Chapter 1 – THE MAN WITH THE SILVER POCKET WATCH

The heavy oak doors of the foyer seemed to vibrate as the doorbell echoed through the silent mansion.

Adrian didn’t wait for security. He moved past the stunned dinner guests, his tailored suit shifting as he reached the entryway. I stayed close to Rosa, feeling her frail hands grip my apron.

“It’s him,” Rosa whispered, her breath catching. “The man with the silver watch.”

Adrian threw open the door. Standing on the marble steps was not a stranger, but Arthur Vance—the former family attorney who had supposedly been disbarred and banished from Chicago a decade ago. In his hand, he held a silver pocket watch that I immediately recognized. It was the same watch Rosa kept a picture of on her nightstand. The watch that belonged to Adrian’s late father.

“Hello, Adrian,” Arthur said, his voice smooth and untroubled.

Adrian grabbed Arthur by the collar, dragging him into the light. “You made my mother put her thumb on a legal document?”

Arthur didn’t flinch. He looked past Adrian, locking eyes with Celeste’s father, Elias. “I merely collected what was owed, Adrian. Elias promised me the bakery’s lockbox if I notarized the transfer.”

Celeste gasped, her carefully constructed composure shattering. “Dad? You said you only wanted the real estate!”

Arthur smiled grimly. “He lied to you, Celeste. And he lied to you, Adrian. The eight million was a distraction. We just needed the deed transferred so we could legally tear down the bakery’s brick oven.”

Adrian’s grip tightened. “Why the oven?”

Rosa pulled on my arm, her eyes wide with sudden terror. “Claire… the… hidden… letters.”

Arthur’s smile vanished. He stared at Rosa, genuinely shocked. “You knew? You knew what your husband hid in the bricks?”

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