Chapter 28 - The Encounter at the Hearth
That afternoon, against Marcus Sterling’s strict instructions, Clara Montgomery slipped away from her security detail.
The front bell of the Vance Bakery chimed softly as the heavy oak door opened. I was behind the counter, bagging loaves of sourdough for an elderly neighbor who lived across the street. When the door closed, I looked up and saw Clara standing in the foyer, her expensive coat speckled with melting sleet.
"We’re closed for private consultation," I said coolly, keeping my hands resting firmly on the marble counter.
Clara stepped closer, looking around the bakery with wide, curious eyes. She took in the copper pots hanging above the stove, the framed black-and-white photos of Arthur baking bread, and the warm, flour-dusted air.
"He really built this," she said quietly, her voice carrying a distinct New England cadence. "Every word Richard Sterling told me was that Arthur Vance was a drunk who abandoned my mother in a foreign hospital and fled with the family trust."
Carol stepped out from the back kitchen, holding a heavy wooden rolling pin like a weapon. "Arthur never abandoned anyone! Your mother ran off with Richard Sterling while Arthur was working in the timber mills to pay her medical bills!"
Clara flinched, not in anger, but in what looked like genuine pain. She pulled a worn leather diary from her designer handbag and set it on the counter between us.
"My mother died six weeks ago," Clara whispered, her composure beginning to crack. "On her deathbed in Nantucket, she told me that Arthur Vance was not a villain. She told me Richard Sterling financed her disappearance because he wanted Arthur destroyed. Richard spent forty years nurturing my resentment, telling me that the Vance estate owed me millions. He promised that if I flew here and signed the probate contest, he would give me my mother’s rightful share."
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"And you believed him?" I asked, stepping around the counter.
"I had no reason not to," Clara said, tears welling in her eyes. "Until I walked into the Sterling estate last night and heard Marcus laughing on the phone with their real estate developers. They aren't building a trust for me, Emma. The moment Judge Morales signs the district over to my name, the power of attorney I signed gives Marcus Sterling total authorization to demolish this entire town. I’m not his heir. I’m his wrecking ball."