Chapter 6: The Last Conversation Abigail Never Wanted Me To Hear
I stayed frozen in the middle of the café.
People walked around me.
Coffee machines hissed behind the counter.
Someone laughed at a nearby table.
The entire world continued moving like nothing had happened.
But my world had stopped.
“Celeste.””
I repeated the name because my mind refused to accept it.
The detective’s voice came through the phone.
“Yes.””
My eyes moved across the table.
Celeste was staring at me.
She knew.
Not everything.
But enough.
“You have the recording?””
“We do.””
“Where?””
“Nolan, I need you to understand something before you hear it.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What?””
“It may change the way you remember the last weeks of your marriage.””
I looked at Celeste.
The woman I was supposed to marry.
The woman who had been standing beside me while I mourned.
The woman who had become part of Nora’s life.
“Send it.””
There was a pause.
“Are you sure?””
“Yes.””
I ended the call.
Celeste immediately spoke.
“She found it.””
Her voice was barely audible.
I looked at her.
“You knew this day would come.””
She looked down.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because Abigail always found a way to make sure the truth survived.””
The answer disturbed me.
“You sound like you admired her.””
Celeste looked at the table.
“I did.””
“Then why did you betray her?””
Her face tightened.
“I didn’t start out trying to.””
I waited.
Because that was the sentence everyone used when they were about to reveal something terrible.
“I was angry at her.””
“Why?””
“Because she had everything.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“She had you.””
The honesty shocked me.
Celeste continued.
“She had a beautiful home. A family. A child. A husband who would do anything for her.””
Her eyes filled.
“And I was always the person standing outside looking in.””
I felt nothing.
Not sympathy.
Not anger.
Just emptiness.
“That doesn’t explain anything.””
“No.””
She nodded.
“It doesn’t.””
She looked at me.
“But it explains why I made the choices I made.””
“What choices?””
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached into her bag.
She placed a small key on the table.
I looked at it.
“What is that?””
“Something Abigail gave me.””
My eyes narrowed.
“You have more?””
“Yes.””
“Why are you only telling me now?””
“Because I was hoping I could protect you.””
I almost laughed.
“Protect me?””
“Yes.””
“By hiding my wife’s last message?””
Her face fell.
“I know how it sounds.””
“Then tell me how it is.””
Celeste looked away.
“I was afraid of what you would do.””
“What would I do?””
“You would destroy everything.””
I stared.
“And you thought lying was better?””
“I thought keeping you alive was better.””
That sentence caught me.
“Alive?””
She looked at me.
“Abigail was not just investigating money.””
I already knew that.
But hearing it again made my chest tighten.
“She was getting too close.””
“To what?””
Celeste whispered:
“To people who don’t forgive.””
The café suddenly felt too small.
“Who?””
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
I stood.
“I’m done with half-truths.””
“Nolan.””
“No.””
I grabbed my jacket.
“I spent three years being the only person who didn’t know what was happening in my own life.””
I looked down at her.
“That ends today.””
I left before she could answer.
The police station was quieter than before.
Detective Harris met me in a private room.
A small device sat on the table.
“That’s it?””
She nodded.
“Found inside a hidden compartment.””
“Where?””
She looked at me.
“Your old study.””
I felt my stomach drop.
The study.
The room Abigail loved.
The room where she kept journals.
The room where I stopped entering after she died.
“Who found it?””
“One of our investigators during a second search.””
“Why wasn’t it found before?””
“Because it wasn’t visible.””
I sat down.
My hands were shaking.
“What does it contain?””
Detective Harris pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice.
Abigail.
My heart broke instantly.
Even after three years.
Even after everything.
Hearing her voice still felt impossible.
“Nolan…”
The recording wasn’t speaking to me.
She was talking to someone else.
A woman.
A woman whose voice I recognized immediately.
Celeste.
“Abigail, you’re making this bigger than it is.””
Celeste’s voice.
Younger.
But the same.
Abigail sounded exhausted.
“No. I’m finally seeing it clearly.””
A pause.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.””
“I understand exactly what I’m doing.””
My breathing changed.
I leaned closer.
“What happened after Ethan?””
Celeste asked.
A long silence.
Then Abigail spoke.
“You knew.””
My body went cold.
“Knew what?””
“That Ethan was stealing from Nolan.””
Silence.
Then Celeste:
“I suspected.””
Abigail laughed softly.
A painful laugh.
“You suspected?””
“Yes.””
“And you said nothing.””
“I was trying to figure it out.””
“No.””
Abigail’s voice hardened.
“You were protecting him.””
I looked at Detective Harris.
She watched me carefully.
The recording continued.
“Why would I protect Ethan?””
“Because you need him.””
A pause.
“Because he’s the only person who can give you what you want.””
My heart started pounding.
“What do I want?””
“You want my life.””
Silence.
The words felt like a knife.
Celeste’s voice changed.
“You’re being unfair.””
“No.””
Abigail sounded like she was crying.
“I’m being honest.””
Another pause.
Then Abigail said something that made me grip the chair.
“You’re planning to marry my husband.””
