She Saved a Freezing Stranger in Her Bakery—Not Knowing He Owned Half the City
Chapter 10
They returned after midnight.
Snow had stopped.
The bakery was dark.
Mara unlocked the door.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
She walked behind the counter.
“My mother always said there was one place in this bakery she would never let anyone touch.”
“Where?”
“The old oven.”
Adrian looked at it.
The oven had been there since before Mara was born.
Mara knelt.
Behind the lower panel was a small compartment.
She had never noticed it.
She removed the panel.
Inside was a leather-bound ledger.
Adrian didn’t touch it.
Mara opened it.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Transfers.
Everything.
The final pages contained a list of people involved.
At the bottom was Nathan Cole.
But beside his name was another.
Lucas Grant.
Mara looked up.
Lucas wasn’t there.
She turned.
Adrian’s expression was unreadable.
“Where is Lucas?”
No answer.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Leave the ledger.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Who are you?”
“You have one hour.”
The call ended.
Mara stared at him.
“Was that Lucas?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian took the ledger.
“We need to move.”
They left through the back door.
But before they reached the car, Mara heard footsteps.
She turned.
A figure stood across the alley.
Nathan.
Adrian froze.
Nathan looked at him.
“I didn’t want it to happen this way.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You attacked me.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Nathan looked at Mara.
“The people who are using me.”
“Using you for what?”
Nathan swallowed.
“The redevelopment.”
Adrian stared.
“You sold them information.”
“I owed them.”
“You put my life at risk.”
“I never ordered anyone to hurt you.”
Mara stepped closer.
“Why do they want this ledger?”
Nathan looked at it.
“Because it proves they own nothing.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
Nathan explained.
The original redevelopment plan depended on forged property transfers.
The current owners had supposedly sold their land years earlier.
But those signatures were fabricated.
The properties legally belonged to the families who still occupied them.
If the ledger became public, the entire project would collapse.
Mara thought of the bakery.
“My lease.”
“Fake.”
She stared.
“The termination?”
“Based on a fraudulent ownership transfer.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“So someone has been trying to steal the entire block.”
Nathan nodded.
Then headlights appeared.
Nathan stepped back.
“They found me.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the street.
“Everyone.”
A convoy of vehicles entered the alley.
Adrian grabbed Mara.
Nathan ran in the opposite direction.
Men surrounded the bakery.
Then a voice came through a loudspeaker.
“Mr. Cole, surrender the ledger.”
Adrian looked at Mara.
“We’re not surrendering.”
“What are we doing?”
He smiled faintly.
“For once, we’re making them come to us.”
