The Housekeeper Was the Mansion's True Owner
CHAPTER 1 - The Housekeeper at Her Own Table
Celeste Vale held out her empty glass without looking at the young woman beside her.
"Pour it properly, servant. That is all you are here for."
Evelyn Harcourt tilted the bottle of Chilean wine.
At thirty, Evelyn looked younger than most of the permanent household staff. Her dark blue uniform, ivory apron, and neat low bun gave Celeste no reason to suspect that the "temporary housekeeper" had grown up inside Ashbourne Hall.
Evelyn stopped pouring.
The red wine moved gently inside Celeste's crystal glass.
Celeste frowned.
"Did you hear me?"
Evelyn placed the bottle on the table.
"You are mistaken, madam."
Celeste threw back her head and laughed.
"And who do you think you are?"
Evelyn straightened her back.
"The owner of this house. And from today on, you will never humiliate anyone here again."
The dining room fell silent.
Evelyn's older brother, Adrian, rose from his chair.
"Evelyn?"
She removed the ivory apron.
Pinned beneath it was the silver rose brooch that had belonged to their grandmother, Eleanor Harcourt.
Eleanor had left Ashbourne Hall, its vineyards, and the controlling interest in the family hospitality company to Evelyn.
Adrian received a generous financial inheritance and a position within the company, but not ownership of the estate.
He had always resented that decision.
Celeste looked from Evelyn to Adrian.
"You said your sister was still in Chile."
Evelyn had spent six months overseeing a vineyard partnership there. She returned quietly after receiving warnings that antiques were disappearing and longtime employees were being dismissed.
The elderly housekeeper, Rose Bennett, entered with Margaret Sloan, the family's sixty-eight-year-old attorney.
Margaret placed the original property deed on the table.
Celeste's arrogance vanished.
"This must be some tasteless joke."
"No," Evelyn said. "The joke was allowing you to call yourself the future owner of a house you entered as my brother's guest."
Celeste touched the emerald necklace at her throat.
Evelyn recognized it immediately.
It belonged to the Harcourt family collection and had been locked inside the estate vault.
"Take off my grandmother's necklace."
"Adrian gave it to me."
Evelyn looked at her brother.
Adrian's expression revealed that this part surprised him.
"I never touched that necklace."
Margaret opened another folder.
Inside was a contract transferring Ashbourne Hall to Vale Heritage Holdings, a company controlled by Celeste's brother, Nathan.
The document carried Evelyn's signature.
She had never signed it.
Celeste tried to stand.
Two financial investigators appeared at the dining room entrance.
Evelyn picked up the wine bottle.
"The label comes from the vineyard where I was supposedly too busy to notice what was happening here."
She placed it beside the forged contract.
Celeste had not come to Ashbourne merely to marry Evelyn's brother; she had come to steal the young heiress's entire inheritance.