I stopped breathing.
The room disappeared.
Detective Harris looked at me.
But I couldn’t look away from the recorder.
Celeste’s voice was quiet.
“I love him.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
“You love what he represents.””
“That’s not true.””
“You don’t love Nolan.””
Abigail’s voice cracked.
“You love that he chose you after me.””
I closed my eyes.
Because I remembered.
The guilt I carried after Abigail died.
The guilt Celeste always told me to let go.
The guilt that made me lean on her.
The recording continued.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.””
“I know enough.””
“What are you going to do?””
A long silence.
Then Abigail:
“I’m going to tell Nolan everything.””
My eyes opened.
Celeste immediately responded.
“You can’t.””
“Why?””
“Because he won’t believe you.””
That sentence hurt.
Because it sounded true.
I had trusted Celeste.
I had defended her.
If Abigail had told me this before she died…
Would I have believed her?
I hated that I didn’t know.
The recording continued.
“You think Nolan is weak.””
“No.””
“You think grief makes him easy to control.””
“Stop.””
“You think because he lost me, he will accept whoever fills the empty space.””
“Stop!””
Celeste shouted.
The first time I had ever heard her lose control.
Then silence.
When Abigail spoke again, her voice was softer.
“I’m giving you one chance.””
“One chance for what?””
“To tell him yourself.””
“And if I don’t?””
“Then I will.””
The recording ended.
I sat there.
Unable to move.
Detective Harris turned off the device.
“Nolan.””
I looked up.
“Is that enough?””
I didn’t answer.
Because it was.
And it wasn’t.
The recording proved Celeste knew.
But it didn’t explain everything.
It didn’t explain why Abigail died.
It didn’t explain Ethan.
It didn’t explain the ring.
And it didn’t explain why Celeste was still the person Abigail called before everything ended.
“Can I hear the rest?””
Detective Harris frowned.
“There is no rest.””
“What?””
“That’s all.””
I stared.
“How long is the recording?””
“Eight minutes.””
“And Abigail’s conversation ended there?””
“Yes.””
I looked at the device.
“No.””
“What?””
“She wouldn’t stop there.””
Detective Harris looked confused.
“What do you mean?””
I thought about Abigail.
My wife.
The woman who always planned everything.
The woman who wrote lists.
The woman who prepared emergency bags for Nora.
The woman who labeled every important document.
“She would have left something.””
Detective Harris leaned forward.
“Like what?””
“A backup.””
Mae.
The thought came instantly.
Mae.
I stood.
“I need to talk to her.””
I found Mae at the small apartment she rented outside the city.
She opened the door and looked surprised.
“Nolan?””
“We need to talk.””
Her face changed.
She stepped aside.
“What happened?””
I walked in.
The apartment was simple.
Small.
Clean.
Almost empty.
There were no decorations.
No signs of a person trying to build a life.
Only someone waiting.
“You knew about the recording.””
Mae stopped.
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I thought Abigail wanted you to find it yourself.””
I stared.
“You all keep saying what Abigail wanted.””
Mae looked down.
“Because she was right.””
I became angry.
“Don’t.””
She looked at me.
“What?””
“Don’t act like you know her better than me.””
The words hurt her.
But she accepted them.
“You’re right.””
A long silence.
Then she walked to a drawer.
She pulled out a small box.
My heart started racing.
Not another secret.
Not another hidden piece of my life.
She placed it in front of me.
“This is the last thing Abigail gave me.””
I opened it.
Inside was a flash drive.
I looked at Mae.
“What is this?””
“She said only you should see it.””
“Why?””
Mae’s eyes filled.
“Because she said if she was wrong, it would only hurt you.””
“And if she was right?””
Mae whispered:
“Then it would save Nora.””
I picked up the drive.
“What’s on it?””
Mae looked toward the window.
Then back at me.
“Something Abigail recorded the night before she died.””
I felt my blood run cold.
“The night before?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you give it to me?””
“Because she made me promise.””
“What promise?””
Mae’s voice broke.
“She made me promise I would not let you see it until Celeste’s true intentions were exposed.””
I stared at the flash drive.
Three years.
Three years this existed.
Three years while I lived beside a lie.
My phone suddenly rang.
Detective Harris.
I answered.
“Nolan.””
Her voice was urgent.
“We found something else.””
“What?””
“Ethan Caldwell just left the country.””
My heart stopped.
“When?””
“Two hours ago.””
I looked at Mae.
“What happened?””
Detective Harris paused.
“Before he left, he accessed one of your company accounts.””
I felt cold.
“Which account?””
The answer came quietly.
“An emergency account created by Abigail.””
I looked down at the flash drive in my hand.
The one Abigail left behind.
The one she wanted me to find.
Then Detective Harris said:
“Nolan…”
“Yes?””
“The account had one remaining message.””
My fingers tightened.
“What message?””
A pause.
Then:
“Protect Nora.””
The line went silent.
And for the first time in three years…
May you like
I realized Abigail had not been trying to tell me who betrayed her.
She had been trying to tell me who would betray Nora next.
