Chapter 13 - LUCY’S FOUNDATION
The Lucy Hale Foundation was real.
It funded family lodging near pediatric oncology centers.
Counseling.
Medication travel grants.
Good work.
I had attended one fundraiser.
Celeste gave speeches about grief.
I never knew Lucy was her daughter.
The foundation biography said:
Named for a beloved child lost too soon.
No surname explanation.
Baxter Ridge donated nine hundred thousand over two years.
Was that bribery?
No.
Large corporate philanthropy can be legitimate.
Why hide connection?
Because Baxter Ridge was simultaneously pursuing Reed.
Celeste was influencing Daniel.
Conflict.
Then donation dates.
First:
Two years earlier.
Before acquisition proposal.
Routine charitable program.
Second:
Eight months ago.
After preliminary Baxter discussions.
Five hundred thousand.
Requested by:
Andrew Baxter.
Why?
He said family history.
His father Charles had always regretted South Harbor and Lucy’s death.
Donation intended as reconciliation.
Did Celeste see it that way?
Email:
Celeste to Andrew:
Money does not repair what your father did.
Andrew:
I know.
Celeste:
Then why send it?
Andrew:
Because the foundation helps children.
That looked sincere.
Then Celeste:
If you want reconciliation, help Daniel.
Andrew:
With what?
Celeste:
His career.
There.
She leveraged grief.
Andrew introduced Daniel to Baxter deal team more formally after.
Not poison.
Favor.
Then:
Celeste:
Reed owes him more than any of you.
Andrew:
Nora is not Samuel.
Celeste:
She benefits from what Samuel protected.
Andrew:
So does your foundation from settlement history.
Celeste did not reply.
Andrew understood family history better than she wanted.
Then another email six months later:
Celeste:
Daniel needs the Reed distribution role when deal closes.
Andrew:
That is Larkin’s decision.
Celeste:
You can influence integration.
Andrew:
Not like that.
Again, she pushed.
Others resisted partially.
Then a final donation.
Four hundred thousand pledged but not funded.
Condition?
No explicit condition.
Timing after deal close.
Could look quid pro quo.
Andrew’s board approved as part of annual philanthropy, but Celeste treated it as expected reward.
Recorder:
Celeste:
Once Baxter funds Lucy grant, we are whole.
Daniel:
Nine hundred thousand doesn’t make us whole.
Celeste:
Nothing makes us whole.
Daniel:
Then stop acting like this is justice.
Celeste:
It is the closest thing available.
Daniel saw through her.
Still followed.
That was important.
He was not simply manipulated by mother.
He recognized her revenge and chose partnership because it served him.
Then the foundation records revealed Celeste spent one hundred eighty thousand on “historical research and family advocacy.”
Recipient:
Vale Investigative Group.
Owned by Gregory Vale’s brother, Lucas.
What were they researching?
South Harbor.
Reed.
My father.
Baxter.
Larkin.
Twenty years of files.
Celeste had been reconstructing Lucy’s story for years.
One investigator interviewed former South Harbor employees.
Another found Edward Hale’s old notes.
One note:
Samuel Reed has a copy of original alarm tape.
Original alarm tape?
Not digital.
South Harbor controller printed physical event strip.
Dad may have preserved.
Where?
Blue Baxter file did not contain.
Then Lucas Vale’s report:
Possible location is Reed Archive Room beneath Northstar test facility.
Northstar facility.
My company.
Celeste knew there might be original South Harbor evidence inside Reed.
Was that another reason for Baxter deal?
Control of company could give access.
Recorder:
Celeste:
Once Daniel gets Reed authority, get the old tape.
Daniel:
I don’t care about tape.
Celeste:
Your father died trying to prove what happened.
Daniel:
My father died drunk behind a wheel.
Silence.
Celeste slapped him.
The camera captured it.
Then:
“Do not speak about him that way.”
Daniel laughed.
“Truth hurts?”
She left.
Daniel sat alone beside Sophie’s crib.
Whispered:
“I hate this family.”
Which family?
His?
Mine?
Both?
Then he picked up Sophie.
“I’m not doing this to you.”
That sentence hurt.
He believed he could separate harming me from harming our daughter.
As though poisoning a child’s mother did not harm the child.
Then investigators located Reed Archive Room.
Old paper records.
Dad’s Northstar lab moved years earlier.
The room remained.
Inside:
South Harbor boxes.
Original alarm strip.
Chain of custody from Dad.
The strip showed:
Temperature alarm at 2:14 a.m.
Manual reset at 2:19.
Fire at 3:02.
Controller did not malfunction initially.
Someone reset the alarm.
Who had access code?
Three technicians.
Edward Hale.
Baxter supervisor James Cole.
Reed facility manager Paul Jensen.
Edward claimed he did not reset.
James died.
Paul alive.
Now eighty.
Interview.
Paul said:
“Edward reset it.”
That contradicted Edward’s notes.
Why?
Paul witnessed.
Or believed.
If Edward reset alarm, Daniel’s father may have contributed to South Harbor problem.
May you like
Celeste’s entire revenge story might rest on a lie.
Continue to the next part: The original South Harbor alarm record points toward Daniel’s own father as the technician who may have reset the warning before the fire.
Related Stories
