Chapter 11 - The Secret Vault in the Cellar
(Restructuring the Estate & Cleansing the Past)
Three weeks after the trial, Vivienne, Gemma, Maeve, and I returned to the Pendleton Ridge estate with a team of professional movers, contractors, and estate liquidators.
We did not keep the mansion.
The sprawling twenty-room brick house on the hill carried too many ghosts, too many dark memories of whispered conspiracies and poisoned teas. Vivienne and I made the executive decision to donate the entire estate to the Sterling-Higgins Foundation, converting the grand limestone mansion into a long-term residential art therapy center for recovering trauma survivors.
As the contractors cleared out the master suite and the library, removing the oil portraits of Florence and Mason, Vivienne and Maeve walked through the private carriage house art studio.
The old refrigeration case beneath the sink had been seized by federal Hazmat teams, and the studio had been completely cleansed and sanctified. Sunlight poured through the tall glass skylights, illuminating Vivienne’s unfinished canvases.
Vivienne picked up a wooden paintbrush, dipping it into a palette of brilliant, vibrant cobalt blue and gold.
"What are you painting, Mom?" Gemma asked, wrapping her arm around her mother's waist.
May you like
Vivienne looked at Gemma, then at Maeve, and finally at me. A radiant, peaceful smile spread across her beautiful face.
"I’m painting a sunrise over the ocean, sweetheart," Vivienne said softly. "Because the night is finally over."
