Chapter 6 - A Stepsister's Dangerous Bargain
Chelsea wanted Gabriel Rossi to notice her.
Not because she loved him.
She barely knew him.
She wanted the life she imagined came with being chosen by a wealthy, dangerous man.
Expensive dinners.
Private cars.
Diamond jewelry.
The ability to walk into any room and make people look.
She had watched her mother control our café through paperwork and intimidation.
Now Chelsea wanted a larger stage.
---
She began arriving before midnight.
New dresses.
Perfect makeup.
Perfume so strong it covered the smell of coffee.
She memorized articles about Gabriel's businesses.
Practiced flirtatious smiles.
Even tried learning the coffee recipe I'd used for forty nights.
But she never understood why he liked it.
He liked the care.
The consistency.
The fact that I remembered without treating the moment as an opportunity to ask for something.
Chelsea saw only the hundred-dollar tip.
---
One evening, she approached Gabriel while I was cleaning the espresso machine.
"Mr. Rossi, perhaps you'd like to have dinner somewhere nicer."
He looked up.
"I'm having coffee."
She laughed.
"I mean with me."
Gabriel set down the cup.
"That's kind of you, but no."
Her smile froze.
"Why?"
"Because I'm not interested."
He didn't humiliate her.
Didn't make a scene.
He simply answered.
Chelsea wasn't accustomed to that.
---
Later, she confronted me in the kitchen.
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie."
I turned toward her.
"Chelsea, a man declining dinner isn't a conspiracy against you."
She stared.
Then slapped a folder onto the counter.
"You think you're getting this place back?"
I looked down.
The folder bore the Larkspur name.
"What is that?"
"Mom has buyers."
My stomach tightened.
Chelsea smiled.
"The building is being sold."
---
Rebecca confirmed that Larkspur was negotiating with a development group interested in demolishing the café and combining the property with neighboring lots.
A closing date had been proposed.
She took legal steps to challenge the disputed transfer and seek protection against a sale while ownership was resolved.
There was no guarantee of success.
But the dispute was now formal.
---
Meanwhile, Gabriel's business team discovered that one of his commercial competitors, a developer named Preston Vale, had been approaching Larkspur.
Preston had a reputation for aggressive acquisitions.
He also had connections to people involved in organized crime.
Gabriel didn't immediately assume the transaction was criminal.
But he asked his attorney to review publicly available information.
The results were troubling.
Larkspur had received several unusual short-term loans from entities associated with Preston's development network.
The payments began shortly before my father's death.
---
When I learned this, I sat in Rebecca's office with my hands clenched.
"Do you think Maureen killed Dad?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"We have no evidence of that. Your father's medical records indicate he died after a heart attack."
I looked down.
"But the property transfer—"
"May involve misconduct. We need to examine it separately."
I nodded.
I didn't want revenge built on guesses.
I wanted the truth.
---
That night, I confronted Maureen.
"Did you transfer the building before Dad died?"
Her expression changed.
"Your father wanted me to handle the finances."
"Did he authorize the transfer?"
"Of course."
"Then why did he write that he hadn't?"
She went still.
I watched her face.
For two years, she'd used my father's death as an excuse to control everything.
Now she looked frightened.
"Where did you get that?"
I took a breath.
"His ledger."
May you like
For the first time, Maureen stopped pretending I was merely a foolish girl who made coffee.
Because the ledger was the one thing she believed had disappeared forever.
