Chapter 4 - THE GREENHOUSE AT MIDNIGHT
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I sat in the greenhouse beneath the olive tree, reading my mother's letter again.
The moonlight fell across the glass walls.
Everything smelled of damp earth and jasmine.
Then I heard footsteps.
I turned.
My second sister, Celeste, stood near the doorway.
She wore a silk robe and carried a cigarette.
“You're becoming quite interesting,” she said.
I folded the letter.
“What do you want?”
Celeste smiled.
“William Ashford.”
I stared.
She continued.
“He's wealthy. Powerful. Dangerous.”
I said nothing.
“And apparently, he likes you.”
My cheeks warmed.
“He doesn't know me.”
Celeste laughed.
“Men like him don't need to know women. They need wives.”
I looked away.
She stepped closer.
“Do you understand how humiliating this is for Vanessa?”
I swallowed.
“I didn't ask him to notice me.”
“No. You just stood there looking helpless.”
Her words hurt more than I wanted to admit.
Celeste looked at the letter in my hands.
“What's that?”
“Nothing.”
She reached for it.
I pulled away.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Clare.”
“No.”
She stared.
Then laughed coldly.
“You're getting brave.”
I stood.
My heart pounded.
“Maybe.”
Celeste's smile disappeared.
For the first time, I saw something unfamiliar in her face.
Fear.
Not of me.
Of what I might discover.
She turned toward the door.
Then paused.
“Be careful with Mother's things.”
My breath caught.
Celeste had never called Eleanor my mother.
She had always said your mother.
I stared at her.
“What do you know?”
Celeste didn't turn around.
May you like
“More than you think.”
Then she left.
