Chapter 615
Celeste’s face drained of all color, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
Eleanor let out a terrified, strangled gasp, sounding as though an invisible hand had clamped around her throat.
Beneath the blankets, Helena’s body convulsed even harder.
Even Declan, standing quietly in the corner, held his breath.
Only Jarred displayed a subtle shift, a shadow passing through his eyes the moment he heard that name.
It was gone in an instant, far too fast for anyone to catch.
In less than a second, his face was locked back into that impenetrable calm.
Eleanor forced down her terror, her voice quivering violently. “Sienna… what do you mean? What Ziegler? How could Celeste possibly be a Ziegler p>
When Arthur brought Celeste home all those years ago, the Sterlings had explicitly investigated her background.
Before being adopted by the Carlyles, she had been raised in an orphanage.
She had been abandoned at birth and supposedly had no idea who her real parents were p>
“Why wouldn’t it be possible? You couldn’t find anything because her records were intentionally wiped clean p>
Sienna spoke coolly, stepping aside to gesture at Thea.
Thea immediately understood and unfolded a thick stack of documents, presenting them clearly for all to see.
Her voice was calm and forceful. “Celeste’s biological father was the eldest son of Quincy Ziegler, the former Financial Director who triggered the Sterling Group’s catastrophic financial crisis, embezzled the funds, and was subsequently executed. She is Quincy Ziegler’s legitimate granddaughter p>
That single sentence completely flipped everyone’s reality upside down!
The bloody history, buried for years, was torn open, hitting them with an overwhelming wave of long-standing hatred.
Back then, Quincy wielded absolute control over the Sterlings’ finances and enjoyed Arthur’s complete trust. Yet he took a massive risk and absconded with exorbitant sums of company funds.
This triggered the worst economic disaster the Sterlings had ever faced, nearly annihilating the family empire.
Following his capture, Quincy faced justice and was sentenced to death.
His son and daughter-in-law, Zelda Ziegler, who served as his assistants, were also implicated and received extremely heavy prison sentences.
Desperate, Quincy had leveraged his decades of loyal service to beg Arthur for a Leniency Agreement to secure a reduced sentence for his children.
Soft-hearted and nostalgic, Arthur had agreed.
But fate was cruel. Before the Leniency Agreement could be submitted, Zachariah Ziegler was inexplicably killed in the Central Detention Center.
Upon hearing the news, Zelda took her own life in despair.
Quincy suffered the consecutive blows of losing his son, his daughter-in-law, and his entire family.
He believed the Sterlings had murdered them to tie up loose ends, deliberately tricking him into pleading guilty with false promises of leniency.
Consumed by fury, he died of a massive heart attack right there in his cell.
Out of immense guilt, Arthur searched frantically for the Zieglers’ youngest son to make amends.
But there was no trace of him, turning the ordeal into a decade-long regret.
No one could have ever anticipated that the four-year-old orphan who survived the family’s ruin would be adopted by the Carlyles and rebranded as Celeste Carlyle.
She had laid low for years, systematically infiltrating the core of the Sterling family, carefully plotting her revenge.
Thea paused, sweeping her gaze over the room. “After the Ziegler tragedy, four-year-old Celeste was sent to an orphanage. At six, the Carlyles adopted her, erased every trace of her Ziegler past, and gave her a completely new identity p>
Celeste suddenly shrieked, interrupting her. “I am not! Stop making up stories! Even if I was, what could a four year-old possibly know? What kind of revenge could I even plan p>
“You wouldn’t know, of course, but someone else did.” Sienna’s heavy gaze fell on Celeste’s ashen face, her tone utterly ruthless.
“You were young. You didn’t understand blood feuds or calculated revenge, but the person who orchestrated everything for you was your uncle, Zackary Ziegler. Your records before the age of six are completely blank. Wasn’t that the path of vengeance he paved for you p>
Celeste’s face turned as white as a sheet.