The Divorce He Asked For, The Empire I Took Away novel · Chapter 14 of 32

Chapter 14: Forged

I didn't call a lawyer.

At three that afternoon I walked the two hundred yards to Arnott Estate with the contract folded in my back pocket.

The crush pad was quiet.

The sorting belt was covered with a tarp, and the bins I'd stacked by my gate were still stacked there, five weeks later, collecting leaves.

I went around the tasting room and up the path to the barrel cave.

The cave door stood open to let the cool out.

Inside, it smelled like it always had: wet stone, oak, the sweet sour breath of wine sleeping in barrels.

I'd spent seven harvests in there.

The cellar crew was topping barrels under the work lights.

Five of them, plus the cellar master on the forklift.

They all stopped when they saw me.

Dex was at the far end with a wine thief, pulling a sample for two men in golf shirts.

"Wonderful structure," one of them was saying.

"That's the 1904," Dex said. "That's what twelve acres of history tastes like."

It was my 2025.

"Dex," I said.

My voice went all the way down the cave and came back.

He turned.

For a second his face did nothing at all.

Then the smile came on.

"Liesl. Gentlemen, my ex-wife. She's going through some things."

"I'm going through your paperwork," I said.

I walked down the middle of the cave between the barrel racks.

The crew didn't move.

The cellar master turned off the forklift.

I took the contract out of my pocket and unfolded it on the head of the nearest barrel.

"Sixty thousand cases of bulk zinfandel. Tanks seven through twelve. 1904 Reserve." I put my finger on the second line. "And my name, as winemaker of record."

The distributors looked at each other.

← Chapter 13 · All chapters · Chapter 15 →

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