Chapter 0237


    Abby


    I’m sitting by myself in the breakroom, my fingers wrapped around a cardboard cup of coffee from the


    vending machine. The coffee has already gone cold, but it’s not like I was drinking it anyway. The taste


    was too bitter for what I need right now.


    Karl stepped out just a few minutes ago. He said he had to make a call, and I’m too numb to question


    it. Right now, I wee the silence of the breakroom. I needed it after that little disy on the stage.


    I can still feel the heat from the stage lights, the biting sting of Logan’s harsh words. “You should know


    your ingredients.” His voice reys in my head like a broken record, his voice pulsing alongside the


    pounding headache I have right now.


    Suddenly, the door swings open, and Bryan strides in, his phone pressed to his ear. He shoots me a


    distracted nod before he murmurs an apology and exits the room, no doubt seeking privacy for his call.


    My solitude is short-lived.


    Then, much to my chagrin, Daniel enters the breakroom just as Bryan slips out. He stops short when


    he sees me, his eyes lip up with a smirk that makes my blood boil.


    “Tough break out there, Abby,” he says, pouring himself a coffee. No sugar, no cream. ck, just as I


    expected. Just like his heart.


    “Did you have anything to do with it?” The usation leaps from my lips before I can weigh the


    consequences.


    He turns, leaning back against the counter, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Tamper with your station?


    Please. I don’t y games, Abby. I don’t have to.”


    “But the spices were switched. You were the only one who—” I start, but my voice trails off. I shouldn’t


    finish. It’s too much of a leap, and I don’t have any evidence.


    “Even if I did, which I didn’t, you should have known,” he hisses. “A chef should know her ingredients


    by smell, by taste.” Daniel’s sneer is sharp and pointed directly at me. There’s a sort of gleeful malice


    behind his eyes, and I can tell he’s lying through his teeth.


    My hands clench into fists around the cardboard cup, crushing it a little with my grip. “You’re enjoying


    this, aren’t you?” I blurt out.


    His chuckle is low, wry, voice of any real humor. “What I enjoy, Abby, is watching someone who’s out of


    her depth il around and make a fool out of herself on live television.”


    The coffee is forgotten as I stand, my chair scraping back with a noise that feels all too loud in the quiet


    room. “So, what, this is fun for you? Sabotaging me?”


    Daniel shrugs casually, but I know what he’s thinking. “You sabotage yourself, Abby. You don’t need my


    Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    help to do that,” he says, his lips turning up at the corners.


    Daniel takes a step forward, his eyes never leaving mine. “I know I’m good. But you? You’re just...”


    “Just what, Daniel?” I challenge, though I’m not sure whether I want to hear the answer or not.


    He grins, and it’s all teeth. “You’re just ying pretend. When the pressure’s on, the true colors show.


    And yours?” He tsks, shaking his head. “They’re all over the ce. Today proved that. You don’t belong


    here.” New ch?pter av?ble o? Draмаnоvеls.cоm