Chapter 8: Celeste
Every war has a puppeteer.And Celeste Thorne never pulls a string she didn't lace with poison first.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thorne Tower – The Greenhouse – 6:00 AM
Celeste sat barefoot among carnivorous orchids, sipping black tea brewed with silverleaf. The city below Lancaster's tallest tower was waking—sirens, protests, the collapse of Wexley's empire—
Exactly as she expected.
A hawk landed beside her. She didn't flinch.
Behind her, Everett, her aide, entered silently.
"They've dismantled three of our city contracts overnight," he said. "Wexley's arrest has shaken every corporate partner below Core Level."
Celeste didn't respond.
Instead, she plucked a dying leaf from one of her blood-red orchids and crushed it between her fingers.
Then calmly said:
"Let it shake."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flashback – 24 Years Ago
Celeste Thorne, age 19, sits at her father's deathbed.He's wasted. Terminal. Once a lion of industry—now barely a shadow.
"You don't have to take it all," he whispers. "You can live a quieter life."
Celeste leans in, eyes already hard.
"No. I'll take more."
She doesn't cry when he dies.She doesn't even blink.
Instead, she turns to her uncle in the room.
"Tell the council. I'll speak at dawn."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Present – Private War Room
The council met in the sealed chamber below the tower. Holograms flickered. Angry faces hovered around the room—Wen, Renn, Harrow, Dree.
"She's attacking all of us!" Renn barked. "Lia Virell isn't just a problem anymore—she's a threat to the entire foundation."
Celeste remained seated.
"She is also public," she said.
"And Alex?" Dree demanded. "He just destroyed our police oversight in one night."
"They've changed the game," Wen added. "And it's working."
Celeste sipped her tea.
Then finally stood.
"I know."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celeste's Plan
She walked to the center of the room and pressed a button.
The table displayed three names:
Kestrel ValeThe Black SwanJulius Virell
"We do not chase rats in the dark," she said. "We light the tunnels on fire."
She pointed to Julius' name."He betrayed them before. He'll do it again."
To Kestrel's name:"She's already shown cracks. One incentive and she'll trade them for her own skin."
And then…
She tapped The Black Swan.
"She's the real threat."
"She's just a freelancer," Wen said.
"No," Celeste said. "She's loyalty given shape. And she's chosen the wrong cause."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later – Celeste's Private Office
Everett returned with an encrypted file.
"Package delivered. Julius has agreed to meet."
"And the other two?"
"Kestrel wants insurance. The Swan—no contact yet."
Celeste walked to the window, looking down at the city.
Fires smoldered in three districts. A protest swelled near Parliament Square.
She smiled.
"Lia thinks power lives in visibility," she said."Alex thinks it lives in fear."
She turned slowly, eyes cold.
"But true power… lives in patience."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Julius Virell sat in a black car outside a private terminal.
In his lap: a folder.
Inside:A map of the old Virell estate.Blueprints of the Virell vault.Coordinates.
And a note, unsigned:
"Deliver them. Or we bury what's left of you."