“Celeste,” I whispered.

“She didn’t just find out about the lie later,” Marcus said.

“She was part of it.”

“Look at the wire transfer records on the next page.”

I swiped the screen.

A PDF document opened, showing a bank confirmation.

The funds did not originate from my mother’s account.

They originated from a trust fund controlled by Celeste’s family.

“My mother didn’t act alone,” I said.

“She had help.”

“Celeste wanted Maren out of the picture just as much as Eleanor did,” Marcus said.

“She used her own family’s resources to pay Dr. Mercer for the falsified test.”

“And then she used that knowledge to blackmail your mother.”

I stared at the glowing screen.

The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, revealing a picture more grotesque than I had imagined.

My wife and my mother had traded my life like a commodity.

“She has the original physical records,” Marcus said.

“The ones Mercer didn’t destroy.”

“Where are they?” I asked.

“We believe she keeps them in the safe at the coastal house,” Marcus said.

“The house in Maine.”

I looked up at the highway signs.