so busy. The kitchen is a bit like a battlefield. You’re always
running, running, running. Your dad knew what he was doing.
He made sure I wouldn’t know. He tampered with that seafood
and I didn’t know. So, yes, it was my fault too. Everyone who
ate at the restaurant that night got sick. Have you ever had
food poisoning from seafood? It makes what Snake had for a
few days look like child’s play. That was enough to shut the
place down, but not for good. The suppliers could easily be
discredited. People do forget. What they won’t forget is a chef
who makes that mistake. I had to take responsibility for it.
That kind of thing can ruin a person’s career.”
Haley wasn’t properly horrified. She still looked skeptical.
Of course she wouldn’t believe Claire. No one had. It was her
mistake. She took responsibility for it. She’d taken
responsibility for it, and she’d lost everything. “You honestly
think my dad would do that? That he would h
urt all those
people just because he knew you’d quit and he’d be able to
buy you out cheaply because the restaurant was suffering, or
that you’d just give up and let him have the other half?”
Claire lowered her head. She’d tried hard in the eleven years
that had passed to be someone else. To be someone no one
could mistreat. Someone who didn’t back down. She’d grown
a thicker skin. Learned not to put her trust so easily in anyone.
She’d held everyone and the world at arm’s length for so long.
“There were other things going on that your dad knew
about. Personal things. He timed his attack perfectly because I
was weak, and he knew it.”
Haley jerked forward, but she didn’t get up. She bit down
on her bottom lip, which made Claire want to groan. A tiny