Furious, Sarah instantly grabbed her phone. “I’m posting this to the town Facebook group right now, and then we’re taking it straight to the Town Council. He’s done.” Mary put a gentle but firm hand over her daughter’s screen. She knew Arthur. He was a smooth-talking, powerful figure deeply entrenched in local politics. If they leaked the video now, he would claim it was a fake or use his connections to sweep it under the rug. Besides, a simple council dismissal was far too easy for a betrayal this deep.
“No,” Mary said, a rare, icy determination in her eyes. “We expose him to the council after I get my revenge. He wanted to humiliate me at the fair? We’re going to let him dig his own grave.” For the next three days, they kept Buster stationed in the orchard. Every night, the GoPro captured a deeply frustrated Arthur creeping up to the fence line, only to melt back into the shadows in absolute panic as the German Shepherd growled from the darkness. The fair deadline was looming, and Arthur was completely locked out.