suite. Alistair was sitting on a low sofa, a laptop open on his knees. He didn't loo
She let her shoulders slump, her eyes fall to th
gs from the guest wing. She chose her most conservative dresses, her plainest sweate
you like f
ashmere sweater in her hands. In two years, he had never asked he
k of timid compliance. "Wh
ng her with an unreadable, analytical gaze. "L
mentioned it once, ages ago, on what was supposed to be th
d her surprise. It wa
uble," she said, her voice soft and brea
domesticity. Build the image of a
"You cook?" The skepticism i
egg properly. "I can learn," she insisted, p
but it wasn't a recipe she was sea
fake being a gourme
ing of question mark emojis, followed b
restaurant. Put it on your own
lli
have in the kitchen," Chloe
r from La Grenouille's delivery service: their signature se
on accomplished. She could hear Alistair on the
. PR strategy.
tened herself against the wall ju
s sharp, impatient. "No more interviews without my of
g to do damage control. Worried his little star
ding her phone. She quietly activated the voice r
the call ended. Alistair turned, his g
you doin
ne. She fumbled to stop the recording
"I... I was just coming to
far too much. Then he started walking toward her, his steps slow and deliberate. He s
steak," he
ce a devastating whisper. "And, Chloe... when yo
l this time. All her careful planning, her pathetic little act, laid bare
ping from her face to her nec
aw it. A faint, reddish-purple mark on her neck, just below her jaw, not
remnant from
the infidelity evidence-was built on a foundation of sand. The moment he decided to call her bluff, the m
proof of another man's touch that
evidence. And it
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