Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 023

CELESTE

I walked through the front door and the smell hit me before anything else. Sex. Sweat. The kind of thick, used air that comes from bodies that have been tangled together. I knew that smell. I had come home to it many times before, back when I was still stupid enough to trust Julian.

I looked at Seraphine sitting on my sofa, and I looked at Julian standing near the kitchen doorway with that fake concern on his face, and I knew exactly what they had been doing while I was gone.

The thought should have burned. It didn’t. It just sat there in my chest, cold and still, like a stone I had swallowed a long time ago and finally stopped choking on.

Hearing Julian talk about fidelity, I resisted the urge to slap him. Just entering the house, taking one look at Sera with her smeared lipstick and the smell of sex all over this room, I knew they had just finished. Probably right on my couch. Maybe against the wall. Maybe in my bed. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing they did could hurt me now.

I had grown a thick skin these past few days.

And now, I could play along perfectly with them.

I turned to Seraphine and painted confusion across my face. “What do you mean?”

“You heard me,” Sera snapped, her voice sharp. “Return the five billion. Right now. That money was meant for my lab. Ford Biosciences.”

I blinked at her, letting my brows furrow. “I don’t understand. You said your husband funded Helix because of your recommendation. Now you’re saying the money was meant for you?”

“It’s simple.” She sat down, crossed her legs and leaned back, like she was about to explain something to a slow child. “My husband, Dominic, had no idea I started my own lab. Ford Biosciences. The past few days, I have been at my mother’s place. She has been sick. I turned off my phone so I could care for her properly.”

I nodded slowly, letting her continue.

“My husband could not get through to me,” she pressed on. “He thought I was still with Helix Research Laboratory. That is why he pumped five billion into it. That money was actually meant for Ford Biosciences. For me. I want you to return it. In turn, Ford Biosciences will collaborate with Helix. We will make sure you also benefit from the funding.”

I let out a sigh and nodded. “You make a good point.”

I walked to the armchair and sat down. I crossed my legs too, tapped my chin, and pretended to think. Julian was staring at me without a word, his eyes moving between me and Sera like he was watching a tennis match.

I turned my attention back to Seraphine.

“Even if I wanted to return the money, it was not sent directly to me,” I began. “It was sent into the Helix account. Every dime leaving that account would have to be discussed with the team. I cannot just move the money on my own. That could land me in jail. It would be considered criminal.”

Sera chuckled. “No one at Helix would dare get you arrested. First of all, your husband is Julian, the amazing millionaire.” She gestured at him with a wave of her hand. “Also, everyone at Helix sees you as family. If anyone complained, you could explain that the money was originally meant for Ford

Biosciences. It was sent to Helix Research in error. And being the honest person you are, you chose to return the money.”

I pretended to muse over it. I tapped my chin again. I let my eyes go distant, like I was really weighing it

Then I sighed and looked at her.

“Something doesn’t quite seem right,” I told her.

“What is it?”

“Wasn’t your husband the one who opened Ford Biosciences for you?”

Sera’s face went blank for a split second. “Umm…”

I watched her stumble and thought to myself, ‘this idiot has been so blinded by her desire for quick money that she forgot even her own lies.’

I got up and walked closer to her. “Was it or was it not your husband who opened Ford Biosciences for you?”

“Umm…” she stuttered.

She waved her hand dismissively. “It does not matter. Keep the money. But I need to find out one thing.” She locked her eyes on mine. “Where is my husband, Celeste?”

I opened my eyes wide, feigning shock. “How would a nobody like me know the exact location of the richest man in the country? He is your husband. If anyone should know where he is, it should be you.”

“Do not play games with me!” Sera’s voice rose and she got up. “I saw you at my husband’s company. I called out to you. We made eye contact, but you ignored me. I was at that company until they closed but you never came out. What were you doing with my husband for so long? Did you not feel ashamed spending all that time alone with your friend’s husband? And when I called your phone, you kept ignoring my calls”

I chuckled inwardly. Well, you are one to talk.

“Yes Julian chimed in suddenly. “Celeste, I kept calling you since last night. You ignored all my calls. You never called back. Today, you returned wearing that skimpy dress, dripping with another man’s cum

“What’ What man were you with?” Seraphine demanded, her eyes sharp and accusatory. “Where is my husband?

And that was my cue

I let my face crumple.

Not dramatically. Not all at once. Just a slow, quiet fall, the way real hurt moves across a face. My eyes filled. I blinked and the tears spilled over, one and then another, and I pressed my fingers to my mouth and shook my head like I could not find the words.

“I cannot believe this is what you two think of me,” I breathed, my voice breaking. “I am disappointed in both of you.”

I walked back to the armchair and sat down. I crossed my legs, covered my face with my hands, and pretended to cry.

But beneath my hands, I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

Julian walked up to me. He reached for my hands and pulled them away from my face.

“I am sorry,” he murmured. Then, he turned to Sera. “You made my wife cry. Apologize.”