Chapter Five

Sonya meets with her former boss and now attorney, Marshall Tibbets, to assess Collin Poole’s will. Marshall explains the estate’s meticulous planning, the financial coverage for taxes and upkeep, and negotiates a three-month trial residency so Sonya can decide without pressure. Relieved, Sonya plans to go to Maine.

She packs selectively—art, office items, mementos—and rents her furnished duplex for six months as a safety net. After an emotional farewell with her mother, Cleo, and neighbor Donna, Sonya drives north, nerves alternating with excitement as the coast’s beauty and remoteness set in.

Reaching Poole’s Bay, Sonya is awed by the cliffside manor. She’s greeted by Oliver Doyle III—Trey—who explains locals call it Lost Bride Manor. Inside, Sonya feels an electric thrill amid the grand foyer and Astrid Grandville Poole’s portrait. Trey recounts Astrid’s wedding-day murder by a jealous woman, cementing the house’s tragic legend.

Trey leads a comprehensive tour: multiple parlors, a solarium brimming with plants, music and dining rooms, and a warm, functional kitchen with a butler’s pantry and dumbwaiter. He notes Collin’s updates, stocked provisions, and service contacts, while Sonya processes the home’s scale and history.

In Collin’s office, Sonya discovers a painting of the manor signed with her father’s mark, confirming he once painted the house he’d dreamed about. The find is both unsettling and affirming; Trey suggests Collin kept it close because it mattered. They continue upstairs, where Trey reveals the old servants’ passage, a media room and gym below, and storage above, before opening a favorite turret room that takes Sonya’s breath away.