The Alderwood Ledger
When architectural conservator Evelyn Vane survives a coastal storm accident, she discovers her husband has forged structural failure reports to condemn her family's historic estate. Guided by hidden telemetry logs, she fights to expose the deception.
Fictional story. Contains themes of marital deception, emotional betrayal, and corporate fraud.Chapter 1: Salt and Cedar
The first sensation Evelyn Vane registered was the sharp, resinous tang of salt and damp cedar drifting through the open window of her coastal cottage. Her head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache—the lingering aftermath of a fall from the high staging scaffolding during a sudden gale at Alderwood Manor three days earlier.
She reached across the linen duvet, expecting her hand to brush against her husband, Conrad Blake. They had shared Blake & Vane Historic Preservation for eight years, building a reputation across the Pacific Northwest for rescuing nineteenth-century timber estates. But Conrad's side of the bed was cold and undisturbed.