Chapter 10 - THE MAN BESIDE CELESTE
Julian Morel had spent forty years making himself indispensable.
He joined the family company at twenty-three, rescued an early shipping division from bankruptcy, negotiated labor disputes, and protected Henri from scandals.
Adrian called him Uncle Julian even when they disagreed.
Julian viewed affection as another governance tool.
His proffer began after prosecutors found the gold bracelet and Celeste’s letter.
He denied intentional harm to Henri.
He admitted designing the succession concealment.
“Why hide Lucie?” investigators asked.
“Because Adrian’s acknowledgment would trigger a trust review before the Valenne merger.”
“Why did that matter?”
“The company carried debt no one understood.”
“Who created the debt?”
“Henri expanded too fast. Adrian maintained the illusion. I kept payroll moving.”
The same justification appeared in every financial crime.
Jobs.
Continuity.
Temporary necessity.
Julian said Celeste suggested using the maternity scandal to control the trust.
They forged the death record, intercepted Camille’s letters, and kept Adrian from independent confirmation.
“Did Adrian ask you to declare the child dead?”
“No.”
“Did he ask you to hide a living child?”
“No.”
“Did he make secrecy easy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Camille left with Lucie?”
“Not initially.”
“When did you learn?”
“Four years later.”
Adrian stopped breathing when prosecutors relayed the answer.
Julian had known for two years before Henri found them.
A private investigator located Camille during a routine threat review.
Julian decided continued concealment was safer.
Celeste paid the investigator to remain silent.
“Why not tell Adrian?”
“He had married Celeste. The company needed stability. The child was healthy and supported.”
“Supported by whom?”
“Anonymous transfers.”
Camille’s bank records showed irregular deposits she believed came from Henri.
They came from Julian.
He had paid enough to keep her from desperation and little enough to prevent challenge.
He called that protection.
Regarding Elise, Julian became cautious.
The birth involved twins.
Lucie and Elise.
Camille’s early ultrasound showed two fetuses.
Celeste knew before Adrian.
At delivery, both girls lived.
A nurse returned Lucie to Camille.
Elise had already been moved.
“Where?” investigators asked.
“To a private neonatal unit.”
“Then?”
“An adoption arrangement.”
“Authorized by whom?”
“Celeste obtained Adrian’s broad maternity authority.”
“That document did not authorize adoption.”
“Our counsel interpreted it.”
“Which counsel?”
Julian named Victor Dane, now deceased.
“Did Camille consent?”
“No.”
“Did Adrian?”
“Not specifically.”
“Who adopted Elise?”
Julian claimed he did not know.
Celeste handled placement through Saint Aurelia’s charitable network.
“Why conceal two children differently?”
“Lucie remained with Camille. Elise became leverage.”
“Against whom?”
“Henri.”
Henri learned of the twin records shortly after the birth.
Celeste told him Elise had died.
Years later, he found Lucie and realized the entire story might be false.
The gold bracelet held Elise’s transfer code.
Celeste kept it as insurance.
“If Henri exposed Lucie, Celeste would destroy the path to Elise,” Julian said.
“Why would Henri accept that?”
“He did not know whether the child was alive.”
“Did you?”
“I knew a placement occurred.”
Julian’s testimony required corroboration.
He had every reason to reduce his own role and increase Celeste’s.
Saint Aurelia records identified a neonatal transport.
Infant Elise Renard was transferred to Calder House Children’s Trust in Montreal.
Calder House dissolved five years earlier after financial misconduct.
Its director, Marianne Cole, moved records to a private archive.
The archive had burned.
No confirmed death certificate existed.
No lawful adoption decree had yet been located.
The missing twin became a real person in the investigation, not a headline.
The court sealed her identity.
Lucie was told through her therapist that she may have a sister.
She sat very still.
“Did Mommy lose both of us?”
“Yes.”
“Does Mommy know?”
“Yes.”
“Is she crying?”
“Yes.”
“Is Adrian?”
“Yes.”
Lucie thought about it.
“Can I cry later?”
“Of course.”
She did not cry until bedtime.
Then she held the rabbit and asked whether Elise had one too.
No one knew.
Celeste’s criminal trial approached.
Julian entered guilty pleas to conspiracy, trust fraud, identity fraud, obstruction, unlawful custodial interference, and reckless conduct. He agreed to testify.
His sentencing would consider cooperation.
He faced prison.
The Morel board removed his name from the chairman’s suite.
Adrian did not replace it with his own.
Before the trial, prosecutors offered Celeste one final agreement.
She would plead to the financial conspiracy, child endangerment, unlawful custody, and obstruction. In exchange, the state would dismiss a higher-risk homicide-related theory concerning Henri and recommend a sentencing range.
Celeste refused.
She believed a jury would see Lucie as proof of Adrian’s moral failure rather than hers.
She told her attorney:
May you like
“People forgive a woman who protects a family from a man’s mistake.”
The lady with the wine still believed she had been preserving something valuable.
