Chapter 4 - Celeste’s Proposal
Celeste was everything Evelyn was not.
She admired luxury openly.
She treated wealth as proof of intelligence.
She never questioned Adrian’s decisions unless she wanted him to make a more ruthless one.
Officially, Adrian hired her as a restructuring consultant.
Privately, she became his mistress within three months.
Celeste had reviewed the partial Bennett trust.
She told Adrian that gaining primary custody of the triplets could give him influence over distributions made for housing, education and medical care.
It was not the same as owning the trust.
But Adrian heard what he wanted.
Control the children.
Control the money.
Celeste also found a separate opportunity.
The Beverly Hills house where Adrian and Evelyn lived was owned by Oak Meridian Residential Trust.
Adrian assumed Oak Meridian belonged to one of his own investment groups.
In reality, the trust had been established years earlier by Helena for Evelyn’s benefit.
Evelyn had never studied the paperwork because the house was presented as part of Adrian’s compensation package.
Celeste discovered the truth before either of them.
Instead of warning Adrian that the property was protected, she created a plan.
First, pressure Evelyn into signing a property waiver.
Then produce a deed transferring the house to Celeste as part of a confidential “consulting settlement.”
Finally, use the signed custody agreement to portray Evelyn as an exhausted mother voluntarily surrendering her rights.
Adrian hesitated only when Celeste mentioned divorce.
“You said we would be together,” she reminded him.
“My wife is pregnant with three children.”
“Your wife is the doorway. The children are the assets.”
Adrian stared at her.
Celeste leaned closer.
“Once the babies are born, you file. Before she recovers, she signs. You keep custody, the house and access to the trust.”
“What happens to Evelyn?”
“She goes back to the parents she was too proud to call.”
Adrian kissed Celeste.
That became his answer.
At home, Evelyn noticed the changes.
Adrian guarded his phone.
Stayed away overnight.
Began criticizing how much pregnancy had altered her appearance.
When she asked whether he was having an affair, he laughed.
“You can barely walk across the room without getting tired. When would I have time for another relationship?”
The cruelty shocked her.
He apologized later.
But Evelyn began watching.
She found hotel charges.
Messages.
A photograph of Celeste inside Adrian’s car wearing Evelyn’s scarf.
She confronted him.
He called her hormonal.
Then he asked her to sign an updated marital-property acknowledgment.
Evelyn refused.
Adrian’s expression became cold.
That was the first moment she understood he was no longer merely unfaithful.
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He needed something from her.
👉 Evelyn thought Adrian wanted her signature because of the house, but the document also prepared the legal story he would use to take all three babies.
