The Patriarch's Reckoning

The fragile, beautiful peace was shattered the following morning at ten o'clock. Clara was sitting on the cream sofa in the penthouse library, reviewing botanical sketches for a private rooftop greenhouse Alexander had commissioned for her, while Toby was upstairs in his playroom with Mrs. Gable. The private express elevator chimed softly. The brass doors slid open, and a man stepped out into the foyer, leaning heavily on a carved…