Chapter 93
Celestina sat rigidly in the lounge of the palace, her eyes fixed on Dimitri. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the faint ticking of the ornate clock on the wall. Dimitri’s expression was conflicted, his usually confident demeanor replaced by visible guilt.
“I know you’re angry,” Dimitri began, his voice low and heavy.
“Angry?” Celestina interrupted, her voice trembling with emotion. “I trusted you. You lied to me, Dimitri. Over and over.”
He ran a hand through his hair, his jaw tight. “I didn’t have a choice. Your father approached me months ago. He told me about Kael’s plans, about the danger you were in. He asked me to help him take Kael down.”
“And you agreed,” she said bitterly.
“Yes,” he admitted, his eyes locking onto hers. “But I didn’t expect to… feel the way I feel about you.”
Celestina shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “Don’t do that. Don’t use your feelings as an excuse. Was anything real, Dimitri? Or was it all part of the plan?”
His voice broke slightly as he replied, “It was real, Celestina. Every moment we spent together, every word I said to you—I meant it.”
She scoffed, turning away. “You meant it, but you still lied. You and my father played with my life like it was some kind of game.”
Dimitri stepped closer, his tone desperate. “I was trying to protect you! Kael would have destroyed you, Celestina. Everything I did was to keep you safe.”
She spun around, her voice rising. “And look where that got me! I don’t feel safe, Dimitri. I feel betrayed. By you, by him—by everyone.”
The doors opened, and President Alvada entered the room, his imposing presence filling the space. Celestina turned to him, her eyes blazing with anger.
“You,” she spat. “How could you do this to me? How could you keep me in the dark while you pulled the strings behind my back?”
Her father’s expression remained impassive, his tone cold and calculating. “Because you wouldn’t have understood the stakes, Celestina. Kael was a threat to everything we’ve built. To our country. Keeping you uninformed was the only way to ensure the mission’s success.”
She clenched her fists, her voice trembling. “You didn’t think I could handle it? You didn’t think I deserved to know the truth?”
“I knew you’d fight me on it,” Alvada replied evenly. “You would have resisted, and that would have jeopardized everything. This wasn’t about you—it was about protecting the greater good.”
Celestina’s chest heaved as she stared at him in disbelief. “The greater good? I’m your daughter. Don’t you care about what this has done to me?”
Alvada’s expression softened slightly, but his tone remained firm. “I do care, Celestina. But sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Even personal ones.”
From the corner of the room, Liora’s weak voice broke through the tension. “We were all pawns, Celestina.”
Celestina turned to see Liora sitting in an armchair, her face pale and bruised but her eyes sharp.
“What are you talking about?” Celestina asked.
Liora exhaled shakily. “Kael used me. He kept me close because he knew I could be useful against you. He wanted leverage—someone you might trust, someone who could feed him information if necessary.”
Celestina’s heart sank. “And you did? You spied on me for him?”
Liora shook her head quickly. “No. I was trapped. But I struck a deal with your father. I agreed to help him expose Kael in exchange for protection from Kael himself.”
Celestina’s voice rose, frustration boiling over. “So you were helping my father too? Was anyone not conspiring behind my back?”
Liora looked down, shame flickering across her face. “I did what I had to do to survive, Celestina. We all did.”
Celestina couldn’t bear to hear more. Without another word, she turned and stormed out of the room, ignoring Dimitri’s calls for her to stop. She needed space, a moment to think—but as she walked through the ornate hallways of the palace, all she felt was suffocation.
Reaching her room, she slammed the door shut and collapsed onto the edge of her bed, burying her face in her hands. Everyone she had trusted had betrayed her in some way. Dimitri. Her father. Even Liora. How could she trust anyone again?
Her eyes wandered to a small leather pouch sitting on the nightstand—one of the few belongings she had brought back from the yacht.
Frowning, she opened it and found a small USB drive tucked inside. Her brows furrowed. What is this?
She turned the drive over in her hands, noticing a note taped to it. In Kael’s familiar handwriting, it read:
“The truth about your family.”
