Chapter 3 - Unmasking the Past
Eleven years ago, Julian Vale was twenty-two years old—an arrogant heir to a real estate empire who thought he was invincible. Until a black ice patch on a deserted upstate highway flipped his sports car into a ravine.
He remembered the bitter cold. The smell of leaking gasoline. The crushing metal pinning his legs.
And he remembered the girl who had climbed down the icy slope in her thin coat, crawling into the overturned wreck beside him to hold his bleeding hand. She had kept him conscious for three hours in sub-zero temperatures, talking to him about her dreams of becoming a fashion designer, while he held her small silver locket—the only thing she owned from her late grandmother.
When the rescue team finally cut them out, Julian was rushed to emergency surgery. When he woke up three days later, the girl was gone. The only thing left on his bedside table was the silver locket she had left in his hand for luck.
A year later, when Julian was searching for her, Celeste Ashford had stepped into his social circle. She had noticed the locket on his desk, overheard him asking about a young model named Mara who had suddenly vanished from the industry, and cleverly lied. Celeste claimed she was the one who had helped him that night, using details she had stolen from Mara's private journal back when they were roommates.
For ten years, Julian believed Celeste was his savior. He financed her lifestyle, elevated her family's failing business, and eventually asked her to marry him out of a sense of eternal gratitude.
And it had all been a monstrous, calculated lie.
"Julian, listen to me!" Celeste cried out, her voice frantic as she grabbed his arm in the security room. "She's lying! She found out about the accident from my old journals! She's trying to ruin us because she's jealous of my life!"
Julian didn't even look at Celeste. He reached out with two fingers and picked up the small pair of scissors from the security desk.
With a swift, clean motion, he cut the plastic zip-ties binding Mara's wrists.
"Are you hurt?" Julian asked Mara, his voice unbelievably gentle, ignoring Celeste entirely.
"I'm fine," Mara whispered, rubbing her reddened wrists.
Julian turned around to face Celeste.
The warmth in his eyes instantly vanished, replaced by an abyss of absolute, terrifying coldness.
"Eleven years ago," Julian said, stepping toward Celeste, "you told me you lost your silver locket in the hospital emergency room. You said your grandmother gave it to you."
"I... I did!" Celeste stammered, backing against the wall. "I was confused! I had a concussion—"
"The locket has the constellation of Orion hand-engraved on the front," Julian cut her off, his voice ringing like a iron hammer against steel. "Because on the night of the crash, the girl in the car told me her grandmother taught her to navigate by the stars. She told me Orion was the Hunter who protected lost travelers."
Julian turned to Miller.
"Cancel the police for Miss Ellison," Julian ordered calmly. "And call the District Attorney. I want Celeste Ashford arrested for filing a false police report, grand larceny, and corporate fraud."
"What?!" Celeste shrieked. "Julian, you can't do this to me! My father is your primary investor in the Hudson Yards project! If you do this, my family will pull every dollar out of Vale Enterprises!"
Julian smiled—a cold, ruthless expression that made the room freeze.
"Your father’s firm owes my holding company eighty million dollars in defaulted loans, Celeste," Julian said softly. "I held off on foreclosing because I thought I was marrying the woman who saved my life. By tomorrow morning, I will own every property your father possesses. You will be penniless before your trial even begins."
Celeste looked around the room in sheer panic. The security guards who had once bowed to her now stood in front of the exit doors, blocking her path.
"Julian, please!" Celeste begged, sinking to her knees, her silk dress spreading over the linoleum floor as tears ruined her makeup. "I loved you! I did it because I wanted to be with you!"
"You didn't love me," Julian said, looking down at her with pure disgust. "You loved my name, my money, and the power I gave you. Guards, keep her in this room until the police arrive."
Julian turned to Mara, holding out his hand.
May you like
"Come with me, Mara," he said gently.
Mara looked at his open hand, then at the crying woman on the floor. After eleven years of living in the shadows, scrubbing floors, and hiding her face, she finally took a step forward and placed her hand in Julian’s.
