth and make things right.”
Sophia stared at her rabbit.
Then she whispered:
“Mommy scared.”
I felt a sudden ache in my chest.
“I know.”
She looked up.
“Daddy... scared Mommy?”
I couldn't lie to her.
But I wouldn't burden a four-year-old with details she wasn't ready to understand.
“Daddy made choices that hurt Mommy. That's something the grown-ups need to deal with. It isn't your job to fix it.”
Sophia was quiet for a moment.
Then she placed the rabbit in my lap.
“For Mommy.”
I held it carefully.
“We'll keep it safe for her.”
That evening, Agent Reyes received information from the financial investigation.
Celeste hadn't stolen twelve million dollars for personal use.
She had interrupted a series of suspicious transfers through the foundation and placed the disputed funds beyond Victor's immediate control through a restricted account established with independent legal oversight.
She'd intended to turn over the records supporting her allegations.
But she disappeared before she could finish.
Victor needed her cooperation to regain access to the money.
And that explained why she'd been kept alive.
I felt sick.
For two years, a woman had been imprisoned because she refused to release money that other people had gained through exploitation.
Her captivity wasn't an accident.
It was leverage.
Agent Reyes placed several documents on the table.
“Celeste was compiling evidence about people transferred through the shelter network.”
I scanned the pages.
There were dozens of names.
Some belonged to adults.
Others belonged to children traveling with parents or guardians.
The records described false destinations, suspicious custody documentation, and payments sent through companies that appeared to exist only on paper.
“These families were supposed to be receiving help,” I whispered.
Agent Reyes nodded.
“Instead, some were being coerced, extorted, or transported using fraudulent records.”
I thought of Adrien's charitable foundation.
The gala invitations.
The smiling photographs of wealthy donors.
The speeches about giving vulnerable people a better future.
And the families who'd apparently been harmed behind that beautiful image.
“Does Adrien know?” I asked.
“He knows his organization was used. We're still determining the extent of his personal responsibility.”
I looked at one particular document.
A payment authorization.
It carried Adrien's signature.
Not an electronic approval.
An actual handwritten signature.
“Is this real?”
Agent Reyes nodded.
“Our preliminary comparison indicates it may be genuine.”
I stared at the paper.
“What was he approving?”
“A transportation-services contract. One that funded part of the operation.”
My stomach turned.
Adrien hadn't simply trusted Victor with access to company accounts.
He'd signed documents that helped the scheme operate.
I looked at Agent Reyes.
“Did he know what the money was for?”
“That's one of the questions we're investigating.”
Then she showed me the final page.
Attached to the authorization was a handwritten notation from Celeste.
Only one sentence.
ADRIEN SIGNED THIS AFTER I WARNED HIM THE CHILDREN ON THESE LISTS WERE REAL.
I sat back slowly.
May you like
And understood that Celeste's greatest betrayal might not have been Victor.
It might have been the husband who refused to believe her.
