A Bitter Reckoning, A Harvest of Greed

Clare Hayes returns home and steps in when middlemen lowball local farmers, leaving their garlic scapes to rot. She livestreams day and night, sinking her own money into storage, packaging, and promotion until the harvest sells out. But at the celebration, the very people she helped turn against her, accusing her of profiting from the village. They seize control, forcing Clare out. She pulls her support, and their greed leaves the harvest rotting in the fields.