Given the question: Found the following article online, use it to answer the question: What is the last name of the person who bakes pies?  Monte Beragon, the second husband of Mildred Pierce, is shot. The police tell Mildred that the murderer is her first husband, Bert Pierce, after he is interrogated and confesses to the crime. Mildred protests that he is too kind and gentle to commit murder, and reveals her life story to the investigating officer in flashback. Mildred and Bert are unhappily married. Mildred must bake and sell pies and cakes to support the family after Bert splits with his business partner, Wally Fay. Bert bitterly accuses Mildred of favoring their daughters, especially Veda, over him. Their quarrel intensifies after a phone call from Bert's mistress, Maggie Biederhof, and they decide to separate. Mildred retains custody of her two daughters, the 16-year-old Veda, a bratty social climber and aspiring pianist, and 10-year-old Kay, a tomboy. Mildred's principal goal is to provide material possessions for Veda, who longs for a social status above that of her family and is ashamed of her mother's work as a baker. When Mildred is forced to take a job as a waitress, she tries to hide the fact from Veda, but Veda learns the truth and treats her mother with derision. Mildred meets Monte Beragon, a Pasadena society playboy and heir whose inheritance is almost depleted. Beragon owns the building that Mildred wants to purchase for a restaurant, and he pursues a romantic interest in her. While the two are at his beach house during a weekend jaunt, Kay contracts pneumonia and dies after a trip with Veda and Bert. Mildred channels her grief into work and throws herself into opening a new restaurant. With the help of her friend and former supervisor, Ida Corwin, Mildred's restaurant is a success. Wally helps Mildred buy the property, and soon she owns a chain of restaurants throughout Southern California.
The answer is:
Pierce