I Married a Stranger to Ruin Them novel · Chapter 11 of 32

Chapter 11: The Deal Is a Deal

The whole kitchen was watching me.

His mother had stopped sweeping.

Carrie had a handful of oat rings halfway to her mouth.

I stood up and walked out onto the back porch, where it was cold and quiet and smelled like snow coming.

Matt followed me as far as the screen door and stopped there.

"They changed suppliers three weeks before launch," I told the buyer. "The new one is machine-made and thinner, and your first shipment is already going cloudy."

She didn't answer.

"Check the lot you opened Monday."

The forklift beeped behind her.

"Can you prove that?" she said.

"Hold both bottles up to your office window. You'll see it."

"I mean on paper, Alice. Emails. The purchase order. Anything."

I had all of it.

It was in my head, and on a laptop Ian had probably wiped already.

Some of it was in Carrie's file of canceled orders.

"I'm not sending you anything," I said.

She was quiet for a second.

"Why not?"

"Because then it's me against them in your inbox, and you have to pick a side. I don't want you to pick. I want you to look at the bottles."

"That's a very calm answer from a woman they just called unstable on national television."

"I'm a very calm woman."

She laughed, short and surprised.

"What are you working on now?" she asked.

I looked through the screen door at the back room, at the light on over my bench.

"Something better," I said. "In the right bottle."

"When can I see it?"

"When it's ready. Not before."

"Call me first," she said. "Before anyone. Promise me that."

← Chapter 10 · All chapters · Chapter 12 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend