Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance

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