Inheritance

The narrative shifts to the present day, as a 28-year-old Boston-based graphic designer named Sonya MacTavish plans to marry her co-worker, Brandon Wise. Although Sonya prefers a small, intimate ceremony, she gives in to Brandon’s desire for an extravagant and sophisticated affair. Feeling overwhelmed by the mounting stress, Sonya cancels an appointment with the florist and heads home early. When she arrives, she catches Brandon in bed with her cousin Tracie. Devastated and furious, Sonya throws them both out of her house. She then calls her best friend and former college roommate, Cleopatra “Cleo” Fabares, who arrives to support her. The two commiserate over the break-up, and Cleo offers to help Sonya cancel the numerous wedding services, most of which Sonya has already paid for. Both women vent their frustration about misjudging Brandon’s character. As they talk, a knock at the door startles them. They pause, wondering if Brandon is returning.

The visitor is Sonya’s mother, Winter MacTavish. After being thrown out, Tracie contacted her mother (Winter’s sister), who in turn reached out to Winter. The trio—Sonya, Winter, and Tracie’s mother—now pack up all of Brandon’s belongings. As they move Brandon’s things out, Sonya’s neighbors approach and confess that they saw Tracie visiting Brandon several times before but assumed that the two were working on wedding preparations.

On Monday, Sonya returns to work, planning to explain to her supervisors that she and Brandon have ended their engagement due to irreconcilable differences. However, she discovers that Brandon has already spoken to their bosses, claiming that Sonya is overstressed from wedding planning and needs time off. Furious, Sonya corrects the record, informing her bosses of Brandon’s infidelity and assuring them that she will maintain her professionalism despite the circumstances. After the meeting, Brandon confronts Sonya, accusing her of spreading rumors to damage his reputation. Although they continue working together, Brandon repeatedly starts malicious rumors about Sonya. She soon becomes the target of escalating harassment; someone even keys her car and deletes her files—acts that she suspects Brandon of orchestrating.

Despite her bosses’ support and their attempts to retain her, Sonya resigns amicably, and her former employers give her one of her favorite accounts to take with her.

Sonya visits Winter and explains that she has left her job. Now determined to move forward with her life, Sonya decides to start her own freelance graphic design business. Over the following weeks, she sets up her new business and successfully lands several clients. In mid-January, an attorney named Oliver Doyle II, who goes by the nickname Deuce, visits Sonya and tells her that he represents the estate of her late uncle Collin Poole. Sonya is stunned to learn that her father, Andrew—whom she believed was an abandoned orphan—had a twin brother. Deuce explains that Andrew and Collin’s mother, Lillian (nicknamed Clover), died while giving birth to the twins. Their father, Charles, was so devastated by his wife’s death that he took his own life shortly thereafter. Charles’s sister adopted Collin but sent Andrew into foster care for unknown reasons. Collin, like Andrew, was an artist. After losing his wife, Johanna, on their wedding day, Collin spent the rest of his life grieving and maintaining the family manor. Deuce reveals that Collin’s will names Sonya as the heir to the manor and its legacy.

Although the inheritance touches Sonya, she initially refuses the house in Poole’s Bay, Maine, believing that she cannot afford to maintain such a large property. Deuce explains that the inheritance includes a trust to cover the manor’s upkeep, taxes, and maintenance. However, the will has a stipulation: Sonya must live in the manor for at least three years. Deuce leaves her with legal documents and advises her to review them carefully.

While reading through the will, Sonya notices a reference to a pair of earrings gifted to Winter, her mother. She decides to visit her mother and asks Cleo to join her. At Winter’s house, Sonya explains the revelations about Andrew’s twin, Collin. Winter shares that Andrew often dreamed of interacting with someone who shared his face and frequently sketched an ornate mirror that held the reflection of a man who shared Andrew’s features but was dressed differently. The women review photos of the Victorian Gothic manor, which Andrew had inexplicably recreated in drawings throughout his life. Sonya decides to consult Winter’s boss, an attorney named Marshall Tibbetts, for advice on the inheritance. Cleo predicts that Sonya will ultimately move to Maine.

Marshall reviews the will with Sonya. Appraisers value the manor at $8 million, and the trust provides for its upkeep and offers Sonya a yearly stipend as long she meets the stipulations in the will. Marshall advises against contesting the stipulations and instead proposes that she live in the manor for a trial period of three months. This arrangement allows Sonya to live in the manor temporarily before committing to it. Sonya rents out her Boston home and begins preparing for the move. After a tearful goodbye with Cleo, she drives three hours to Poole’s Bay. Upon seeing the manor, Sonya immediately falls in love with it. Deuce’s son, Oliver “Trey” Doyle III, greets Sonya and welcomes her to what the locals call “Lost Bride Manor.” Sonya views a portrait of Astrid Grandville Poole and is captivated by the sadness in the woman’s eyes. Trey explains that Astrid was murdered on her wedding day by Hester Dobbs; her grieving husband commissioned the portrait.

Trey gives Sonya a tour of the property and suggests that she hire staff to help maintain the house. In Collin’s former office, Sonya is surprised to find one of her father’s paintings hanging above the fireplace. In the library—a two-story marvel in the turret—Sonya decides to set up her office. When the scale of the house begins to overwhelm her, Trey shifts the conversation to practical matters in the smaller family dining room. They share cookies and wine while Trey provides a list of local contacts, including John Dee, who will plow the property. Trey shares a tragic story about Collin’s wife, Johanna, who fell to her death on their wedding day. Later, Trey mentions finding Collin after he died from a fall down the stairs, likely due to a sleeping pill. Trey also warns Sonya that the house is haunted. After Trey leaves, Sonya feels intrigued and unsettled by the house’s history.

During her first night in the manor, Sonya struggles to sleep. She is plagued by a nightmare of Astrid’s wedding and death, as well as her husband’s subsequent suicide. Resolving to stay focused, Sonya begins planning out her stay in the manor. As time goes on, strange occurrences soon unsettle her. The bathroom door that she closed is mysteriously opened. Additionally, she finds her toiletries rearranged and her bed made. Rather than seeing these details as evidence of a haunting, Sonya rationalizes the unexplained events by attributing them to her own forgetfulness. Anna, Trey’s pregnant sister, visits Sonya and offers to hire her for a website redesign. As they discuss ideas, music begins to play independently— a song that Winter cherishes. Anna jokingly suggests that the “lost brides” must like Sonya; this idea unnerves her.

In a flashback to 1828, the narrative shifts to Catherine Poole, Astrid’s niece by marriage. After Astrid’s murder and Collin’s suicide, the manor and shipbuilding enterprise passed to Collin’s brother. One night, the newly married Catherine dreamed of wandering the manor grounds but awakened to find herself on the seawall. There, Hester Dobbs cursed her and stole her wedding rings. Catherine died in the snow outside the manor.

The narrative returns to the present. Sonya wakes up at three o’clock in the morning to the sound of piano music and crying. She finds her wineglass cleaned, her technology charging, and a blanket draped over her. While unnerved, she rationalizes the events. Trey visits the next day to move her printer and discuss her ideas for Anna’s website. When he learns of Sonya’s unexplained experiences and growing unease, he suggests that she speak to his father. After Trey leaves, Sonya continues to notice strange phenomena, from a made bed to a roaring fire that she did not light. Determined to distract herself from these incidents, Sonya visits the town of Poole’s Bay and meets several business owners before meeting with Deuce.